Anyone used unique with 170gr jacketed? It was suggested that 6-8 grains ould work well on all yard lines. I have mot had time to wok any loads yet. This sounds simple. Any thoughts/experience?

thanks
chuck

There is really no reason to use A 170 grn on all animals. My wife shoots A 125 grn with 18 grains of imr sr4759 on c,p,t and 20 grains with A 170 on rams.Has no recoil and shoots great. Also have not lost A ram with with the 20 grains. Good luck and welcome.

chuck d wrote:Anyone used unique with 170gr jacketed? It was suggested that 6-8 grains ould work well on all yard lines. I have mot had time to wok any loads yet. This sounds simple. Any thoughts/experience?

thanks
chuck

Chuck -

I tried and used 10 grains of Unique and it shot well in my 110gr JHP Chicken load (IIRC, about 1600-1700FPS)... At least I did UNTIL I went to a match where they had a "no muzzle above the top of the target line" rule.

Seems it would shoot fine/consistent when I'd have the muzzle angled upward just before each shot, but "not so much" if the muzzle was down immediately before the shot. Seems the extra space in the case made it position sensitive.... Which is NOT what I expected because I personally know of several folks shooting that same powder charge behind lead bullets for a light load and their claim was, at least for them, NO filler was ever needed even though there's more open space than powder in that case/load. Thinking maybe I had a different problem, when I got back to my home range I tried about 10 shots of each position and it DID make a difference on point of impact. Both positions yielded decent groups at 100 meters, it's just the group would move right and down about 4-6" when I tried muzzle down versus where it'd hit with the muzzle up. I'd like to try it again with a filler to see the effect.

my .02,

-Tim

Yes, I tried 170gr. jacketed with 9.0gr. of Unique. I was more interested in using Unique for 180gr. cast loads but I tried jacketed out of curiosity. Velocity with cast was about 1300 and only 1200 with jacketed. That load with a jacketed is probably getting close to max with a powder that fast but I didn't see any signs of pressure. Accuracy with both bullets was comparable - about 3 MOA in my rifle. This is probably good enough for chickens and pigs but there is some risk of ringing pigs. I never even considered using it on rams. I'm certain they would just bounce off most of the time. Also, it is wise to settle the powder to the rear to ensure shot consistency.

I always liked the idea of using the same heavy bullet across the course and I think it can work but a hotter load for rams is a necessity. I got away from this load because I found something I thought was better and if you experiment with other powders you might also find something better.

- Brian

Bwake wrote:Yes, I tried 170gr. jacketed with 9.0gr. of Unique. I was more interested in using Unique for 180gr. cast loads but I tried jacketed out of curiosity. Velocity with cast was about 1300 and only 1200 with jacketed. That load with a jacketed is probably getting close to max with a powder that fast but I didn't see any signs of pressure. Accuracy with both bullets was comparable - about 3 MOA in my rifle. This is probably good enough for chickens and pigs but there is some risk of ringing pigs. I never even considered usung it on rams. I'm certain they would just bounce off most of the time. Also, it is wise to settle the powder to the rear to ensure shot consistency.

I always liked the idea of using the same heavy bullet across the course and I think it can work but a hotter load for rams is a necessity. I got away from this load because I found something I thought was better and if you experiment with other powders you might also find something better.

- Brian

Brian -

I know it's not a 30/30, but in my 357 I regularly use 158gr pills only running 1100FPS at the muzzle on the 100meter full scale pigs and have yet to lose one.... (I've also used that same load on the 150m Turkeys... Everything hit falls, but the accuracy isn't there with the slower load if there is the slightest breeze at 150... For Turkeys I had to switch to 14gr of LilGun with the 158gr bullet just so's I could hit them reliably). Anyway, the subsonic 158gr hits on the pig definitely fall slower than when hit with my 125gr bullet running 2000FPS from the 30/30, but they do fall reliably.

Concerning other powders in the 30/30... I found that 31gr of Varget behind ANY HP/SP jacketed .30 cal bullet is deadly accurate (1" groups at 100meters are common) out of my 336MX. However, especially since I've been known to flinch even with a .22 (and I'm "frugal"), I just think a 2000FPS load on the chickens (or even the pigs) is overkill and a waste of 31gr of expensive/good powder. Due to the position issue in the 30/30 case with Unique, I'm gonna try a case full of Trail Boss next to see if I can find a mild(er) 30/30 load for the chickens (and perhaps even the pigs).

