30-30 Flat Nose bullets in 300 Blackout

[JoeHarley13]

Didn't see many posts on this topic, but I loaded up some 125gr Sierra Flat Nose Hollow Points and some 150gr Sierra Flat Nose Soft Points to give a try. I've got several hundred of each, and I don't shoot my 30-30 much anymore.
I first made a dummy round (no powder or primer) and they seemed to feed from my 20 rd PMAG just fine (has the ribs filed down some). I'd load up 3-4 in the mag, I ran each about 6-7 times. The tips on the 125gr show a little deformation, but nothing significant. Both bullets had light "scratches" on the bullet from the feed ramps I suppose. Neither appeared to be hitting the rifling. After 6 cyclings, the bullets hadn't set back any.

Anyone else give any of these a try, seems like these would be more suited for 300 Blackout velocities if they wiill cycle correctly. Worse case, seems like it would make a good hunting bullet single fed, after all, who needs more than 1 shot Deer hunting by me is inside 75 yards. All 3 last year taken were inside 55 yards.

So, anyone try these?
125gr FNHP w/17.0gr H110, 1.900" <<--- pretty short but manually cycled fine.
150gr FNSP w/16.4gr H110, 2.050"


Left to right: 125gr Sierra Pro hunter 2.050", 125gr Sierra FNHP 1.900", 150gr Sierra FNSP 2.050", 110gr Hornady SP 2.050"

[tallburnedmidget]

There has been some discussion on the topic of 30-30 bullets used for 300 BLK. Here is one thread: http://300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=141&t=82467

It seems that the buzz on the internet is that the 30-30 bullets may or may not work. I say if you have the bullets give it a shot. The Hornady 30-30 bullets supposedly work well however they cost a pretty penny. Give all the 30-30 bullets you have a shot and report as to whether they work and give details on the load. Coal, powder, grains, gas system, barrel info, etc.

I look forward to hearing about your experience. Thanks

[JoeHarley13]

Took the AR-15 Pistol out to the range this weekend to work up some 125gr Sierra Pro Hunter loads using H110.
Also tried the Sierra 125gr FNHP & 150gr Sierra FNSP loads pictured up above. Only loaded up 5 rounds of each, since I wasn't sure if they were going to feed or not. Turns out, NO problems!
Pistol is CMMG 8.5" Pistol length gas w/ RGuns FA Nickel Boron BCG, adjustable gas block.

The 125gr FNHP @ 1.900" gave almost the exact same velocity of as the 125gr SP @ 2.050. Which made sense since they both have the same amount of bullet into the case.

The 150gr FNSP @ 2.050 with 16.4gr W296 ran much slower (1693 fps) than previously tested 150gr FMJBT @ 2.140 with 16.4gr W296 (1814 fps). Even though it was load .090" shorter, it is such a short bullet that it had .120" less bullet in the case. This resulted in lower pressure & lower velocity (-121 fps). If I was going to continue trying this bullet, I think I would see if it would run at 1.975" (which would be .045" less bullet in the case than the M80), and/or increase the amount of powder in .2gr increments. I could push a 147gr bullet to 1858fps w/17.3gr of W296. I don't see why something close to that couldn't be reached with this 150gr FNSP.

I was just excited to see that both of these bullets fed fine, although I guess 10 total rounds doesn't ensure reliablity, but it was a good sign.

Fired off (2) groups of Hornady 110 SP, no problems with them too.

[Jim Timber]

Not getting flat primers or ejector swipes with 17gr and the 147's? I was showing over pressure at 16.5gr with 150gr BT's.

[talonxracer]

Interesting, if they cycle fine they would be a decent home defense and shouldn't over penetrate too badly. I'll have to give them a try.

[JoeHarley13]

No, the primers looked fine, still had a rounded edge on 4 out of 5 of the primers, the 5th was a bit flat. The previous group of 5 looked good too. Using Win 5.56 cases cut down. CCI 400's.
2 out of 10 cases (17.0gr & 17.3gr) had ejector marks. Not swipes, but slight tears (raised mark on the brass). Not sure if it is a bolt velocity issue, but it wasn't the typical swipe mark. Running a standard carbine buffer. They were not as bad as some of my Factory Hornady 6.8 SPC ammo (110gr VMAX). I might try turning the gas down 1 click on my adjustable gas block to see if that clears it.

That said, you'll see I didn't get any velocity increases above 16.8gr. I may run another larger batch to confirm, but otherwise, I will probably load 16.8gr going forward since I didn't see any velocity increases. All ES velocities were good/consistent. Firm crimps applied.

[Jim Timber]

Interesting. Your numbers do look pretty good. As long as accuracy was acceptable, I'd agree not to push any faster than you need to.

Using 150gr hornady interlock's over 15.5gr of H110, I was able to make a 3 shot cloverleaf at 100yds that fit under my thumbnail. No clue on velocity, but that's my best group out of the rifle to date.

[blaster]

I have killed 2 hogs with Hornandy 150 gr flat points and 16.2 gr of H-110. the 140 lb sow was hit behind the ear. the bullet went thru the back of the skull and out the jowel and into the ground. she dropped in her tracks. the 200+ lb boar was a quartering away shot about 35 yds. the bullet went in thru the rear of the rib cage into the chest cavity. he went about 20 yds and died. that bullet didn't pass thru and I wanted to recover it but we were shooting nuciance hogs in an orange grove and we left them for buzzard food. (the sow was a different hunt and no meat was wasted)
I havent had any feeding problem with those bullets from a variety of AR mags.

[JoeHarley13]

Awesome, but you know the rules, it didn't happen without a picture!!

I've settled on 16.4gr @ 1.975" and they seem to feed fine. I only get about 1720 fps out of a 8.5" barrel. 17.0gr got 1797 fps but is a pretty hot load.

Thanks for the update, & enjoy the sausage & BBQ..

[smokepole]

It would be interesting to do a distance test on the flat nose in a bolt gun
just to see at what distance they start to lose stability. Most of us would agree
that accuracy is first priority but keyholing is not a dirty word. I find a lot of
lever gun flat nose bullets at gun shows that most people walk right by.