30-30 Cat Sneeze Loads
Posted: 10 Mar 2019 21:13
Even though I've been on a 2 month stretch devoted to the .45 acp, I got distracted. Actually the .45 acp distracted me from the .44 mag ... etc.... For some reason I got nostalgic about the 30-30 a few days ago and decided yesterday I'd load a couple dozen of my favorite 30-30 cat sneeze loads. These are from the batch of Lee mold cast 150 rnfp g/c bullets I got from a local buddy (they are closer to 143 gr) with 9.0 gr of Unique, mixed brass, S&B primers. Last year while working up a load the accuracy for my 336 settled at the 9.0 load, and over 3-4 chrony tests it averages 1460 fps. On the target it's 5 shots with three holes ... if it weren't for those two wild flyers it would have made a good group
There was a bit too much going on at the range for me to stretch them out at 100 yards but I did get to shoot a couple rounds at 100 .... they were about 1/2 inch apart, proper windage and six inches low. I would like to see how they group at 100, but the wind has to be just right. I'd imagine I've shot between 80 and a hundred of this load in the last year in 5 and 10 round groups, and all have been consistent groups around 1 inch or so at 50 yards. It's this load that made me make a statement on another forum about squirrels and rabbits. I figure if I was into reloading 50 years ago and had a 30-30, that rifle would have ended up being the only small game rifle I'd ever shoot, as well as using it for it's intended purpose of larger game.
There was a bit too much going on at the range for me to stretch them out at 100 yards but I did get to shoot a couple rounds at 100 .... they were about 1/2 inch apart, proper windage and six inches low. I would like to see how they group at 100, but the wind has to be just right. I'd imagine I've shot between 80 and a hundred of this load in the last year in 5 and 10 round groups, and all have been consistent groups around 1 inch or so at 50 yards. It's this load that made me make a statement on another forum about squirrels and rabbits. I figure if I was into reloading 50 years ago and had a 30-30, that rifle would have ended up being the only small game rifle I'd ever shoot, as well as using it for it's intended purpose of larger game.