Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

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Mainehunter
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Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

Took the day off from work this past Friday for much needed range time. I needed to test some loads for my upcoming moose hunt on Columbus day week. The firearms I brought was a Marlin 336 that was re-chambered to 35/30-30 by JES Rebore and a Savage 99 in 300 Savage that I put together with all the parts I had stashed over the years.

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The bullets I’m using for the hunt are cast bullets that I poured about a month ago and these molds are from NOE that I bought a few months ago. These aluminum mold blocks are pretty well made and I have ordered both of these molds to come with a set of pins to make dimple, hollow point or flat nose bullets.

For the first mold pictured left below shows a Ranch Dog design specifically for the 300 Savage. With a Lyman #2 alloy it weighs in with my home made gas checks and using three coats of Ben’s liquid lube (found the recipe on cast bullet forum) it’s around 165 grain +/- .2, sized as cast .310.

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The second mold is a NOE 230 grain flat nose, sized to .360. With homemade gas checks and Ben’s Red lube (not the liquid) it weighs in around 230 grain +/-.2 with the same alloy. The Marlin will be my primary firearm for the hunt so it got to go first.

I spent quite a bit of time doing some research on this round. Since the case volume on the 35 Remington is slight higher compared to the 35/30-30, I felt comfortable using the 35 Rem data as a starting point plus what was nice Quick Loads did have the wildcat round listed so I was able to toggle back and forth between the two and compare. After checking with a few reloading books and QL, I decided to try H4895 and the best one was:

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Charge: 34.5 grains of H4895
HI: 1961
LO: 1934
Avg: 1950
SD: 10.29
ES: 27.16
Distance to target 100 yards and muzzle distance to chrony : 12 feet

In the beginning of loading these bullets up, I did have problems chambering a dummy round if I seated them at the crimp groove. As it turns out there is no throat/lead in the chambers so I had to seat them deeper. I’ve tried 4 different loads using the H4895 and all of them were compressed loads. QL gave the above load density of 102.3%. I was particularly happy with lube I made, no sign of leading with velocities and pressures I was dealing with. Overall I’m pretty pleased with the results. Next up the 300 Savage.

I’ve been eagerly waiting to try out this mold. I’ve been hearing good things about it and plus trying out a new lube to get rid of all of liquid alox that I have. Did some research but some of the powders I wanted to try out no one had in stock so I ended up trying H4895, the results:

Image


Charge: 41 grains of H4895
High: 2483
LO: 2442
Avg: 2462
SD: 17.8
ES: 41.4
Distance to target 100 yards and muzzle distance to chrony : 12 feet

This load was the last one to try. The vertical stringing was caused by the front stock screw was coming loose and it finally gave, snapping it off inside the dove tail. I don’t think this is the right powder for it but I think if I can repair the front stock screw and fire a few more rounds I think it’ll do just fine. Also the bullet lube that I used held up great at those velocities. Just slight leading the last 4” towards the muzzle but that’s expected since the diameter between the breach and muzzle is close to .003. Someday I’ll fire lap it to get the restriction out near the breach. So there you have it. It was a good day over all, learned a lot, wish I can do more of this.

Mainehunter :wink:
Last edited by Mainehunter on Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
yooper2
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by yooper2 »

Great report. That Ranch Dog bullet is interesting with the fat section ahead of the crimp groove. I wouldn't have thought the throat on a 300 Savage was that generous.


Eric
Mainehunter
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

COL was 2.533. I was able to crimp right in the crimp grove. No problems chambering. RD also designed one for the x39 and 308 same type of profile.

Mainehunter :wink:
Ray Newman
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Ray Newman »

Once again, my interest in converting my 336Y 30-30 to a .35/.30-30 comes to the fore! That little 16.5" rifle with a 'scope just might be the bee's knees!

"Gonna hav ta' do some research on this. Since I already have a 336/.35 Remington, jacketed bullets are handy. Just need to check of the price of the conversion, timeframe to do the work, and dies.

What dies do you load with?
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by ollogger »

What ever gun you pick to use tha Moose is in trouble, good report & nice guns!!!


ollogger
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

Ray Newman wrote:Once again, my interest in converting my 336Y 30-30 to a .35/.30-30 comes to the fore! That little 16.5" rifle with a 'scope just might be the bee's knees!

"Gonna hav ta' do some research on this. Since I already have a 336/.35 Remington, jacketed bullets are handy. Just need to check of the price of the conversion, timeframe to do the work, and dies.

What dies do you load with?
The dies came from CH4D that I bought this past spring. I was surprised they had them in stock when I called and the cost was roughly $80.00 for a two die set. The one problem I do have is with the seating/crimping die. Since the bullets are sized to .360 they are a tad too large to go through the die to get seated. For now I'm using my Lee 358 seating die and it works fine. This winter I'll plan on lapping the CH4D die to fix the issue.

JES was great to deal with. From shipping to receiving it back took just about two weeks and the cost was $250.00 plus shipping. The bore size is .349, grove size is .359 with a 4 grove cut rifling and twist rate is 1:16. The brass I used for these loads were once fired 375 Winchester necked down.

Mainehunter :wink:
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Griff »

ollogger wrote:What ever gun you pick to use tha Moose is in trouble, good report & nice guns!!!
ollogger
+1.
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by M. M. Wright »

I really like that 99. Beautiful wood and that cartridge/bullet look like they mean business. Very respectable velocity figures too. I'll bet that if you got rid of that restriction near the chamber the accuracy would improve dramatically as all the 99s I've had were quite accurate.
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Bill in Oregon »

Wow, that .35/.30-30 is a good looking round. I'd hate to be the moose that meets that Ranch Dog bullet head on!
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Ray Newman »

MaineHunter: thanks for the information!
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Twodot
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Twodot »

ya know, I still don't see a gas check shank on that good looking .35 bullet.
..
Mainehunter
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

Here's the pic the shows the shank.

http://noebulletmolds.com/NV/images/N.O ... Sketch.Jpg

Mainehunter :wink:
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by J Miller »

Mainhunter,

Nice rifles both of them. I like that Savage. The 99 is one of rifles I've always wanted, but never got.


