Post by GLSHOOTER on Jul 14, 2019 10:04:47 GMT -8
I spent July 2 on the range shooting two chamberings that I have worked with over the years. One I started shooting almost eight years ago and one I have shot off and on over the past four. The American 30 in this posting is the second for the day. It is basically a copy of the 30 Herrett as used in IHMSA matches and in the hunting fields back in the 80’s. The difference is that this is made from a 6.8 SPC head sized case and the shoulder is taller on the A-30 than I the original 30 Herrett so it has marginally greater case capacity and the chamber has a much shorter throat as the original was built to work in a single shot pistol shooting long heavy bullet whose overall loaded length is unusable in an AR platform. With that information out here is the third range trip report for my little blaster that is like the big brother to a 30-30.
Afternoon range temperatures ran 107-108 for the day. Mirage was starting to be fierce and I was dealing with some gusting winds. Not really high speeds but enough to cause eddies between the target and muzzle. I had loaded three separate bullets for the day covering the Sierra 110 HP, the Nosler 110 Varmegeddon and the Sierra 150 Pro Hunter. Powder choices were AA 2200, AA 2015, 1200 R and a new one CFE BLK. The Sierra 10’s are a great go to bullet if one is not shooting much over 300 yards on furry critters like coyotes or even PD’s. The Noslers were kind of cool as they had glow in the dark tips, or so I’m told, and looked a bit different. The 150 is a class act for whitetails.
The first bullet down range for the day through my LabRadar was the Sierra 110. These normally shoot quite well and I was hoping the Green Box would pay off again. I was wanting around 2700 FPS with this pill out of the short 16” barrel. AA 2200 was used for initial work for the day as this powder is ideally suited for the 7.62X39 and though the A-30 is a bit larger it tends to perform well in the application
The first groups with AA 2200 were decent with my first three foulers looking well through the scope. It later measured 0.999 at 2703 FPS. The following two groups were a bit more spread out with some vertical in play. Less mirage or a bit more speed being needed might be the ticket on those as I did max out at 2761. 2800 should be easily doable based on how the primers and case heads looked pristine. I felt the bullet showed some promise over this powder.
Next up was 1200 R for propellant. I’ve been using this lately off and on and it seems to be solid in the speeds. No earth shattering performance but just solid numbers. It seems the hotter I load it the better it does. At 32.5 it gave me 2709 and a three shot fouler of 1.386. Not small but going from powder to powder I often see that in the first few shots hence the three shot test. Bumping up in 0.5 increments in this case is doable based on my years of shooting it and I did that here. The next two groups of five were both under an MOA and inspection through the scope started to perk me up a bit. Speed maxed out at an astounding 2892. With an SD of 5.47 this certainly was usable for most purposes as once again primers looked perfect and I had zero swipes or extractor impressions.
Third and final powder under the 110’s was CFE BLK. I have never really worked with this one at all so rather than have a bunch of ammunition that needed pulling I used onlythree shot groups on this one bumping up 0.3 grains per step for a total of fifteen rounds. Starting at 30.3 I clocked them at 2753 that was very nice and the group looked very nice. Bumping up to 30.6 I put two in one and then pushed the third shot but it still looked usable measuring 0.909 at home. The next three groups were looking good across the board. I can say those big 0.308 holes seem to cover a lot of landscape even when the CTC’s are small. This was a very interesting powder as the rise was pretty flat mid way and then bumped up t what I would have projected for rise topping out a very commendable 2819. After looking at these on the range I almost packed up the 110’s but since I had the Noslers loaded I wasn’t going home without another 45 empties.
The second bullet for the day was the Nosler 110 Varmegeddons. I had decided to try some H335 on these along with AA 2200 and 1200 R. I have not shot this bullet in 30 caliber before so was interested in how it would fly. I’ve read reports that fellows are having good luck with this one in the 7.62X39 chambering.
H 335 was the first one up. This one is a world beater in smaller cases and the A-30 is certainly not oversized for its use. Starting at 32.0 the clock read 2471 and the speed at 33.0 only got to 2561. This is way low for a 110 in this case and not usable. The groups seemed just disjointed with vertical in the lower levels with the top load printing them in an oddly horizontal semi-rounded batch. This might well be an issue with the sped and it might bear a revisit pumped up a little as the cases didn’t even look like they’d been fired.
Disappointed but hopeful I moved on to AA 2000. The first three wet in to 0.973 with two and one printing. I’m not sure if it was me or the load on the low one but based on the next two targets I’m not certain as the vertical was once again strong. Speeds were nice with a low of 2753 maxing out at 2764. I’ll show the best but I am suspecting the 110 VARM just isn’t the bullet for this one.
The last powder for the Nosler was the 1200 R. Low speed at 2711 was vertical for an 0.827. Moving up 0.5 gave me a horizontal clumping with a visual decent batch but the tape showed 1.531. At 33.5 the group went up and down with a leaker to the side but speed was up to 2854. Nice but no cigar. The three shot fouler is here.
I am suspecting that based on what I saw from this bullet across all three powders that a bullet seating depth test might be in order. I have a few hundred of these so it will not be a real inconvenience to see what I can learn later. I have a 30 ARX that might like them if this one turns out to be a bust.
