For whatever big game you may hunt with a 30-30 what is your favorite bullet?

hi tunderstick
federal loaded with 170 gr nosler and you have a gun capable of getting all the games with limitation to dangerous big 5 and 200 yards.
yes

Nosler 170 grain RN or Beartooth Bullet 160FNGC

cheers.

In the past I have handloaded a Hawk 165 grain RN. But I am eager to try the new Hornady ammunition.

My favorite was the Winchester 170 grain silver tip but alas they have become pure unobtainium. Remington CL 150 and 170 have always performed just fine.

I was going to try to find a good load with either the 170 grain Silvertips or Power Points; but they can't be found anywhere in component form. Instead I went with the 170 Corelokts. I am pretty much set on the 170 grain bullets. With 29 grains of H322 they shoot very well. I haven't killed anything with them yet, but read a lot of good reports on their performance. Its hard to beat their bulk prices to boot.

I was just curious what you lever-gunners prefer.

I have had great luck with remington 150 grain corelocks with these small S. Texas deer.
es

Has anyone tried 125 gr HPs?

If you mean the Sierra one no but I have used the Speer 130 grain FP and in my T/C Contender carbine the Remington 125 gr. PSP. Handy for getting some extra velocity and in my rifles, as accurate as any other bullet. I've seen a doe taken with the 130 Speer at 125 yards with a lung shot buy a hunting partner. The deer went about 30 feet and piled up dead. I wouldn't want to use them on hog or bear but for deer, no hesitation.

My Marlin 336 likes Winchester 170gr ammo at 75yds it will print a clover leaf.It's is the only rifle I don't reload for.

Woodleigh now make a bullet for the 30-30

170gr Remington SPCLs are the finest for my usage/
Just bought 400 220gr SPCLs for my 348 Winchester.
These two bullets, one type, have accounted for more deer 1 shot kills than any other I've used.

Hornady 170

Another vote for the 170 grain Nosler, mainly because it and any other Nosler always performs as expected although I am interested in seeing how the new spire pointed bullet from Hornady performs.

Wish there were a source for the old 190-grain Silvertips WW used to load in the .303 Savage. Sam Fadala liked that bullet for elk in timber.

Has anyone ever encountered a poor 150 or 170 grain game bullet in factory ammo?

quote:

Originally posted by nordrseta:
Has anyone ever encountered a poor 150 or 170 grain game bullet in factory ammo?

Seriously doubt it. The 30-30 keeps the velocity low enough that you can't shatter a 150-170gr slug. Both bullets are "poor" when you are pushing past 200yds as they'll be going too slow to expand.

The 30-30 is like the 45-70 in that you don't gain much of anything by using a premium bullet. The only drawback to "cheap" (green/yellow Remington) is that premium loadings will give you about 150fps more velocity.

I like the 170 gr hornady interlock.

170gr Nosler partition

And I cut my practice costs by using my supply of 400 discontinued 170gr solidbase FP's to keep "current" with the rifle.

AllanD

A cast 170 gr Lee slug will do anything I need a 30-30 to do. And it is cheap about 1.5c per slug with gas check!

My win. 94 shoots winchester 170 silver tips the best.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Wish there were a source for the old 190-grain Silvertips WW used to load in the .303 Savage. Sam Fadala liked that bullet for elk in timber.

According to Mr. fadala in his book on the Winchester 94 in 30-30, he had to buy loaded factory .303 Savage ammo and break them down to get those 190 gr. bullets. AFAIK, Winchester has never sold them as a reloading component.
I got around the problem by casting the RCBS #30-180-FN bullet and using it in my 30-30. With 28.0 gr. of W-748, I can duplicate the .303 Savage's 1950 FPS in a 20" barreled carbine. That's one of the neat things about a 30-30. You can shoot full power loads with cast bullets, usually with results as good as jacketed. Over the years, I've taken 17 deer with cast bullets in a 30-30. Most were with the Lyman #311291, a roughly 180 gr. in my alloy round nose. Fifteen deer with that bullet and two with the RCBS bullet, all one shot kills. You have to be a bit more careful about bullet placement, that is stay away from the heavier bones if possible. I don't get too much chance to use the 30-30 much anymore and ranges where I hunt now are a bit too long, plus my 68 year old eyeballs just don't see the sights all that well. I suppose I could invest in a marlin and put a scope on it, but I never felt one looked right on a lever action.
Paul B.

quote:

Originally posted by Thunderstick:
For whatever big game you may hunt with a 30-30 what is your favorite bullet?

I owned a Remington Model 788 Bolt Action in .30-30 cal. I always used the 170 grainers in Winchester Silvertips for Deer Hunting, but received great accuracy with the 150 Silvertips at a velocity rate of some 2,300 using WW-748 powder + Mag. Primers. Since my rifle was a bolt action I tried some 125 grain spitizers and got almost 1-hole groups @ 100 yards! Not sure what the velocity was but I can imagine it was in the neighborhood of around the 2,400 FPS level.

The hornady 170gr has been my deer load in 30-30 for years now, also load it in 303 Savage. I have tried all sorts, I have a bolt as well model 340 savage and it like 130gr spire points by Hornady and Speer. I use H335 with 170's and BLC-2 with the 130's.

170gr Nosler partition does all I can ask of my 336.

I have used the Sierra 125 HP with max WW748 for years. It is really superb on Virginia whitetails. That bullet IS designed for deer too.

170gr. Speer has been my favorite in my Marlin.
Driven with a heathly dose of H414 it does 2180fps from a 20" bbl. And it's Ballistics Coefficent of .304 allows yo tou get a 180yd zero with it only 3" high at 100yds and it is only 4.5" low at 225yds when it's energy drops below 1000ftlbs.