It looks like the 125 gr. Nosler BT is the bullet recommended for white tail deer. Does anyone have experience with this bullet's performance. Also, has anyone tried the Hornady 130 gr. single shot bullet?

Regards,
Telly

Telly
Years and years ago I shot an antelope, and my buddy shot 2 with the 30 Herrett. Back then the bullet of choice was the 110 gr RN usually used in the 30 carbine. He also used the 110 pointed bullet.
The RN worked real well, but now I understand the Ballistic Tips are very popular with single shot pistol shooters.
He also killed some antelope with the 357 Herrett.

The 125 grain BT is THE bullet for the Herrett. The 130 grain Hornady and 135 grain Sierra SSPs, both of which have been discontinued, do well but do not have quite the same low-velocity expansion window as the 125 BT does.

Telly Hornady made two 30 cal 130 gr bullets. The original was a 130 gr bullet designed to be shot at varmints from 308's & 30-06's. The second bullet was designed for single shot pistols. I do not have the bullet numbers in front of me but I believe the one designed as a varmit bullet in the 308/30-06 is still being made. I have used that bullet on whitetails in a Savage 99 chambered for the 30-30. I used it to fill a couple doe tags and it worked very well.

Thanks for the info guys. I think Midway still lists the 130 gr. single shot pistol Hornady bullet, but I think I will try the 125 BTs. I have been shooting the 110 RNs but was looking for a little more weight.

Telly

I shoot a 10" Bull with a 4x scope in my 30 Herrett. I load the 125grn Nosler Ballistic Tips with 25grn of IMR4198. This is about 1.5grn under Max according to my Hornady manual. Length is 2.320 and use a Fed 210 primer. I'm getting 2115 fps from this load from a 10" barrel. I have taken one 115 lb whitetail and my buddy used it to take a 80 lb doe. Both were shot within 50 yds and didn't go over 15 yds after being hit. Both double lung and a nice wound channel.
I haven't shot any other bullets in the 30 H after working up this load. I did find some 30cal 130 grn SSP bullets by Sierra but saved them for my 30-30 and 309JDJ.
Good luck with you Herrett.

Mike

Telly,
When I first startd shooting my 300/221 (AKA "300 Whisper" when made by SSK) 4-5 years ago, I asked JD Jones the same question. The 300/221 and 30 Herrett run at pretty much the same velocity. As I recall, his rec's were: #1 125 NBT and #2 125 gr Speer TNT ; he wasn't real high on the 130 gr Hornady SSP (don't recall if he said why). I was uneasy using the TNT on deer, so I worked up loads w/ the NBT and the SSP. Killed one deer w/ each bullet. I felt like the 125 NBT might be a little to "soft", but hey, can I really make that call on the basis of ONE kill? Last year, I bought my 10 y/o son a 308 Win and worked up a reduced recoil load w/ the 130 gr Hornady (non-SSP) and the 125 gr NBT. He killed 2 deer w/ 2 shots w/ the NBT (it was more accurate than the Hornady.) Bottom line, I think you'll be more than pleased w/ the NBT. If it doesn't shoot well in your gun, you may want to drop JD a line re: the TNT and whether he still recs it. Gary T.

I got very fine accuracy with the 125 grain Sierra many years ago when shooting a 10-inch Contender in .30 Herrett, but never had a buck in my sights with it. The Sierra was Bob Milek's favorite in the early years with this gun.