Copper Plated 30-30 Bullets

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Jimbo357mag

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Some time ago there was a thread about the 30-30 and it was mentioned that Berry's makes a 150gr copper plated 30-30 bullet. I have contemplated trying these out so Friday I got my shipment of 500 bullets (free shipping) from Barry's. Hey 6gun if you would like to try a few, let me know.

I have a Marlin 336 with the micro-groove barrel. As such I have read pro and con about shooting lead and concluded that lead bullets without gas check probably wouldn't work well for my me and those cost almost as much as jacketed bullets. The copper plated seemed like a logical choice. They run about 1/2 the cost of jacketed bullets.

I loaded up a few of the new bullets Friday night to take to the range on Saturday morning. I started shooting my usual Varget and W748 jacketed loads. Finally time to try out the new bullets. They state right on the box that max velocity is 1950fps. Well a reduced load of H4895 of around 28.0 or 29.0gr with a 150gr bullet should give me around 2000fps. I thought this would be a good starting place and if they flew apart I would lower the charge the next time.

I shot only two targets 28.0 grain and 29.0 grain. I must have hit a sweet spot with the 29.0gr. I am stoked to say the least. The groups are a little lower than normal because of the reduced recoil of the load but I am still thrilled and can't wait to try a bunch more of these new bullets.

Note the dimple on the flat point of the bullet. btw, they loaded nicely with the Lee Factory Crimp Die.



5-shot groups at 50 yards.

 

pps

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Your bullets are not going to fly apart at any 30-30 velocity. If you size your bullets properly they will not lead your barrel either. My lube is simply beeswax, enough vaseline to make it flow through the lube sizer, and Johnson's Paste Wax to leave the bore as smooth as a baby's butt.

I'm pushing my 150 grain cast a bit more than 2500 ft/sec with no leading. I might back down on velocity to get them to group better than the 3" I'm presently getting at 100 yrds but they do not come apart unless they hit something.

Wheel Weight 1:1 with lead for the hollow point gives a soft varmint round that blows itself apart upon impact, whereas the solid with ww heat treated to a BHN 18 (if you trust some of the testing equipment)

2015%2008%2023_9931_edited-1_zpsdsixng0b.jpg


solid%20versus%20hollow%20point_zpsa63a37aq.jpg


The solid penetrated about 2 feet of mulch, the one on the right went about 15 to 16" but blew A LOT of mulch out of the trap
 

Jimbo357mag

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pps said:
Your bullets are not going to fly apart at any 30-30 velocity. If you size your bullets properly they will not lead your barrel either. My lube is simply beeswax, enough vaseline to make it flow through the lube sizer, and Johnson's Paste Wax to leave the bore as smooth as a baby's butt.

I'm pushing my 150 grain cast a bit more than 2500 ft/sec with no leading. I might back down on velocity to get them to group better than the 3" I'm presently getting at 100 yrds but they do not come apart unless they hit something.
I have admired your 30-30 rounds and the work you do with those bullets but I am not into casting, lubing, and sizing at this time. So my choices are limited to factory bullets and of those not many lead bullets, unless equipped with gas checks, will shoot as good as the jacketed bullets I normally shoot. These copper plated bullets are a nice alternative for about 1/2 the cost.

As far as flying apart, I guess what I meant was shedding some of the plating and not being stable. :D
 

Jimbo357mag

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Big Old Boy said:
Did you try to crimp them???
Yes. I mentioned that I put a crimp on them with the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It worked well. I would say it was a light crimp but there was no movement of the bullet when I pushed on the bullet very hard. The Lee FCD doesn't put a roll crimp on the 30-30 it uses four hands to put a crease around the end of the cartridge. :D

http://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/rifle-dies/factory-crimp-die/

 

mr surveyor

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Jimbo

You've got my attention. I've been considering trying the same thing just for inexpensive trigger time with my old 336 but didn't want to spend a whole lot of time trying to clean up a mess.

I hope you keep this thread updated :)


jd
 

Jimbo357mag

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mr surveyor said:
Jimbo

You've got my attention. I've been considering trying the same thing just for inexpensive trigger time with my old 336 but didn't want to spend a whole lot of time trying to clean up a mess.

I hope you keep this thread updated :)


jd
I will be shooting some more soon. I will probably bracket that 29.0gr load of H4895, a half grain either side, and make sure that is the best load. I will also be looking for flyers that might indicate a problem with the plating and get the chrono out to see what the velocity actually is.
 

mr surveyor

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Jimbo

I would be particularly interested to know what extent of bore cleaning you experience with the plated bullets. The .308 sizing, even plated, sounds a bit small for the Marlin bore ... which is the only reason I haven't bought a test batch. So, yeah, I'm going to mooch off your experience in this endeavor :)


jd
 

Jimbo357mag

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Bucks Owin said:
Jimbo357mag said:
I will also be looking for flyers that might indicate a problem with the plating....

