308 with 30-30 ballistics?

[1911man]

I am looking for opinions and or advice on a starting a project of taking a 308 Remington model 7 shortening the barrel down to 18-20? with a red dot or a fixed low power scope. Loading 30-30 bullets in 308 cases. I am trying to achieve a 308 with 30-30 ballistics with MOA accuracy, basically a bolt action 30-30 that is accurate.
I want 30-30 bullets because they will expand better at lower velocity. Has anyone experimented loading these rounds?

[Calif Hunter]

No reason it wouldn't work. I passed an old Savage 340 bolt action .30-30 along to my grandsons and with bulk 170 gr Rem Corelokt bullets over IMR4064 powder, it shot 5/8" groups at 100 yards with a 3-9X scope. I also found 130 gr Hornady Spire Points worked well at .30-30 velocities with a bit flatter trajectory.

[Fjold]

Is there a reason, (reduced recoil) for doing this?

For great expansion at lower velocities in the 308 try the Nosler Partition bullets, they're dead soft in the front end. Also try the 90-grain Hornady XTP, 100-grain Hornady short jacket, 110-grain Speer FPHP, 110-grain Hornady spritzer and 110-grain Speer round-nose. All of these bullets will expand at handgun velocities

[1911man]

Thanks for the info.

[sghart]

Not exactly what you were asking but I load my 308 to 30-30 velocities with heavy lead bullets that I cast myself.

Works great and is very accurate.

[stevec223]

My shooting buddy brought out a Savage 340 in 30-30 to shoot today,, it was pretty nice and shot well.. He was saying magazines were still available and reasonable.. I saw a used 340 in 30-30 the other day ,, asking price 350$.. I would buy a used Savage before cutting up a model 7,, but thats me..
Reloading will get you where you want to go..
Cheers

[Trapper]

Remington model Sevens come from the factory with 18 or 20 inch barrels, no cutting required. For expansion, step down to a lighter bullet or if you need / want a heavier bullet go with a 155gr ELD-M

[sigstroker]

Originally Posted by Fjold

Is there a reason, (reduced recoil) for doing this?

For great expansion at lower velocities in the 308 try the Nosler Partition bullets, they're dead soft in the front end. Also try the 90-grain Hornady XTP, 100-grain Hornady short jacket, 110-grain Speer FPHP, 110-grain Hornady spritzer and 110-grain Speer round-nose. All of these bullets will expand at handgun velocities

The Nosler ballistic tips also expand at low velocities. They may have changed the name or Nosler may have sold it. I seem to remember it being called something else when I saw ads for them.

[sigstroker]

Also, there are .308 rifles sold with 16" barrels. There's the Steyr Scout or the SIG Cross that I can think of off the top of my head. They're kind of expensive but maybe close to the Seven rout by the time you include gunsmithing.

[MasterChief]

OP : Do you already reload?

[elx144]

I've done it, it does/doesn't work. We put .50 BMG powder packed full in .308 case with a .30-30 projectile. The rounded flat projectile gets stuck in the barrel, you would need a .308 WIN bullet with a tapered tip. But then you probably won't get full/proper expansion if you're using a hunting round on an animal.

Shoots a couple inches low at 100 yards with your normal .308 WIN zero.

[deckhandmike]

What are you actually trying to do. This sounds like a terrible idea for hunting or self defense. Bullets expand from speed. If you want some weird expansion round just look at the Lehigh defense. They have several variations. There are also other varmint type rounds that will almost explode and not penetrate deeply.

https://lehighdefense.com/reloading-...expansion.html

[Imageview]

Lyman manual has plenty of data for cast bullets in 308s with 30-30 velocities. Everything down the 1300fps and up to 2600ish. Depending on what you want to use it for could maybe find something that works.

[TKM]

Didn't you cover this on reddit?

[elx144]

Originally Posted by deckhandmike

What are you actually trying to do. This sounds like a terrible idea for hunting or self defense. Bullets expand from speed. If you want some weird expansion round just look at the Lehigh defense. They have several variations. There are also other varmint type rounds that will almost explode and not penetrate deeply.

https://lehighdefense.com/reloading-...expansion.html

I was doing it for the bullet drop at 300 yards. The property I had in Calaveras had a good 500-1,000 yard shooting lane but I still wanted to make sure it dropped off before it reached the end of my property. I took a shot at a buck with my .30-30 with a peep site and completely missed at 7 yards, I figured a low power scope scope or red-dot would help for the next time around but I didn't want to spend extra money outfitting my rifle with one when I had a 3-9X scoped .308 already. It was easier to make .308 bullets that dropped off, but the soft point .30-30 projectiles would get stuck when I went to unload my rifle and spill powder all over my truck. If they were tapered for the chamber/barrel it would have worked.

