Hunter John

I just picked up an Encore rifle barrel in .308 and will begin reloading soon. I've never reloaded .308, but in looking at all the bullet company's offerings, I've noticed that they seem to offer 30 cal bullets meant just for the 30-30 (the 30-30 is marked on the box). Since I hunt mostly in thick stuff, the round nose and flat point 30-30 bullets really interest me.

So, if I'm planning on reloading a somewhat reduced .308 load, can I use 30 cal bullets designed for the 30-30?

ranger140892

Absolutely. No need to reduce your loads either. I hunt with an XP100 in 308 Win and use bullets designed for 30-30 most of the time.
My favorite is Barnes 150 Gr TSX FN. I push it at 2650 fps and it works great. I also have used Sierra & Hornady 150 & 170 gr30's designed for the 30-30.
I've recovered a few of these bullets. They all expanded well and retained about as much weight as ones I've recovered from rifle shots. Before I loaded the Barnes bullet, I emailed Barnes and asked about pushing that bullet 400 fps faster than the 30-30. They said no problem.

As for "thick stuff", shape doesn't mean squat. A tiny twig can deflect a round nose just as well as a spitzter.

Hunter John

ranger140892 - Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with using the 30-30 bullets in a .308 case. Yeah, your comment regarding the bullet shape on its behaviour when hitting a twig is one I've read a few times before.

I recall reading an article where a guy preformed a pretty extensive experiment where he shot a number of bullets of different weights and shapes from a .243 all the way up to a 45-70 intentionally thru some brush in front of a paper target. He then measured the groups on the paper.

Basically, he concluded that the bullet shape is completely unless in predicting the degree of deflection when hitting brush. However, the bullet weight plays a bigger role in resisting brush deflection, but you have to really increase the bullet weight considerably to notice the difference. No real difference between a 30cal 125 gr from a 30-06 vs a 30cal 180 gr from a 30-06. However, when you jump up to a 45cal 405 gr bullet from a 45-70, you definately see less deflection caused by brush compared to the 30cal 125 bullet, but it's still less than some would expect.

Anyway, given the unimportance of bullet shape within a given weight, why have you used a bullet designed for the 30-30 in your .308? Does the round nose/flat nose 30-30 bullets expand better than the spitzers?

Thanks again for your help...30cal bullets ain't cheap and I can't afford to buy all the different weights and shapes!! Glad I can pick your brain!

crimedog

I see in your post you say mostly? I truely love Sierra Gamekings in 308 and I think the price is the same. Yes you can use those bullets marked for 30-30 and you don't have to push the bullet down to the cannular (spell check) either, but I think you will see a difference in accuracy that may be unacceptable past 75-100 yards with the 30-30 bullets. The shorter bullets do not like goingfast in my experence, although the 308 and 30-30 have similar twist usually 1-10 they just don't stabilize as well. I don't think there is any difference in mushrooming performance that justifies using flatnose 30-30 bullets over the Sierra Gamekings andInterlocks, stay away from SST's though they don't seem to mushroom well in my 308 but are pinpoint accurate. Good luck and remember this is only my opinion, not everyone or anyone will agree.

ranger140892

I wish I could remember the name of the video I had back in the mid 80's. The guy shot3rounds eachfrom 223 Rem to 50 BMG @ 50 yards, through one target, through a small stack of twigs 10 yards behind, then through another target 10 yards behind the twigs. Every bullet deflected and or keyholed. I was amazed that a 700 gr bullet deflected from hitting a twig 10 yards behind it.

As for round nose & flat nose bullets not being accurate...horse pooky. I've never shot a target closer than 100 yards with these loads and they're sub moa, some sub .5 moa, just like any other bullet. I routinely shoot out to 400 yardswith these loads and they're just as accurate as spitzters. The only disadvantage is wind resistance past 300 yards.

Round and flat nosed bullets are usually very accurate because they stabilize so easily. People think that weight is the key. It's not, length to diameter ratiois the key. And round / flat nose bullets are shorter than spitzters of the same weight.A long spitzterbullet is harder to stabilize than a round nose bullet of the same weight. Imagine trying to throw a football that's stretched to3 feet long. It would be pretty wobbly. Same effect. Anyway, they're very accurate.

Bottom line: The reason behind using these bullets in your's and my 308 handguns is performance on game. I've had more "pop and drops" on deer and hogswith round / flat nose out of my pistols than with spitzters.

crimedog

Hunter John- If you need some brass I have some Lake City Match you can have for just shipping cost.

HighDesertWolf

A while back I kinda wondered roughly the same thing. because of the lighter construction of a 30-30 projectile designed to perform at 30-30 velocity. I have a ton of 30-30 150 grain prohunter I got from a guy for few bucks a box got like 400 projectiles total. Anyway back to what i was typing Ive been pushing these at full throttle from my 308 with ok accuracy good enough for hunting not gonna win any bench matches anytime soon with'em. On coyotes the bullets blow apart like a V-max and do heck of a job knocking their *beep* in the dirt.

but yeah its perfectly fine to load 30-30 projectiles in a 308. Infact the 307 which is a rimmed 308 actually uses 30-30 projectiles.

ranger140892

HighDesert, I'm not so sure about pushing them at normal 308 speed with a 22-24" barrel. Like you said, they come apart pretty good on coyotes. Probably not the best choice for deer at that speed. But out of a 308 handgun at 2300-2650 fps, they do verywell on deer. Better thanstandard 308 bullets.
As for the 307, it's far from a rimmed 308. Just like the 356 Win and 358 win. the 307& 356 Winhave much thicker case walls than their rimless counterparts.That givesthem far less powder capacity, makingthemlow pressure cartridges not quiet up to 308 & 358Win performance.

Hunter John

ranger140892 & HighDesertWolf – Thanks for responding. In a nutshell, I plan on using either a 30-30 170 flatnose or a 30-30 150 round nose out of my .308 26 inch Encore barrel at about 2,200 or 2,300 fps. According to my Hornady manual, this is a somewhat reduced .308 load and closely approximates the standard 30-30 load. Maybe just a bit faster than the 30-30.

Do you think I’ll have any problems with the bullets disintegrating or over expanding on deer? The last thing I want is to push the lighter constructed 30-30 bullet to fast and wound a deer.

Thanks again for your help!

eldeguello

John, you can use ANY .308" diameter bullets in that gun. I tried the Hornady 170-grain flatnose .30/30 bullets for a reduced load in my Ruger No. 3 .30/40 Krag. With 50 grains of IMR 4350, it shot great! 2500 FPS MV, this 100-yard group: