30-30 chicken load

[ChuckD]

Looking for a 30-30 load for chickens that won't damage them.
Not into cast bullets, had no lock with TrailBoss. Using H4895, have Varget and 322.
Any help?

Thanks
chuck

[Jason]

You've mentioned that you didn't have great luck with Trail Boss, but my 30-30 chicken load uses a Federal 210 primer with 10.0 grains of Trail Boss under a 110 grain Remington FMJ round nose bullet. Velocity for that over 10 shots for gives average velocity of 1533 f/s, with extreme spread of 26 f/s and standard deviation of 9.9 f/s. Accuracy is around an inch center-to-center at 50 meters (using a scope to take my aiming ability out of it), which isn't stellar but for CLA chickens is perfectly fine. I couldn't get what I consider a really accurate group size measurement due to the way that the paper target tore, but it was at most 1.1" or so. As you can probably imagine, a 110 grain bullet moving at only slightly more than 1500 f/s has recoil that's nearly nonexistent. That load uses RP brass with a very slight crimp, pretty much only enough to make sure they feed very smoothly.

[cedestech]

I got tired of trying to be nice to chickens... screw them, they get what the hogs and turkeys get....

[David M R]

I have loaded jacketed bullets instead of cast and had good luck. I would NOT use the minimum loads, but try for something close.

IMR SR4759 is made for reduced loads.

Look in a Lyman Cast bullet handbook. Mine is at home.

David

[Another Dang 9]

ChuckD bullets damage hot rolled steel. Its the targets not you.

[ChuckD]

Jason, I guess I should have defined accuracy better. What I had was a 20 click adjustment to windage needed at 50 yards. I did shoot a clean with this load, and a pleasure to shoot- but didn't like that much adjustment to have to be made. Someone offered that barrel harmonic differences may have been the reason for it. 26" Winchester octagon barrel.
Was using 9.5 Trail Boss and Fed 210.
It was consistent, may be I'll give another try.

I feel bad shooting at someone's range, them putting on a match and wrecking their equipment. My first match I almost went thru a chicken!

Thanks
chuck

[ppkny]

Chuck, Here's some 30-30 loads we're using in our 30-30 Win Buffalo Bill 26" Octagon barrel. With these loads there's no adjustment needed for elevation over the course. No target damage, light on recoil.

Chicken/Pig 30.0 gr Varget 150 gr Sierra flat nose #2000
Turkey 33.0 gr Varget 150 gr Sierra flat nose #2000
Ram 32.0 gr Varget 179 gr Sierra flat nose #2010

ppkny

[ppkny]

Opp's
Ram 32.0 gr Varget 170 gr Sierra flat nose #2010

ppkny

[edgehit]

The windage shift is an odd duck that occures in rifles. And 20 clicks is a lot. There's probably forearm stress that's showing up when you shoot loads with different pressures. It probably will also show up when you switch to a ram load.

I have to agree with others that you ought to shoot the same load from C to T. You can do that with 110g RN and reduced snort of H4895. If it were my gun I'd start at 60% of Hodgdon max charge of 37 which is 22.2 grains. This follows Hodgdon reduced load guidelines.

I personally shoot 110 at 2100 fps using a reduced load of fast burning rifle powder. The load isn't published by a powder or bullet company so I'm not going to promote it. But I think you'll get better results with H322 because 4895 won't generate enough pressure at reduced load to get a thorough burn. I'd speculate that you'll get good accuracy somewhere around 25-26g 322

[AMB]

I tried that trailboss load with Sierra 100 gr plinkers was very accurate out of my 336A. But was to wimpy, actually ding donged a chick. Also the absolute lack of recoil was somewhat unnerving. I've shot Hornady half jackets in front of H110. It taggs them pretty good, and is accurate. But, when shooting serious I just use my P, T load. No adjustment needed.
Al Bean

[Baja_Traveler]

8 grains of Unique under a 115 gr 311008 is deadly on chickens and recoils like a .22

[Tlee]

8 grains of Unique under a 115 gr 311008 is deadly on chickens and recoils like a .22

Yeah, it's a good 2MOA load, but it is muzzle position sensitive. Testing in one of my 30-30s I saw the POI move 6 inches at 50yards going muzzle up versus muzzle down before the shot... both were good groups though.
I also tried a ballistic filler to reduce the effect and got severe pressure indications.

My .02,FWIW,

- Tim

[44 mag]

I don't much like chicken so I put it to them. 30 grains of Varget with a Sierra 125 Grain. Lite recoil and no target damage. Very accurate load and I shoot it all the way to turkeys.

[Tlee]

I tried that trailboss load with Sierra 100 gr plinkers was very accurate out of my 336A. But was to wimpy, actually ding donged a chick. Also the absolute lack of recoil was somewhat unnerving. I've shot Hornady half jackets in front of H110. It taggs them pretty good, and is accurate. But, when shooting serious I just use my P, T load. No adjustment needed.
Al Bean

I also lost some chickens using the TrailBoss loads using the 100gr Plinkers and the 110g M1 Carbine bullets. Interestingly they were mostly center hits on resetables, although I did lose a couple in Raton as well.

When I went to the same load with 150gr Xtreme FN plated bullets, I got reliable knockdown, even though the velocity dropped significantly.

Like others have stated, I've now gone to using the same thing on Chickens that I use on pigs (and sometimes turkeys... depending on the range/conditions).

I do still keep a box of the TrailBoss loads in my inventory, but use them primarily for practice or critters of the masked variety.



- Tim

[Another Dang 9]

Wimpy chicken loads are for pussys. Make em pay! besides who wants to spend all that time loading when you can be shooting.