The final bullet tested for the day was the Sierra 150 Pro Hunter. This one is flat based so lends itself well to small capacity cases as it won’t rob one of boiler room space. I used CFE BLK, AA 2200 and AA 2015 for this test. My expected AO for speed on this one would be in the 2450 FPS range.
First up I fired the AA 2200 loadings. The initial group was spread left and right but two were close so I didn’t feel too anxious. Speed was OK at 2479. Unfortunately this one acted like it was getting maxed very quickly with tiny extractor markings at 31.0 pushing 2563. The groups just weren’t there. I started thinking maybe something was no longer tight or the tube was just fouled. The pace I was shooting at was not particularly slow and with the steady 107 temps the barrel was toasty. Maybe that was mildly contributory but I would not bet the farm on that. Less than impressed was I.
Moving to powder number two I loaded up the CFE BLK. It had done well earlier and I had high hopes. The clock told me to do a New York ‘fogettaboutit” when the first shot moseyed by at 2184. Perfectly usable in IHMSA but not when it’s clocking less than a 30-30 that was the baseline for this round in performance. That being said the group was outstanding at 0.688 and I would not be afraid of taking on a whitetail with it. Once again up and down across all three load levels makes me want to push this powder harder. I’m just not seeing any issues with the primers or swipes and I believe the genie may still be in the bottle.
I was getting tired and the final thirteen rounds for the day beckoned me back to the bench after a long cool drink of ice water and a cooling down of the tube. First up was 29.45 grains showing a speed of 2394. Not blistering but on the bottom of my expectations. Interestingly this one was a bit of left and right coming in at 1.129 I think it could well go smaller. Moving up to 30.0 saw a decent four shot batch and me knowingly dropping one off the cliff. Velocity was back up to 2436 so I exceeded my floor by a tiny bit. Managing three in 0.823 gave me hope. Last five for the day was 30.5 grains. It seems like the last group of the day and the first groups of the day invariably are good ones for me. I am considering only shooting two groups per day because of that!! Anyway five up and five down and I have a decent little horizontal string measuring at 0.843. I think this powder may be the ticket with the 150’s but I will want a re-shoot again for verification. This last one came up to 2453 with a bit more but the powder is way too bulky with the all loads being heavily compressed. Nothing wrong with that but they would most definitely want a heavy crimp if you wanted to use them long term next fall. My best AA 2015 effort for the day.
I had put around 110 rounds down the tube on the A-30 for the day. I learned that 110’s HP’s will probably be my go to bullets for fur and quite honestly I believe would work perfectly well slipping into the lungs of one of our big game deer family members. I am starting to shy away from the 150’s on this tube and will start looking at the 125’s being offered like the Noslers for a true big game performer as the A-30 already has proven many times over that they are deadly on mule deer at 300+ out west. I have several more test bullets and a powder or two on the shelf to wring out so look to the future for more range reports.
Greg
Afternoon range temperatures ran 107-108 for the day. Mirage was starting to be fierce and I was dealing with some gusting winds. Not really high speeds but enough to cause eddies between the target and muzzle. I had loaded three separate bullets for the day covering the Sierra 110 HP, the Nosler 110 Varmegeddon and the Sierra 150 Pro Hunter. Powder choices were AA 2200, AA 2015, 1200 R and a new one CFE BLK. The Sierra 10’s are a great go to bullet if one is not shooting much over 300 yards on furry critters like coyotes or even PD’s. The Noslers were kind of cool as they had glow in the dark tips, or so I’m told, and looked a bit different. The 150 is a class act for whitetails.
The first bullet down range for the day through my LabRadar was the Sierra 110. These normally shoot quite well and I was hoping the Green Box would pay off again. I was wanting around 2700 FPS with this pill out of the short 16” barrel. AA 2200 was used for initial work for the day as this powder is ideally suited for the 7.62X39 and though the A-30 is a bit larger it tends to perform well in the application
The first groups with AA 2200 were decent with my first three foulers looking well through the scope. It later measured 0.999 at 2703 FPS. The following two groups were a bit more spread out with some vertical in play. Less mirage or a bit more speed being needed might be the ticket on those as I did max out at 2761. 2800 should be easily doable based on how the primers and case heads looked pristine. I felt the bullet showed some promise over this powder.
Next up was 1200 R for propellant. I’ve been using this lately off and on and it seems to be solid in the speeds. No earth shattering performance but just solid numbers. It seems the hotter I load it the better it does. At 32.5 it gave me 2709 and a three shot fouler of 1.386. Not small but going from powder to powder I often see that in the first few shots hence the three shot test. Bumping up in 0.5 increments in this case is doable based on my years of shooting it and I did that here. The next two groups of five were both under an MOA and inspection through the scope started to perk me up a bit. Speed maxed out at an astounding 2892. With an SD of 5.47 this certainly was usable for most purposes as once again primers looked perfect and I had zero swipes or extractor impressions.
