I have an 1895 produced Winchester M1894 in .30-30, express sights, round 26" barrel, takedown.

I currently reload for my Marlin and Winchester .30-30's with a fairly light cast bullet load. I use a Lyman 170gr cast gas check bullet over 10gr of Unique. According to the manuals, it should give me around 1550fps, and is extremely accurate out of my Marlin out to 100 yards.

I am interested in loading for my Winchester using the original ballistics and bullet type. Back in 1895, were they still using cast bullets? What velocity were they up to?

Thanks.

Someonw ill correct mer, bujt belive the 30-30 was intorduced using jacketed bullets...only factory loads using lead were light "gallery" loads (and even those were also offered with FMJ bullets).

Was the original load a 160gr. or a 165gr. bullet? Memory tells me it wasn't the standard 150 or 170gr. bullet we consider standard today.

Hawgleg44,

PLease see: http://shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?t=7806 for original loading info and history.

John

Thank you very much for the info. I guess my load I'm using now is quite mild compared to even the original loading. It just shoots so well in my Micro Groove Marlin that I didn't experiment any faster than the approximate 1550fps I'm shooting now.

Another question, and it's probably better posted in another forum, but here it goes anyway. Do you think a 170gr cast bullet, travelling at 1550fps is adequate for close range (50-75 yards) boar? I know that at 100 yards, it's got enough power to penetrate through one side of a gas grill propane tank, but that doesn't really tell much. At that velocity, I don't know if I would get adequate penetration in a boar.

Hawgleg44,

What is your guns serial number? The first 1894 in 30WCF (30/30) was built on May 29, 1895 according to Winchester records.

Hawgleg,
I found this magazine article by Dave Scovill.
the Winchester 1889 catalog lists the 30WCF with 160 gr Softnose or Fullpatch bullets with 30 gr smokeless pdr.
Also a 100 gr lead bullet with 6 gr smokeless pdr.
In 1905 the standard load was 170 gr and the light load was 117 gr bullet.
In 1915 a 150 gr bullet was added,at 2370 FPS and a 170gr load at 1925 FPS.
In 1965 the 150gr load was boosted to 2410 FPS,probaby in a 26 inch barrel.
Frank

Hawgleg44,

What is your guns serial number? The first 1894 in 30WCF (30/30) was built on May 29, 1895 according to Winchester records.

DLS-I just went back and reread my post and saw that I put down the wrong year. My Winchester was made in 1895, with a SN of 1601x. It's a great shooter, and I haven't seen one in this configuration at any of the gunshows where the Winchester Collectors Society has been. When I have the extra cash (which probably won't be for a while), I plan to get a letter from the Cody Firearms Museum on it.

With the cast bullet load that I mentioned above, the express sights are regulated perfectly at 50, 100 and 200 yards.

Kragman-Thanks for that info.