I don't think I'll be in that situation again since I sold the land and the next time I buy land will be more acreage with less neighbors. But maybe this can help someone still in California.

[deckhandmike]

I don’t think underpowered ammo helps anyone hunting. Build a berm for a range. You’re overthinking this.

[sghart]

First of all you can load any bullet designed for the 30-30 in your 308 cases and fire them all day long at 30-30 velocities. I would suggest IMR 3031 as a good powder to start with.

Your 308W bolt gun can't tell the difference between a 150 gr FN

https://www.sierrabullets.com/produc...0-gr-fn-30-30/

or a spitzer bullet:

https://www.sierrabullets.com/produc...mm-150-gr-sbt/.

30-30 ballistics are perfectly adequate for any game in this state. 30-30's have taken deer for over 100 years. Before that is was heavy lead at 1300 fps.

Just choose a bullet that is designed to expand at 30-30 velocities. Your bolt gun won't know the difference.

In my earlier post I mentioned that I use heavy cast bullets in all of my rifles. At the time of my post the website was suffering from some problems so I cut it short.

I wanted to add that I know that lead bullets are not a viable hunting option. But they allow me to get a lot more range time with my hunting rifles.

And 30-30's are not "underpowered".

[deckhandmike]

Why not use a 12 gauge slug instead?

[Calif Hunter]

Originally Posted by stevec223

My shooting buddy brought out a Savage 340 in 30-30 to shoot today,, it was pretty nice and shot well.. He was saying magazines were still available and reasonable.. I saw a used 340 in 30-30 the other day ,, asking price 350$.. I would buy a used Savage before cutting up a model 7,, but thats me..
Reloading will get you where you want to go..
Cheers

As I posted earlier, I had a Savage 340 and it shot great with regular .30-30 loads. The magazine is short and limits your ability to load longer spitzer bullets unless you are going to use it as a single shot. Most of the 150 gr or heavier spitzer bullets would have to be seated above the ogive to fit in the magazine and that just doesn't work. The 130 gr Hornady Spirepoint fits and works well at .30-30 velocities - but I could not get the accuracy that 150 gr RNFP or RNSP provided. I was hoping for better trajectory from the lighter faster bullet and that did happen, but without enough accuracy for me. I also tried the Sierra 125 gr spitzer.

[NapalmCheese]

Originally Posted by elx144

I took a shot at a buck with my .30-30 with a peep site and completely missed at 7 yards, I figured a low power scope scope or red-dot would help for the next time around but I didn't want to spend extra money outfitting my rifle with one when I had a 3-9X scoped .308 already.

I don't think a low power scope, a red dot, or a 3-9x scope will help you at 7 yards. Well, maybe a red dot if it's too dark to see your front sight, or a nice ivory bead.

Did you mean 70 yards?

Hodgdon lists 45.5 grains of H4895 max for 150 grain bullets in .308 at 2900ish fps. Using the 60% rule with H4895 you can safely load reduced velocity rounds starting at 27.3 grains of H4895 with 150 grain Barnes .30-30 bullets for presumably 1740 fps. Just add powder till you hit the 2200 fps range or so and voila, .30-30 ballistics in a .308 with .30-30 copper bullets meant to expand at lower velocities than .308 Winchester bullets.

[200Apples]

.30 cal pointy bullet stuff w/ the ballistics of .30WCF/.30-30?

Sounds like 7.62 X 39...

[pacrat]

OP,

It is a looooong standing general practice among Mil-Surp folks. To down load 308 ammo, using 300 Savage Data. In order to safely shoot the many imported Mauser small rings that were rechambered to 7.62 CETME cartridge. Which is dimensionally identical to 7.62 NATO and 308 Win. But arsenal loaded to 42K PSI.

300 Savage cartridge is a near ballistic twin to the venerable 30-30.