.02,

-Tim

My standard chicken load in the 30-30: 115gr Lyman 311008 over 8.2 gr Universal (interchangeable with Unique). No fillers, and it's never been position sensitive. Near zero recoil is always a benefit also...

I shoot chickens and pigs with a Lee 150 gr GC bullet and 17.5 gr H4895 in a Winchester 94 30-30. Very Accurate!! I need to find a better, more accurate load for Turkeys and a heavier load for Rams probably in the 170-180 gr. range.

HPSilhouettes wrote:I shoot chickens and pigs with a Lee 150 gr GC bullet and 17.5 gr H4895 in a Winchester 94 30-30. Very Accurate!! I need to find a better, more accurate load for Turkeys and a heavier load for Rams probably in the 170-180 gr. range.

James-

That load is very similar to one used by one of our locals on all the animals, including rams, and he claims that he's never lost one. Although I'm shooting jacketed now, I'd prefer to shoot lead, so I tried it on paper one day and couldn't get better than about a 4" group at 100m. Unfortunately i only had a limited number of bullets to try.

Concerning the heavier lead pills; I've some 170gr 30cal GC lead bullets, but the OAL with them to chamber in my 336MX puts the gas check a good distance down in the case below the shoulder. Makes me a bit nervous when the GC isn't inside the neck of the case, so I didn't try them.

- Tim

Tim,

You might want to reconsider loads that have the GC seated deep into the case. I've shot cast bullets in excess of 200 grains with a cartridge length suitable for magazine feeding. Nothing bad will happen. Perhaps just a slight degradation of accuracy. On a good day, I've hit 8 or 9 rams out of 10 with this type of load.

Here in PA rams can be stubborn and I think the extra mass and dwell time of an extra heavy .30 cal. improves knock down reliability.

- Brian W.

Bwake wrote:Tim,

You might want to reconsider loads that have the GC seated deep into the case. I've shot cast bullets in excess of 200 grains with a cartridge length suitable for magazine feeding. Nothing bad will happen. Perhaps just a slight degradation of accuracy. On a good day, I've hit 8 or 9 rams out of 10 with this type of load.

Here in PA rams can be stubborn and I think the extra mass and dwell time of an extra heavy .30 cal. improves knock down reliability.

- Brian W.

Brian -

Thanks for that info, I previously couldn't find anyone that'd tried lead where the GC was below the neck. That one will be on my list to try eventually. Particularly if I can find a load that'll shrink the lead groups to be on par with the jacketed groups I'm getting out of that gun.

Right now my next project is getting a newly acquired "blingy" 38-55 shooting. After seeing how reliable the slower moving 240-260gr slugs out of that caliber worked for those using them at Raton, I'm anxious to try it. Unfortunately I'm not setup for casting, but this may be the caliber that puts me into it as I'm hearing the 38-55 diameter seems to vary widely between guns.

-Tim

Tim, which 38/55 did you get? Marlin or WInchester, remake or origninal?

Mary

Innocent wrote:Tim, which 38/55 did you get? Marlin or WInchester, remake or origninal?

Mary

With all of the Marlins around my house, I'm almost afraid to say it... It's a O. Winchester Commemorative with the gold/engraved finish. I figure if I can't get it to shooting well, maybe I'll get some "style points" for all the bling!

-Tim

Nice!!! don't forget the sunglasses when you get it out!

Innocent

Tim
My 38-55 Marlin likes .379 slugs, and I believe that Kevin Griggs uses .380 slugs in his. I've also found that my Marlin will stabilize the big slugs at relatively slow velocity. If you want to try a couple of different slug styles drop me a PM with an address and I'll send you 240 grain slugs sized .379 and 264 grian GC slugs at .379 also. Marlin Owners site has a lot of 38-55 load data.

glen ring wrote:Tim
My 38-55 Marlin likes .379 slugs, and I believe that Kevin Griggs uses .380 slugs in his. I've also found that my Marlin will stabilize the big slugs at relatively slow velocity. If you want to try a couple of different slug styles drop me a PM with an address and I'll send you 240 grain slugs sized .379 and 264 grian GC slugs at .379 also. Marlin Owners site has a lot of 38-55 load data.

Glen -

Once I get the bore slugged, I'm gonna definitely try the Trail Boss load as well as a Unique and 700X load that I found to see what it likes. Challenge right now is too many projects and not having the time to tinker (let alone the ambition, due to the heat... 106 in the shade here right now with a heat index of 111!).

-Tim