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Anyone ever heard of this round?
bullshot
Member Posts: 14,680 ✭✭✭✭
7-30 Waters
Just saw a local ad for a Winchester mod 94 chambered for this round. Never heard of it before.
"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you"
Comments
Article - Best Regards - AQH
https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7-30%2BWaters.html
Not super common but not super uncommon either.
It started as a wildcat developed by Ken Waters. Back in the 80's it was chambered in the 94 and TC also made barrels for the Contender. It was basically a necked down 30/30 case and was supposed to be faster and flatter shooting. It's biggest problem, at least in the 94, was pointy Spitzer bullets in a tubular magazine isn't recommended. It did work pretty good in the longer Contender barrels though. Hornady came out with the leverevolution rounds for it that cured the tube mag problems but by then interest dropped off and you don't hear much about it anymore. Bob
Yeah, it showed up about the same time as Winchester came out with two new big bore rounds. 307 and another I can't remember. I think at one point they made a 94 in 7-30 with a longer than usual barrel. It was just a one year thing. .356 had to look it up.
I had one for awhile thought it was a good round could never figured why it didn't get a little more popular
I did at least one article on it. Had both a 94 and a Contender 16". Still have the Contender barrel. It's a great round. Shoots faster, farther, and recoils less than a 30-30 but is just as deadly. As mentioned, finding bullets for it is the main difficulty. Nosler made a fabulous 120 flat-nose Solid Base specifically for it that was by far the best bullet for the Winchester. Long gone. You can still find 139-gr flatties - actually semi-flat roundnoses. But 120-gr is what it was designed to shoot.
In the Contender, the 120 Ballistic Tip is just perfect.
That article is more negative than my own opinion, but not grossly so.
All these fancy cartridges when all you need is a 30.06.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
Had A 94 in 7-30. Like Rocky said brass & bullets are hard to find. I fire formed brass from 30-30 the old fashioned way with Red Dot & COW. Was getting impressive velocities greater than 2700 fps. Quite impressive for a lever gun, but bullet drop and marginal accuracy detracted me from hunting with the rifle.
IMHO Waters cartridge is a poor choice for a lever gun but a great choice for a single shot rifle or TC contender simply because you can use heavier spitzer bullets.
The 94 in 7-30 was not popular. Today they are considered collector items.
I've had a Contender carbine for several years now. I bought it in the early 90's for the kids to use "short and light". Several deer has been taken with it. Been a good gun, but the grip on the butt stock sucks. I bought a thumb hole stock from Boyds and it has a much better feel now. Got some Barnes bullets to try in reloads but haven't got around to trying them yet.
At the 7-30's velocity, the Nosler 120 Ballistic Tip acts like a big game bullet. If it isn't the perfect bullet for a single-shot gun, it's damn close.
Seems like it would have been far more popular had someone kept making the correct weight (lighter) bullets.
Chicken and egg quandary. Why make bullets for a cartridge few use, and why use a cartridge few make bullets for.
I'd be lying if I didn't know that feeling.
Any random gun shop that sells reloading supplies, when I ask what they have for .358" bullets:
"….but…umm….hmmm….what?"🤣