Now a question ... or three.

I noticed the 35 / 30-30 is almost a twin to the 38-55. So what is the difference between the two? And why not just rebore the Marlin to 38-55? I've read most of the threads here discussing the 3/30-30 and guess I must have missed the parts I'm asking about.

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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by BigSky56 »

MH nice rifles and cartridges, I would crimp your 300 savage case with a lee FCD by doing that with my 300 I cut my groups in half with jacketed and lead bullets I have run Beartooth 160 and 173 in my 300 but prefer the 160 as it is a short shank style and the GC is just below the neck. danny
Mainehunter
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

J Miller.... I've always been interested anything 35 cal. since I was pretty young plus I've had my share of 38-55's or 375 Win. over the years but really they didn't do anything for me. I don't think it's fair to compare the 38-55 vs. 35/30-30 I think the 38-55 is more powerful. The 35/30-30 is more closer to the 35 Remington in terms of ballistics.

BigSky56.... I did use the FCD on those loads but did noticed some of them had to be re-crimped, they felt loose. Well just last night I was going over my dies and decided to check on my expander plug for the 300 Savage. Just as I thought, I used the wrong plug, I had my 7.62x39 instead! :oops: That plug expands the neck out to .310 and that's what my bullets are sized at so I think that might have been part of the problem.

Mainehunter :wink:
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by JohndeFresno »

J Miller wrote:Mainhunter,

Nice rifles both of them. I like that Savage. The 99 is one of rifles I've always wanted, but never got.
Ditto.

Thanks for the great report and pix!
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by MrMurphy »

My first rifle was almost a Savage 99 in .308. Came back with the money and it was gone.

I bought a Lee-Enfield No.4 Mk1 and am still quite happy with it 20+ years later.

My grandfather-in-law who I never met used a Remington 760 in .300 Savage. According to FIL, GPIL killed just about everything on the east coast with it and rarely needed two shots. FIL uses a 7600 in .30-06 for similar work, and my son will eventually far in the future, inherit both along with lots of their other guns.
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by fordwannabe »

I was searching for something else when I came across this thread. It interests me because I now own the 35/30-30 noted above.
9FBD5A28-C841-4560-8033-6E0CE174067E.jpeg
And it worked very nicely Thank you very much!
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Bill in Oregon
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Bill in Oregon »

That dog will hunt! 8)
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Sixgun »

Hey Tom....that's a nice deer.......I think I remember that picture......looks like you drank a 55 gallon drum of dark roast coffee... :D ---002
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by fordwannabe »

Yeah Jack! I think you were busting my stones about it last year by as I said, it was late, I was tired, and it WAS FREEZING. But I made the shot, and from shot to flopped out in the field wasn’t more than 10 seconds.
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hondo1892
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by hondo1892 »

Good luck with the moose hunt. Post photo's of the hunt for us. I used to put in for a moose tag for Maine but quite after four or five years. Don't remember but I think I was awarded a point for every year I was unlucky in the draw. I'd love to go on a moose hunt up in Maine but money is a bit tight these days.
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by fordwannabe »

Hondo, I resurrected a thread from 2015, when I was searching for something else the other day and found this thread about the rifle I bought from Mainehunter.
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Mainehunter
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

fordwannabe wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:29 pm Hondo, I resurrected a thread from 2015, when I was searching for something else the other day and found this thread about the rifle I bought from Mainehunter.
fordwannabe, Glad you got the 35-30/30 going! And scored with nice looking buck! Haven't been on site for quite some time. Between keeping my business going in these trouble times, working on my 68 Chevy K20 and building a nice M14 scout with GI parts, I've been pretty busy! Thanks for the pics! :D

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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by OldWin »

Mainehunter wrote: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:31 am
fordwannabe wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:29 pm Hondo, I resurrected a thread from 2015, when I was searching for something else the other day and found this thread about the rifle I bought from Mainehunter.
fordwannabe, Glad you got the 35-30/30 going! And scored with nice looking buck! Haven't been on site for quite some time. Between keeping my business going in these trouble times, working on my 68 Chevy K20 and building a nice M14 scout with GI parts, I've been pretty busy! Thanks for the pics! :D

Mainehunter

Oooooooohhhh!
Sorry for the thread drift, but be SURE and keep us posted on the K20 and M14!
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Re: Range Report: 35/30-30 & 300 Savage

Post by Mainehunter »

OldWin wrote: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:36 am
Mainehunter wrote: Sat Oct 10, 2020 7:31 am
fordwannabe wrote: Sat Oct 03, 2020 9:29 pm Hondo, I resurrected a thread from 2015, when I was searching for something else the other day and found this thread about the rifle I bought from Mainehunter.
fordwannabe, Glad you got the 35-30/30 going! And scored with nice looking buck! Haven't been on site for quite some time. Between keeping my business going in these trouble times, working on my 68 Chevy K20 and building a nice M14 scout with GI parts, I've been pretty busy! Thanks for the pics! :D

Mainehunter

Oooooooohhhh!
Sorry for the thread drift, but be SURE and keep us posted on the K20 and M14!
Soon as I retire, I'm ditching the glorified El Camino of a truck I have now (2014 Dodge) and going back to a mid 70's Chevy K20.
Will do! I'll post a pic shortly
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