New Nosler E-Tip for 30-30?

[bigbossman]

must be round nose or flat point for 30-30 remember.

No, it does not. See Fordtrucks post below. Hornady removed that restriction with their new bullets.

I'm sure u guys have looked up the Mono-flex bullet from hornady right? It's a monolithic FTX bullet.....???!!!

Yeah, he had this bullet on his short list in post#6. I like the FTX quite a bit, and use it to great effect in cowboy silhouette matches. A copper version might be nice to work up a load for.

[SBsasquatch]

So for those that might be interested:

I talked to a gentleman from Nosler, and he stated 1800fps was the minimum that I could expect for consistent expansion.

Now, taking into affect that the bullet will be longer and I'll have to make room to allow for function. I'll assume 2,250 would be doable. That's means I'm still good out to 200 respectively. Acceptable I guess.

[Fordtrucks]

2,250 sounds like a good number.
Have u tried other powders? is that with LVR EVo powder?
CFE 223 has impressed me a lot with the velocities I have been getting from it. Might be worth a try, it's in the same burn range as LVR EVo.
In other calibers, ie 7mm-08 and 30-06, 270 and such, I have able to achieve 200-300 fps over posted numbers from Hogdon.

[pennstater]

Perhaps I missed something here. The Barnes TSX FN 150gr works very good from a 20" barrel. TSX=all copper. Or any barrel length for that matter.
I believe bigbossman covered this in post #3.

[mtndragon]

any updates

I am wondering if anyone else has been playing with these bullets. I have had a few days of testing, and I am close to having a hunting round finalized. My best speeds are 2650fps with a 1" group at 75 yards out of a Marlin 336 stainless. I am using LVR powder and have walked up slowly from 2100fps. I am super excited about this bullet riding on top of the LVR powder. Still no pressure signs at all, although I think I am at the top end, as the velocity actually dropped on my highest load, and it is certainly compressed given the length of the bullet. I tested the 2100fps load for expansion into some old phone books, and it was impressive with the perfect petal peeling that copper provides and near full weight retention.

Just curious if anyone else has developed anything for the Nosler E-tip 30-30.

[Spyder]

I've been toying with buying some and working up a load, but I don't really NEED to. I probably oughta just do it, what with all me free time and money... :/

[2nd amendment believer]

Hi guys. I have been asking these same questions about the E-Tips. I have tried them for the same reasons in 3 calibers now: .308 Win, 6.5 Grendel, and now 30-30. I got into this when I first read the regs here about the condor, etc. and eventually going statewide. Knowing form personal experience here in the norcal sierra, there are more than condors that eat carrion. When I hunt doves and quail, I discard the carcasses in a specific location about 100 yards from the cabin and they are gone the next day. I put a camera out there and it is a competition between the coyotes and the fox that lives close by. No coons or skunks as of yet, and both yotes and foxes eat rodents, so I don't shoot them. Then I watched the youtube vids about copper bullets vs lead and the associated X-Rays of meat filled with lead particles and THAT cemented in stone my disdain for lead in anything I hunt. Not to mention that I hunt on MY land which I also farm organically because cancer is REAL. Forget the political rants. So spreading lead around my land is no longer an option and I sincerely advise you all to re-think along the same lines for your own personal health as well as our environment.

That said, I began the process of research, which for us gun nuts is the fun part, right? So I procured some bullet sample packs for .308. Loved the performance of the TTSX things, and loaded up some of those, as well as others. VERY impressive accuracy, as in sub MOA out of my SCAR17 and my Alexander 24" Overwatch. Then I started reading about velocities and then we start getting into effective range. Many of these bullets can not retain the velocity required to open at long distances with the 6.5 and the 308, and so I began looking into which bullets open effectively at reduced ranges. There are very few. These are covered here in this forum by Ric-0-shay I believe. One custom bullet maker turns each one on a lathe at $1 each and I haven't gone there yet but will eventually... and so we arrive at Nosler's E-tip which is the only commercially available bullet (a year ago) that opens at 1800 fps. I got them to shoot very well in the SCAR. I am having issues with the Grendel. Can't get a group below 5 inches at 100 yards. I just read somewhere that you should clean the bore of all copper fouling when using copper bullets. Haven't tried that yet because I have been deliberately allowing the bores to "foul" giving them a nice gilding as per recommendations, on a long distance precision shooting forum for snipers, which I must admit, has honed down my groups to sub MOA with match grade bullets.

Fast forward to 30-30: I decided this year that I would try my good ol' 1910 family heirloom Winchester model 94 which I took my first whit tail with... at 30 yards. (It's not hunting around here, it's harvesting). so for all practical purposes, this whole topic is mute... as the gun was advertised when it was gifted to me as a brush gun with an effective range of 100 yards. Still, with hand loading techniques, I have won second and third places at DCM competitions against AR15s and M1 Garands in the 90s, so with modern technology, we can push our effective range out to 250 yards with this bullet and careful reloading processes. Still, there is NOTHING in terms of reloading data for these in 30-30 that I have found.

Here is my first attempt:
Rifle: 1910 Winchester Model 94 re-barreled sometime in the 60s, 20", 1/12 twist (I presume).
Factory Remington ammo disassembled and therefore un-fired cases and factory primers from the 60s, (family hand-me-downs that came with the rifle).
CFE223 powder at the minimum starting load of 33.9 grns. hand measured with an RCBS Chargemaster.
Nosler E-Tip 30-30.
Results: my first shot slightly bulged the primer and was held around the corner for protection, so NOT chrono'd.
Second shot did not moon the primer and reached 2430 fps! Hit the paper at 100 yards standing off hand, which is not a good position for any kind of accuracy or consistency judgement, I was just looking for safety in pressure at this point.
At 34.5 grns I received pressure signs and went back to the minimum charge!!! So my conclusion at this point is that you start LOW because as reported elsewhere, copper bullets have the ability to raise pressures. I got maximum expected velocity at the minimum load. I can't give accuracy reports yet though I will say that after several rounds hitting the paper at 100 yards standing off hand, I tried pole resting (leaning my hand and the rifle against a pole and steadying the rifle to the best of my ability) and then firing at my man size steel gong silhouette target at 360 yards and hit it 3 out of 3 with that load and all within a 10 inch group, and in the center of the chest area of the target! That was surprising considering this is open sights and aiming with an anticipated elevation raise, no scientific calculation for a firing solution, just Kentucky windage!

That's all I got or now, other than telling you that the E-Tip makes an unbelievable wound cavity. I wasted both hams on a hog I got 2 years ago with the 6.5, and blew out the front quarter of a white tail last year with the 308, both at 150 yards with poorly place rounds due to poor light conditions. You better aim correct with these because they are devastating to flesh and bone! Both animals "ran" or limped about 30 yards and dropped. The hog had to be followed up with a head shot when it attempted to charge. No more shooting at moving targets after that one. I will post more results when I get the time to really work them up, but for now, I just needed a few rounds for deer season. Load and shoot safe, ya'll.