Third and final powder under the 110’s was CFE BLK. I have never really worked with this one at all so rather than have a bunch of ammunition that needed pulling I used only
three shot groups on this one bumping up 0.3 grains per step for a total of fifteen rounds. Starting at 30.3 I clocked them at 2753 that was very nice and the group looked very nice. Bumping up to 30.6 I put two in one and then pushed the third shot but it still looked usable measuring 0.909 at home. The next three groups were looking good across the board. I can say those big 0.308 holes seem to cover a lot of landscape even when the CTC’s are small. This was a very interesting powder as the rise was pretty flat mid way and then bumped up t what I would have projected for rise topping out a very commendable 2819. After looking at these on the range I almost packed up the 110’s but since I had the Noslers loaded I wasn’t going home without another 45 empties.The second bullet for the day was the Nosler 110 Varmegeddons. I had decided to try some H335 on these along with AA 2200 and 1200 R. I have not shot this bullet in 30 caliber before so was interested in how it would fly. I’ve read reports that fellows are having good luck with this one in the 7.62X39 chambering.
H 335 was the first one up. This one is a world beater in smaller cases and the A-30 is certainly not oversized for its use. Starting at 32.0 the clock read 2471 and the speed at 33.0 only got to 2561. This is way low for a 110 in this case and not usable. The groups seemed just disjointed with vertical in the lower levels with the top load printing them in an oddly horizontal semi-rounded batch. This might well be an issue with the sped and it might bear a revisit pumped up a little as the cases didn’t even look like they’d been fired.
Disappointed but hopeful I moved on to AA 2000. The first three wet in to 0.973 with two and one printing. I’m not sure if it was me or the load on the low one but based on the next two targets I’m not certain as the vertical was once again strong. Speeds were nice with a low of 2753 maxing out at 2764. I’ll show the best but I am suspecting the 110 VARM just isn’t the bullet for this one.
The last powder for the Nosler was the 1200 R. Low speed at 2711 was vertical for an 0.827. Moving up 0.5 gave me a horizontal clumping with a visual decent batch but the tape showed 1.531. At 33.5 the group went up and down with a leaker to the side but speed was up to 2854. Nice but no cigar. The three shot fouler is here.
I am suspecting that based on what I saw from this bullet across all three powders that a bullet seating depth test might be in order. I have a few hundred of these so it will not be a real inconvenience to see what I can learn later. I have a 30 ARX that might like them if this one turns out to be a bust.
The final bullet tested for the day was the Sierra 150 Pro Hunter. This one is flat based so lends itself well to small capacity cases as it won’t rob one of boiler room space. I used CFE BLK, AA 2200 and AA 2015 for this test. My expected AO for speed on this one would be in the 2450 FPS range.
First up I fired the AA 2200 loadings. The initial group was spread left and right but two were close so I didn’t feel too anxious. Speed was OK at 2479. Unfortunately this one acted like it was getting maxed very quickly with tiny extractor markings at 31.0 pushing 2563. The groups just weren’t there. I started thinking maybe something was no longer tight or the tube was just fouled. The pace I was shooting at was not particularly slow and with the steady 107 temps the barrel was toasty. Maybe that was mildly contributory but I would not bet the farm on that. Less than impressed was I.
Moving to powder number two I loaded up the CFE BLK. It had done well earlier and I had high hopes. The clock told me to do a New York ‘fogettaboutit” when the first shot moseyed by at 2184. Perfectly usable in IHMSA but not when it’s clocking less than a 30-30 that was the baseline for this round in performance. That being said the group was outstanding at 0.688 and I would not be afraid of taking on a whitetail with it. Once again up and down across all three load levels makes me want to push this powder harder. I’m just not seeing any issues with the primers or swipes and I believe the genie may still be in the bottle.
I was getting tired and the final thirteen rounds for the day beckoned me back to the bench after a long cool drink of ice water and a cooling down of the tube. First up was 29.45 grains showing a speed of 2394. Not blistering but on the bottom of my expectations. Interestingly this one was a bit of left and right coming in at 1.129 I think it could well go smaller. Moving up to 30.0 saw a decent four shot batch and me knowingly dropping one off the cliff. Velocity was back up to 2436 so I exceeded my floor by a tiny bit. Managing three in 0.823 gave me hope. Last five for the day was 30.5 grains. It seems like the last group of the day and the first groups of the day invariably are good ones for me. I am considering only shooting two groups per day because of that!! Anyway five up and five down and I have a decent little horizontal string measuring at 0.843. I think this powder may be the ticket with the 150’s but I will want a re-shoot again for verification. This last one came up to 2453 with a bit more but the powder is way too bulky with the all loads being heavily compressed. Nothing wrong with that but they would most definitely want a heavy crimp if you wanted to use them long term next fall. My best AA 2015 effort for the day.
I had put around 110 rounds down the tube on the A-30 for the day. I learned that 110’s HP’s will probably be my go to bullets for fur and quite honestly I believe would work perfectly well slipping into the lungs of one of our big game deer family members. I am starting to shy away from the 150’s on this tube and will start looking at the 125’s being offered like the Noslers for a true big game performer as the A-30 already has proven many times over that they are deadly on mule deer at 300+ out west. I have several more test bullets and a powder or two on the shelf to wring out so look to the future for more range reports.
Greg