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308 reloading
nanukofthenorth1
Member Posts: 8 ✭✭
New to reloading can I use the 30 cal 308 for 30-30 30-06 and 300 win mag?
Comments
If you do reload spitizer/pointed nose bullets for the 30-30. Only load one in the chamber, and one in the tubular magazine.
You will find that all 30 and 308 cal (including the 303 Savage), and most of the 7.62mm, rifles use the same diameter bullet (0.308").
The primary exceptions (to the above) are the 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R Russian rounds, which use the same diameter bullets as the 303 British, 7.65 Argentine and 7.7mm Japanese (0.311").
The 30-30 (and 30 Rem) use a bullet that is designed to expand at lower impact velocities than the rest, due to the lower muzzle velocity they use.
Use of a 30-30 grade bullet in a high (308 Win and up) velocity rifle will cause it to act like a rapid expanding varmint bullet, while using a "high velocity" bullet in a 30-30 speed rifle will cause it to act more like a FMJ (non-expanding) bullet at impact. IOW bullets are designed to expand in a given velocity range, using one outside that range can cause it to expand/not expand in unexpected ways.
Terminal performance as noted on game is important, for paper shooting not so much.
New to reloading can I use the 30 cal 308 for 30-30 30-06 and 300 win mag?
In general, the bullets can interchange between the calibers you mention, but as mentioned there are a number of caveats:
-Obviously you need to match bullet weights to your load. You also have to watch overall length. . .too short or long can jam certain gun actions.
-More than one hard -tipped pointed bullets in a tubular magazine (eg most 30/30 rifles) are unsafe, because a bump will cause the point of bullet #1 to detonate the primer of bullet #2 (which will then set off bullet #3, which will then set off bullet #4, etc). This is called a "chain fire" and it will ruin your gun, day, and possibly your hand.
For tubular (eg lever action) magazines if you want to load more than one round in the magazine, you need to use either flat tipped bullets, or (if you can get them) the rubber-tipped pointed ones which are specifically designed for use in tubular mags. In practice, one in the chamber and one in the magazine is safe with pointed bullets, and its adequate for probably 90%+ of hunting situations.
-Hunting type bullets are designed to expand at given velocities. .308 and .30/06 are basically interchangeable, but if you run a .308 style bullet in a .30/30 it won't open up fast enough to have maximum effectiveness. If you run a 30/30 bullet at .308 velocities it will open up TOO fast, again potentially causing problems depending on what exactly you're shooting.
Note that it is possible to download .308 rounds to get 30/30 type performance, and if you do that, you should have no issue with 30/30 bullets.
The main thing is just to make sure that if you're going to be hunting medium or large game with a given load, you have to make sure the bullet type and the velocity of your load to get the best performance out of your load. If you're just shooting paper or varmints, maybe it doesn't matter.