Advice on pointed bullets for my .30-30

[Mike Britton]

Mike Britton here. I just got a nice .30-30 Handi-Rifle, and was wondering what pointed bullet brand and style everyone is using in their .30-30's ?

[canon6]

Paco Kelly over at Leverguns  likes the Speer 130gr,I have used the 125gr Nosler BT.It is was very accurate in my wifes 30-30.I am not sure you need premium bullets at the velocities of the 30-30.I have since used only cast bullets in it.  hth   Doug

[Kurt L]

Hi Mike.
I had some good luck with the speer 125 TNT bullet in my Encore.
many people say the Nosler balistic tip bullets perform well.have not shot them myself.
the main thing is performance of the bullet,most have too heavy of a jacket and won't expand on impact.
like remington 150 psp is made for 30-06 etc and don't expand well I shot a seirra 165 hp and it just bent like a bannana.
I shot some 150 Rem psp bullets to form out some 375 win cases in the 30-30 and just tossed in some 748 33grains of
it and for not given a hoot just tossed them togather they shot very good.
I am ordering a couple boxes of hornady 150 sst tipped bullets to try today.
good luck with your new toy as I am sure you will like it.Kurt

[tn_junk]

I shot Remington 125 grain PSP's in my .30-30 Handi for years. The gun loved them, the deer hated them.

alan

[dpe.ahoy]

Ditto, most heavier pointed bullets are for faster speeds.  Waiting to here back on those SST's when you find out.  Just got my 30-30 handi sighted in so am intrested also.  DP.

[lefty41]

Why not try the Hornady LeverEvolution 165 grain? It is a pointed bullet and designed for 30/30 velocities. OOPS! You are trying to find the right bullet to reload and Hornady hasn't released those new little pointy bullets for that, have they. Sorry for being off base.

[Kurt L]

I will tell everyone how the SST bullets work when I get them and test some.
I also made a post on reloading section to see if anyone has tried them and has any good loads.
Kurt

[oneshotonekill]

I shoot the hornady 130sp and the nosler 125bt thru mine.  It does great with both of those bullets.

[coyotejoe]

I can well understand the temptation to IMPROVE the 30/30 with pointed bullets, but really, the 30/30 is a 200 yard cartridge at best and within 200 yards the difference between a spire point and a flat nose is less than 200 ft.lb. of retained energy and maybe one inch of drop. To gain that theoretical advantage you are sacrificing the known and proved performance of bullets designed expressly for the 30/30 and going with a bullet you know is definitely NOT designed for the 30/30. I have taken a few deer with 130 grain bullets, Hornady spire points and Speer flat points, and they did fine, but all things considered, I prefer the known reliable performance of the 150 grain Remington core-lokt. I have more confidence in a bullet of known performance than in a questionable bullet going 200 fps faster.

[greg916]

I agree with coyotejoe. I have shot the Hornady 130 and 150 spire points, but don't see much improvement over the traditional 30-30 bullets

[Mike Britton]

Thanks for the advice guys! I had heard for years about how much better the pointed bullet was. Now I'm biginning to understand that it depends on what you consider "better performance". I may try some handloads, but I get such good performance from Winchester Silvertips in my other .30-30s that I'm very partial to it.

[BBF]

are those the old type Silvertip's that had the aluminium or German Silver metal nose cone?

[PeterCartwright]

I've used Nosler 150 gr. Ballistic Tips in my .30-30 Handi in the past.  They worked very well offering both expansion and penetration on deer.  More recently, I've become so enamoured of the Remington 150 CL factory load, I haven't been using anything else in the Handi.  It's a combination of my laziness about more reloading and the flawless function and relative economy of the Remingtons.  (I did, however, pick up 200 rds. of bulk 150 CLs to play with in my Marlins).

[Mike Britton]

Yeah,.45/70, those are the "old" Silvertips. I have a friend that deals in antique ammo, and I have a fairly steady source of vintage ammo. I have balloon head .45/70s I'm afraid to shoot even in my #1 Remington rolling block!
I can't tell that age has had much effect on group sizes. At least in my other .30-30s.
What I have read is that ammo storage is most important, that well stored ammo will stay consistant for many years.

[BBF]

I did like those old Silvertips,too bad they are not made anymore. They worked well for me in  35 Rem and 30-06. The new stuff with the painted nose isn't at all the same.

[STUMPJMPR]

I didn't know the silvertip changed...The last time i looked they were still claiming they were aluminum capped....

[Kurt L]

I got out to shoot a bit today and try the Hornady 150 SST bullets.
I have to work on a few things but at this point looks very good.
I shot some at 25 yard range with wet sand and some clay deeper in or behind the sand.
I am not posting speeds over the chroney as these are shot with 375 win cases and are
moving real good for a 30-30.
But I would say buy the looks of these they would do well at your standard 30-30 speeds
see photo and  click on it to enlarge to get a close up they have over a 3/4" mushroom.

[dpe.ahoy]

Looks to me like they would work very well on a Muley or a Whitetail.  May have to give them a try this fall.  With all these new toys, I need to make sure the kids get to try some of the new ones as well.   DP.