got a barrel

todd

Well-Known Member
when my dad died, he had a TC Contender in a 14" factory muzzle brake in 7x30 Waters. now it is mine and i don't have issue with 7x30 Waters...i loathe the muzzle brake!!!! so i was going put to on a 10" barrel in 45 Colt, but i thought a 357 Herrett would be the bee's knees. so i bought a TC Contender 10" barrel in 30 Herrett
from an auction.


i got like 400 new pcs of 30-30 starline brass (i bought 500 pcs for the 35/30-30) and they are in my drawer, waiting. now i'm on the lookout for 30 Herrett dies. i about choked when i seen the price of jacketed bullets. sheesh, i'll use cast boolits, thank you very much.

the 10" barrel comes with open sights and i will see if i can use them. my eyes ain't what they used to be. (nearsightedness but i have prescription glasses)

i was cruisin' around on e-don't-say-it-y and i bought a cheap set of old Lee 30 Herrett dies, it was either that or buy new dies for $100.

i'll use it to hunt close cover deer (150lbs +/-), 60 yards and under (30-40yards is average). i am thinking of hollow point and since i don't have a mold, i think i'll buy the boolits. the 30 Herrett will shoot a 130gr gc hp or a 150gr gc rnhp boolits. i'll load it at 1700-1900fps.

would you either choose the 130gr or the 150gr?

30 caliber 130 grain gas check hollow point lead bullets [30-130-HP-GC-309] - $19.14 : GT Bullets!, Fine Hand Cast Lead Bullets

30 caliber 150 grain gas check hollow point lead bullets [30-150-HP-309-rifle] - $20.80 : GT Bullets!, Fine Hand Cast Lead Bullets
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
when my dad died, he had a TC Contender in a 14" factory muzzle brake in 7x30 Waters. now it is mine and i don't have issue with 7x30 Waters...i loathe the muzzle brake!!!! so i was going put to on a 10" barrel in 45 Colt, but i thought a 357 Herrett would be the bee's knees. so i bought a TC Contender 10" barrel in 30 Herrett
from an auction.


i got like 400 new pcs of 30-30 starline brass (i bought 500 pcs for the 35/30-30) and they are in my drawer, waiting. now i'm on the lookout for 30 Herrett dies. i about choked when i seen the price of jacketed bullets. sheesh, i'll use cast boolits, thank you very much.

the 10" barrel comes with open sights and i will see if i can use them. my eyes ain't what they used to be. (nearsightedness but i have prescription glasses)

i was cruisin' around on e-don't-say-it-y and i bought a cheap set of old Lee 30 Herrett dies, it was either that or buy new dies for $100.

i'll use it to hunt close cover deer (150lbs +/-), 60 yards and under (30-40yards is average). i am thinking of hollow point and since i don't have a mold, i think i'll buy the boolits. the 30 Herrett will shoot a 130gr gc hp or a 150gr gc rnhp boolits. i'll load it at 1700-1900fps.

would you either choose the 130gr or the 150gr?

30 caliber 130 grain gas check hollow point lead bullets [30-130-HP-GC-309] - $19.14 : GT Bullets!, Fine Hand Cast Lead Bullets

30 caliber 150 grain gas check hollow point lead bullets [30-150-HP-309-rifle] - $20.80 : GT Bullets!, Fine Hand Cast Lead Bullets
I'd cast my own rather than use "hardcast", probably undersized commercial. And I'd go 150-ish, but not "hardcast hollow points", which should be an oxymoron!
 
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richhodg66

Well-Known Member
My cast bullets for deer have been the advice I was given when I started; heavy for caliber (in a .30, I take that as 165 grains +) with a flat nose. Cast of 50/50 COWW/Pure with 2% tin added, push to about 1800 FPS. Decent accuracy is not hard to get for 100 yard deer hunting for me, and that combo has cleanly killed deer at woods ranges for me.

I don't know much about the .30 Herret, but it doesn't seem like it can be that much different. The Ranch Dog .30-30 bullet is a good one if you can find one or a clone of it.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
I have used GT before & they offer alloy choices, size choices and sold as cast too! I bought a couple time when considering a new mold or for a weight I didnt have but wanted to try. I was very happy. Still have some.

