Do 30-06, .308 and 30-30 use the same bullets

[skibuff]

Hi I've loaded 9mm and .223 for many years. Just was blessed with an Sprindfield '03 in 30-06 and a Winchester 94 in 30-30 and have a couple .308's and was hoping to find a plinker bullet that will work in all 3 is it possible?

Thay all use a .30 Cal bullet correct?

Also hopping to stick with one powder Reloader #7 that I use in my .223

Bullets not loaded amo.

[Mssr. Eleganté]

They all use a .30 caliber bullet and more importantly they all use a .308 diameter bullet. And all three could be loaded with a bullet with the same weight, say 150gr for example. But for the Model 94 you are going to want to use a flat nosed bullet because of the tubular magazine. 30-06 and .308 Win are loaded to higher velocities that probably won't be very accurate with flat nosed bullets.

I don't know anything about the powder part of your question.

[Dark Mod]

Yes they do, in fact all 30 caliber bullets are .308 in diameter. 30-30 has to have a round nose unless you want to load them one by one. This is to keep the tip of the projectile from detonating the primers in a tube magazine under recoil.

You can definatly use round nose or "flextip" rounds in .30-06 and .308 as well, but they perform best with spire point bullets.

The applications are even broader than those 3 calibers, there are a ton of cartridges that use 30 caliber bullets, and having a good stock will set you up nicely. Its nice to load 300 WinMag for around the same price as .308

[ojisan]

For plinker ammo some use the 110g M1 Carbine bullets.

30-30 bullets are designed to expand at a lower velocity than the .308 / 30-06 bullets, so they should not be used in the higher velocity loadings.
This only has relevance when preparing hunting ammo.

[FLIGHT762]

Yes, all 3 use the same diameter bullet. The issue is the 30-30 will have to be singly loaded or only one cartridge in the magazine tube if you are going to use a pointed bullet. Something in the 125 grain weight can be used in all 3 rifles.

Reloader 7 will work in the 30-30 and 308 Win. with light bullets, but reloader 7 is a bit fast for the 30/06 with bullets over 110 grains. There is some data for 100-110 grain bullets using Reloader 7 in the 30/06 in current manuals.

In one of my old Speer manuals (1987), there is data for 130 grain bullets in the 30/06 using Reloader 7. It can be done.

[skibuff]

You guys are all awesome thank you so much.

I was sticking to 9mm .223 and .308. A week ago was given a 1925 Springfield 1903 Sporter and the Winchester 94 by my moms elderly friend who wanted them to go to someone who appreciated guns and not sold for drugs by one of her kids. Both are in great condition but at $1 per round you have to reload.

Kev

[Mssr. Eleganté]

...but at $1 per round you have to reload.

[wtkaiser]

I used the 110 grain speer varminter bullet out of my beloved .30-30 for reduced recoil (just to experiment, the recoil is not too bad unless you're sensitive to it). But yeah, they all use the same bullet weights (with the caveats) as mentioned. Sort of a Mild/Warm/Hot temperature gauge for your shooting and reloading pleasure!

[CSACANNONEER]

Yes they do, in fact all 30 caliber bullets are .308 in diameter.

Well, commie 30cals like 7.62x39 and 7.62x54R and even .303 Brit use .311 bullets.

[winnre]

What does the -06 and -30 mean in 30-06 and 30-30?

[Munk]

What does the -06 and -30 mean in 30-06 and 30-30?

For the -06, it refers to the year it was commonly accepted into usage. 1906.

The .30-30 started its life with a specific manufacturers name as part of the caliber name. Other mfgs wanted to manufacture ammo, or use the ammo in their guns as well, so they just ditched the other company's name and followed the -06 route with the nomenclature that year.

[winnre]

So the .45ACP could have easily been the 45-11. Any other caliber trivia ya got there?

[Mssr. Eleganté]

...The .30-30 started its life with a specific manufacturers name as part of the caliber name. Other mfgs wanted to manufacture ammo, or use the ammo in their guns as well, so they just ditched the other company's name and followed the -06 route with the nomenclature that year.

Close.

30-30 started out as .30 Winchester Centerfire or .30 WCF. When Marlin came out with a rifle chambered in the same caliber they didn't want to use Winchesters name on their rifle. So they called their version .30-30. The second 30 doesn't stand for the year like with 30-06. It stands for the grains of smokeless powder that were originally used, 30 grains. They were following the old black powder system of using bullet diameter followed by grains of black powder, like with .45-70 and .44-40. This happened in 1895, so there is no way they were using the year 1930 to name the cartridge.

[Munk]

Close.

30-30 started out as .30 Winchester Centerfire or .30 WCF. When Marlin came out with a rifle chambered in the same caliber they didn't want to use Winchesters name on their rifle. So they called their version .30-30. The second 30 doesn't stand for the year like with 30-06. It stands for the grains of smokeless powder that were originally used, 30 grains. They were following the old black powder system of using bullet diameter followed by grains of black powder, like with .45-70 and .44-40. This happened in 1895, so there is no way they were using the year 1930 to name the cartridge.

doh. I was misinformed, thanks for the correction.

I knew the .30-30 had been in use before 1900, but was told that the nomenclature change came later on.