What?!? Expand on this notion please... :roll:
When plated bullets are shot too fast some of the plating can get ripped off from the rifling. Happens with handgun plated bullets a lot and can happen with plated rifle bullets easily. That's why you don't see many plated rifle bullets. Plated bullets usually have a speed rating or like Rainier's they say to use lead bullet loading data.

I have found that using slower powders can help some with this problem. :D
 

6gun

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Jimbo357mag said:
Big Old Boy said:
Did you try to crimp them???
Yes. I mentioned that I put a crimp on them with the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It worked well. I would say it was a light crimp but there was no movement of the bullet when I pushed on the bullet very hard. The Lee FCD doesn't put a roll crimp on the 30-30 it uses four hands to put a crease around the end of the cartridge. :D

http://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/rifle-dies/factory-crimp-die/



Have you pulled a bullet to see if you broke through the plating when you crimped? that is my concern with using plated bullets with no cannelure also my bullets have to be well crimped for being stacked in a tubular magazine as well as for recoil so they don't back into the case not sure I trust using a non cannelured bullet for those two reasons.

I would like to hear the result's using some Trail Boss powder should you try doing some.
 

mr surveyor

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6gun said:
Jimbo357mag said:
Big Old Boy said:
Did you try to crimp them???
Yes. I mentioned that I put a crimp on them with the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It worked well. I would say it was a light crimp but there was no movement of the bullet when I pushed on the bullet very hard. The Lee FCD doesn't put a roll crimp on the 30-30 it uses four hands to put a crease around the end of the cartridge. :D

http://leeprecision.com/reloading-dies/rifle-dies/factory-crimp-die/



Have you pulled a bullet to see if you broke through the plating when you crimped? that is my concern with using plated bullets with no cannelure also my bullets have to be well crimped for being stacked in a tubular magazine as well as for recoil so they don't back into the case not sure I trust using a non cannelured bullet for those two reasons.

I would like to hear the result's using some Trail Boss powder should you try doing some.


Ditto the Trail Boss .... and maybe a 7 - 8 gr load of Unique.

I also have some reservations about the non-cannelure bullet, and I do have the Lee collet FCD for 30-30 as well.

JD
 

Jimbo357mag

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I will run a couple of tests on crimp strength and post the results for you guys. I have no doubts about them because I shoot a lot of handgun copper plated bullets and have had no problems with cutting the plating or with bullet movement. The secret to a good crimp with a plated bullet is to make sure the inside of the case is smooth by reaming with a chamfer and deburring tool. Even a light to medium crimp, as viewed from the side, will hold the bullet well. :D
 

pps

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Jimbo357mag said:
I will run a couple of tests on crimp strength and post the results for you guys. I have no doubts about them because I shoot a lot of handgun copper plated bullets and have had no problems with cutting the plating or with bullet movement. The secret to a good crimp with a plated bullet is to make sure the inside of the case is smooth by reaming with a chamfer and deburring tool. Even a light to medium crimp, as viewed from the side, will hold the bullet well. :D

Also, you might try belling the case ever so slightly. I do this for cast, but it should help in not scraping copper off the bullet for your plated boolits.
 

Tom W

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I do believe plated bullets are supposed to be loaded with Cast data. Never bothered with them, as my cast for my 30/30 does great with tumble lubed bullets. Sometimes I'll even hand lube a few and run them through a 309 Lee sizer just to see if they'd do any different. I like IMR 3031.
 

Jimbo357mag

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Well I did some testing of the neck tension and bullet crimp on the copper plated 30-30 bullets and the results were pretty much as predicted. Left to right. #1 an almost new Hornady case and #2 and #3 much reloaded RP cases. The #1 Hornady case I did not crimp. On numbers 2 and 3 I gave them a light crimp with the Lee FCD. I also noted that the neck tension was not good on #3. I then tried pushing down on the bullets, one at a time while they were on a bathroom scale using a couple blocks of wood. All of them took 30lbs of push with no movement of the bullet. I then went to 40lbs and then to 50 lbs. There was no movement of the bullets at all until I got to the last one and the bullet pushed in at about 45lbs.



I then pulled the bullets using an inertia puller and looked at the bullets. There is only a slight dent around the two that I crimped so from now on I am going to put a little more force on the crimping tool.

 

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