They should do you well if ya not gonna make your own.

CW
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
....

30 caliber 130 grain gas check hollow point lead bullets [30-130-HP-GC-309] - $19.14 : GT Bullets!, Fine Hand Cast Lead Bullets

30 caliber 150 grain gas check hollow point lead bullets [30-150-HP-309-rifle] - $20.80 : GT Bullets!, Fine Hand Cast Lead Bullets
Todd, the Ranch Dog of which others speak is very accurate in my 30/30.

I'd be happy to make a donation for the sake of the experiment with this new barrel.

PM me if interested.
 

todd

Well-Known Member
I have used GT before & they offer alloy choices, size choices and sold as cast too! I bought a couple time when considering a new mold or for a weight I didnt have but wanted to try. I was very happy. Still have some.

They should do you well if ya not gonna make your own.

CW

i don't have a hp mold......yet!!! i was thinking about the same thing, i don't have it, but i want to try.


My cast bullets for deer have been the advice I was given when I started; heavy for caliber (in a .30, I take that as 165 grains +) with a flat nose. Cast of 50/50 COWW/Pure with 2% tin added, push to about 1800 FPS. Decent accuracy is not hard to get for 100 yard deer hunting for me, and that combo has cleanly killed deer at woods ranges for me.

I don't know much about the .30 Herret, but it doesn't seem like it can be that much different. The Ranch Dog .30-30 bullet is a good one if you can find one or a clone of it.

i have a 165gr Ranch Dog mold and it kills deer "D-E-A-D" for my 30-40 Krag going 1926fps. i used to have a Win m94 in 30-30 (now it is a 35/30-30 aka JES Reboring) and with jacketed factory bullets, i can't tell you how many deer i have killed in my younger days.

i would go to K Mart and it would be $7 or $8 for a box of 30-30 cartridges ( $10 or $11 for the '06). then one day, it is around $10 or $11 for the 30-30 and $15 or $16 for the '06. i paid it and the next year, i was a handloader in kindergarten. i graduated the jacketed bullets class and i went to cast boolits and re-form brass college, where i still go.

i'll tell you a story, you can go or stay. i believe it was 2000 or 2001 when Remington came out with their Ultra Mags. now, they didn't bother me, i was really into the 7x57 and a lesser extent, the 7-08. but two of my friends went ga-ga and bought a 7mm RUM and a 338 RUM because they just had to have the best and fastest cartridges. in the areas we hunted a RUM ballistics are not needed. usually we were hunting deer and at 40-50 yards is a long shot. my friend (RIP) would go out for 3 days to hunt black bear and their range was around 20-30 yards. then they would tell me about the RUM ballistics, how little it dropped and how much ft/lbs that it generated. (ft/lbs is a joke brought on by the rifle manufacturers) then the day came to buy the ammunition, it took months to buy ammo. i was PO'd when cartridges went up $3 - $5, when my friend showed me his receipt, my mouth hung open... a box of 338 RUM (20 cartridges) was $115 - $120 excluding tax. my other friend never showed or told me how much the 7mm RUM were.

i shot the 338 RUM one time (only once with one cartridge) and the recoil to me, was worse than the 460 Weatherby mag. might have been stock design, the lack of a butt pad.....whatever, it still hurts!!!
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Apologies! When I read the commercial cast description I read "hand cast" as "hard cast"! I suppose I'm just too used to seeing that term in every commercial cast advertisement.

Regardless, I'd go with a FP, not HP, and would consider .309 pretty darn skinny for most US made 30 cals.
 

todd

Well-Known Member
the hardest i ever cast for is the Lyman #2. it was COWW but i can't find it anymore and antimony was already mixed in (Lyman #2/COWW). antimony is a mystery to me because i never hardened the boolits, even a water quench. i guess i'm old skool in that way.

i was kinda leery about using a 30 caliber on cast, but the 165gr Ranch Dog fixed me on that.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
The Lyman 311316 did it for me. What that little FN will do at 1800- 2000+ fps is eye opening. A cow carcass is a lot tougher than a coyote or small deer. As long as you don't push them so hard they fly to pieces they will do amazing work. But something heavier carrying more energy is even better!