30-30 Win OAL issue

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SRE

New member
Reloaded some new 30-30 rounds and I ran in to a discrepancy. So the bullets call for a for a 2.550 min OAL. Was loading them longer than that number but after I pressed about 20 I inserted one in the chamber of the rifle that I really like as my everyday shooter. A 1964 Winchester Model 1894. Of course I was pointing it down range etc...

When I went to close the lever all the way I noticed it was more difficult than usual. I knew right away what happened... the bullet touched the rifling and then proceeded to be pushed further in the case mouth. The OAL is now 2.530. Shorter than the recommended OAL.

These are a new load I'm working up. and they're probably hot. 32g Varget under Barnes 150g TSX FN BT. Can this minor change in OAL dramatically increase pressures to unsafe levels or cause some other issue?
 
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Brian Pfleuger

Moderator Emeritus
If that bullet is jammed into the rifling, which it obviously is if it's getting pushed back, you will have a dramatic pressure increase.

You should be starting at starting loads and working up. There should be no "they're probably hot".

You can not load the TSX lines of bullet using data for regular cup and core bullets. They are monolithic bullets and considerably longer than an ordinary bullet of the same weight. Barnes load data suggests an OAL of 2.470 with that bullet is .30-30.

Ultimately though, the number given for OAL of rifle cartridges is nothing more than an indication of what they used in their testing. You are free to adjust it as you see fit, such as it fits and functions in your gun, so long as you start at starting loads (specific to bullet type) and work up.
 
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SRE

New member
Copy that. And I agree. 32g Varget is what Barnes stated in their email reply. I emailed them few days ago after someone recommended I do so as I was searching for data I could not find.

Thanks for your input.
 
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Tom Matiska

New member
Some of today's 30-30 offerings have more ogive than the standard bullets of yesteryear. others. Load notes for the Barnes recommend trimming cases to 2.030 (SAMMI max 2.040). Hornady recommends 2.029" for their FTX. If you try the FTX use load data specific to that bullet as case volume is reduced several grains.

An older pre '64 in the family is the first one I have length issues with. A later angle eject one has more free bore to play with.
 
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chiefr

New member
Lever guns are picky about OALs. If you exceed OALs, your bullets will not chamber from tube magazines and some receiver magazines. If you decide to exceed OALs, I would check for function by filling your magazine and cycling first.
The 30-30 is the most common lever cartridge in use today. Savage made bolt guns in 30-30 for many years. These bolt guns allow you to experiment with loads that exceed OAL, plus you can use spitzer bullets.
 
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1ruralmailman

New member
i am pretty sure,though i am away from my bench right now but my wifes 30 30 i load at 27.5 grains of varget behind hornady ftx.43 seems pretty hot to start out with.
 
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Slamfire

New member
Work your loads up if you have a short throat.

My M336 Marlin, the throat is so far up the barrel that I never was able to soft seat a bullet. I put one round in with a bullet seated way out. It never touched the rifling. The long seated round would not eject. The bullet was too far up into the receiver opening, when the base of the round hit the ejector, the bullet was still inside the sidewalls. I had to remove the lever to get the round out of the rifle.
 
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totaldla

New member
My Marlin 336 "educated" me when I tried my hand at loading 110gr flat point plinkers. I discovered that the profile of that bullet required a much shorter OAL than what I was used to - but that was the first time I had tried a stubby bullet.

Turns out that there was lots of previous experience I could leverage on forums, as I wasn't the only guy to try this. And it looks like there is plenty of experience with the Barnes products here too.

The 2.550" OAL is mostly the upper limit to what the action can handle. In Marlin's case, exceeding 2.6" is a great way to jam them up.

Have fun!
 
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