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30-30 for Cowboy Long Range??


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Anybody here use 30-30 for CLR?

 

I recently acquire my dad's Winny '94 Carbine, and would like to use it for long range, not sure how it would lead ammo.

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I tried it and was a little hard to compete at the longer ranges against the 45-70s. Up close it is OK but when you get out to four and five hundred yards is where I had problems staying consistent.

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I have a Lyman Sharps carbine in 30-30 (30 WCF) that I use for CLR at matches that require offhand shooting at 100-250 yards. It is very accurate. I load 165gr lead bullets for it. Had to get an expander ball die to be able to load them. Many of our eastern ranges do not allow for really long range. Enjoy your dad's rifle!

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If your at no more than 150 yards, you'll be fine.   Beyond that, not so much

Might want to reconsider the 150 yard statement

Ideal 311413 The Squibb gas check bullet for the Springfield and other .30-06 rifles. Perhaps the most accurate gas check bullet yet produced. Excellent for target practice up to 600 yards.

image.png.fd8e32c9380585d7810dfd033ab41582.pngI use this bullet in a '94 for Long Range Lever Action Matches (200 -500 meters) and have used it for the last 7 years with accuracy.  The 1st time I tested it after sighters, I put 7 lead splashes on  Ram at 500 meter in less than a 10" group

Another Ideal bullet for long range ... 311291 Designed for .30-30, .303 Savage and .30 Remington cartridges, but popular for all 30 caliber rifles. (GC, RN, 170 - TP is 465)

"The 311291 is much shorter than the 311299 and has a true round nose profile to allow use in lever guns etc. It is also a bore rider design many folks seem to find it more accurate than the 311041 in the 30-30.

image.png.465586a925da7b7701df97c5a639d289.png and one more, the 311284 Designed for .30-40 Krag, but excellent for all 30 calibers. Very accurate up to 600 yards

image.png.e8c842a440ec40a5eb6d14989be86a80.png  where it says for a 30-06 & 30-40 Krag - a Lee Lube/Sizer is your 'best friend'

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... to load cast bullets you will need an M die neck expander 

Dave, more than one way 'to skin a a cat'

* Normal 3 die set with expander - seater dies - without need for a 'M Die"

* Next reload: same bullet & cases: Lee Universal Expander Dies to bell case mouth. Normally, 0.002 bullet tension will be in the reload case

*  Lee Neck Collet Die ... TIGHTER BULLET FITS delivered from the factory, the collet die will grip the bullet with a light press fit with cases of average hard-ness. For a tighter fit, you can anneal the case neck or polish the decapper mandrel .001 smaller. Do not go beyond .001 smaller as there will be no increase in bullet pull, and a decrease in accuracy as the bullet will then be sizing the neck as it is inserted. OPTION The collet die provides the optimum bullet fit for maximum accuracy and case life. Should you desire a tighter fit, and are not able or willing to polish the mandrel or anneal the case neck, you can order a custom mandrel from the factory

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Buffalo Arms Co. (Baco)

 

https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloading-supplies-accessories/custom-bullet-expander-balls

 

This device will expand the case to a desired ID (usually .002 under bullet size) and at the same time, expand (not flare) the case to .001 over bullet size. Allows the reloader to insert bullet in a straight tube for about 1/4".  

 

John Boy, I use the Lee Neck Sizer  Collet die with a .375  (38-55) mandrel. Then I run the case onto the BACO expander with a mandrel of .375 and the case expander of .379. I use a .377 bullet. The mandrel in the neck sizer starts at .310, about halfway goes to .340 and ends up at .375. 

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I used a .30-30 to win the long range event at Comin' Back Atcha 2018...  I think that far target was in the neighborhood of 300-350 yards.   My Winchester 94 is a full octagon 26" bbl with tang peep and globe front sight.  My loads are 27 grains of RE7 behind a hardcast 150 grain GCFN traveling @ 2160fps (ave.).    I've won a couple of long range shoots where the shoot-off occured at 400 yards  (One of those against a hundred year old  30WCF rifle)....   Yep, windy days are whole nuther story... but if the weather is cooperating, even my little 16" Trapper in .30-30 can ding those silhouette pigs with boring regularity.  (300 meters).  I just love to whoop up on some dunderhead that under-estimates the little ol' "thuty-thuty"!  :P

 

Maintain a positive attitude...  there's already more than enough gun writers that say a .30-30 isn't capable of killing deer... and shots over 100 yards are just luck...  need we add to that myth?  Personally, I beg to differ... with them and ALL those here that na-say the world's finest, (and may I remind others), first commercial smokeless cartridge!   (Yeah, yeah... on the American continent)!  It hasn't lost a single step in its 125 years of existence.

