Hey All, I've been lurking here for awhile now and I'm thinking of getting a Marlin XLR in 30-30. My idea would be to have this be a dedicated cast bullet gun.

In using Beartooth bullets (probably 160 or 170), what would be the expansion on deer? Are they too hard to expand much? I'm guessing my MV will be around 1900 fps. If they do expand reliably on deer, at what velocity do they stop expanding adequately?

I really like the idea of getting quality cast bullets like this. Any advice on loads for recommended muzzle velocity, etc. would be appreciated.

Thanks.

John

Welcome to the forum. If you've been lurking, you'll know the rules are to join in and be polite.

Beartooth bullets are mainly flat meplat designs and not expanding designs. The flat meplat creates a much bigger wound channel than just the bullet diameter and seem to provide a better balance of wound channel size and penetration than many expanding bullets do. That is especially advantageous on tough game.

I will move your post to the levergun forum so others who have worked with these bullets in your specific chambering can offer suggestions.

Welcome to the forum John.

Folks are getting excellent results from Marshall's bullets and I'd think that they would be good for any ranges the 30-30 is capable of shooting accurately. I'm not a cast bullet shooter in rifles, but have killed deer and black bear with cast bullets in my 41 and 44 mag handguns out to 200 yards.

Welcome to the forum. If you've been lurking, you'll know the rules are to join in and be polite.

Beartooth bullets are mainly flat meplat designs and not expanding designs. The flat meplat creates a much bigger wound channel than just the bullet diameter and seem to provide a better balance of wound channel size and penetration than many expanding bullets do. That is especially advantageous on tough game.

I will move your post to the levergun forum so others who have worked with these bullets in your specific chambering can offer suggestions.

If the meplat is the same diameter on a .357 bullet as it is on a .44, or .45 bulllet, does the larger bullet still create a much larger wound channel, or does the added weight, etc. just aid penetration?

Cannot speak for a deer sized animal, but using the BTB 160 FNGC at about 230 yards I shot a large woodchuck[ground hog] at a friend's farm.
I had aimed for center mass of the animals chest, but the bullet struck the chuck in the jaw where it meets the neck, and darned near tore the head off the animal. Never recovered the bullet.
Bullet was launched from a Remingtom 700 Police, 20" barrel. Load was 40 grains of IMR 4064.

You can anneal the noses a bit for some expansion, it's in the Technical Guide that Beartooth sells.

Been intending to try both annealed and non-annealed noses on pigs, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

I can assure you that .35 cal rifle bullets don't need any expansion for critters. Below that, no direct experience.