 

Have I been beat by .45-70s & 38-55s, sure... but I've beaten my fair share of those...   (Afterall, there are better shooters than me out there... somewhere)!!!  Practice, practice, then practice some more.  Shoot that rifle in all sorts of conditions, at all sorts of ranges, get to be "ONE" with your rifle.  Work with your rifle to improve its inherent accuracy, work with your load to improve its inherent accuracy... then work to improve YOUR inherent accuracy.  

 

 

 

 

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13 hours ago, Griff said:

 My Winchester 94 is a full octagon 26" bbl with tang peep and globe front sight. 

 

Ah, the magic words.   Yes, with an octagon barrel that long, or longer, and with good sights, yes, the .30-30 is capable of good accuracy at ranges much farther than 150 yards, which is why I want to get one.   But if all you've got, like me, is a 20" round barrel with ordinary buckhorn sights, then it becomes a bit more of a challenge to do the longer ragnes.  Yes, I know.   You can do it with you 16" model at some indeterminate range, but well, I am in awe you for being able to do so.  I know I can't.   In all fairness to myself, I bet I could to better with a different loading more well suited to the longer long ranges, but I am too lazy to work one up.  

 

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HK,

 

The 20" Winchester mdl 94 carbine in .30-30 is no slouch in the accuracy department.  However, all of them can stand some improvement in the sights, as well as removing any pressure points on the barrel, generally at the rear barrel band and along the forend.  Keeping rounds in the magazine at a constant number also minimizes the pressure the front band places out there where it does the least good as the barrel gets hot during long strings of fire.  The only real advantage the 26" have is the additional sight radius.  (Ok, the octagon bbl is a bit stiffer than the round...)  But let's not overstate its value.

 

If you want to know just how much accuracy you can wring out of a mdl 94 carbine (or rifle for that matter), take off the magazine, bands, forend and shoot it like a single shot.  Place your front rest under the receiver... truly free-float the barrel.  After you've developed a 1-hole load, start assembling that magazine and find out where you need to remove pressure on the barrel to keep it as close to free-floating as possible.  

 

I suspect you'll be amazed at what the ubiquitous mdl 94 can do!

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I use my dad's .30-30 too. Just a run of the mill job from the 60's. It shoots just fine to 300 yards. 

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19 hours ago, Griff said:

HK,

 

The 20" Winchester mdl 94 carbine in .30-30 is no slouch in the accuracy department.  However, all of them can stand some improvement in the sights, as well as removing any pressure points on the barrel, generally at the rear barrel band and along the forend.  Keeping rounds in the magazine at a constant number also minimizes the pressure the front band places out there where it does the least good as the barrel gets hot during long strings of fire.  The only real advantage the 26" have is the additional sight radius.  (Ok, the octagon bbl is a bit stiffer than the round...)  But let's not overstate its value.

 

If you want to know just how much accuracy you can wring out of a mdl 94 carbine (or rifle for that matter), take off the magazine, bands, forend and shoot it like a single shot.  Place your front rest under the receiver... truly free-float the barrel.  After you've developed a 1-hole load, start assembling that magazine and find out where you need to remove pressure on the barrel to keep it as close to free-floating as possible.  

 

I suspect you'll be amazed at what the ubiquitous mdl 94 can do!

 

 

I'll go along with all of that.  In fact, I will also admit that switching from a closer to minimum loading to a closer to maximum one gave me better performance.  I've no doubt that with the right combination of stuff that I could make it work at longer ranges.   I guess I've just been happier keeping the .30-30 for "shorter long range" and using the .45-70 for "longer long range."   Curiously, I have found that the .30-40 has excellent accuracy over the whole spectrum from 100 to 500 yards.  Of course, it's rare that a gun in that caliber is actually allowed in CAS, but it's still a good shooter.

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Of course, it's rare that a gun in that caliber is actually allowed in CAS,

It's a bolt action :angry: ... it was one of only three rounds chambered for the 1895 Winchester lever action, introduced in 1896.[3]:D

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1 hour ago, John Boy said:

It's a bolt action :angry: ... it was one of only three rounds chambered for the 1895 Winchester lever action, introduced in 1896.[3]:D

 

The .30-40 is a bolt action?   It's a cartridge.   The two best known rifles it's chambered for are the US Krag rifle, which is a bolt action, and the Winchester 95, which is a lever action.   Neither gun is normally allowed in SASS events, other than perhaps the elusive "Open" category in long range side matches.

 

As far as the 95 goes, it was chambered for the following...

 

.30-40

.30 Russian

.405 Winchester

.30-'03

.36-'06

.303 British

 

That's six rounds.  Or did you mean chamberings available in 1896?  

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