GUNS Magazine January 1960 - Jeffersonian

a
When
a lady
shoots
a bear
she uses
SIERRA
bullet
325-lb. black bear
killed instantly
with ONE SHOT
by Mrs. Joyce A. Colfax
of Pompton Lakes, N. J.
Rifle-.30-40 Krag Sporter
Load-Sierra 180 gr.
.308 Spitzer Boat Tail
with 36 gr. Hi-Vel
#2 powder
fer target or game
remember the rlame
~~IERRA
~rBULLETS
GJJ W, VJhlttlcr Blvd • Whittier, Calif
T
HE .30 WINCHESTER Center Fire,
. generally called .30-30 by shooters, and
thutty-thutty by gun writers, is a hell of a
cartridge. The double meaning statement
means it's mighty good for those who love
it, and beneath the dignity of those who
detest it. Handloaders look on it with contempt.
What other .30s have, it lacks a lot
of, except trajectory, which is the most in
this age of flat·shooting hot-shots. The hull
has been around long enough to have died
twice from old age.
Despite these unkind remarks, the .30-30
cartridge has probably bagged more deer
than any other in this century. You'll do
well to add one saddle gun to your shooting
battery. All of us need one good .30-30 and
a set of high quality loading dies, plus casting
equipment. Why blow some hard-earned
bucks to own a senile weapon of the past?
That's a good question that deserves a good
answer. I especially recommend it, if you
run in Hi·V gun society like I do.
I've owned dozens of .30 WCF's, and no
rifle sells better on the used gun market. A
.30-30 in the corner is like money in the
bank. Right now I'm down to one beat-up,
open sighted Model 94. Sighted·in with fac·
tory fodder, groups were a bit over 4" at
100 yards. A decent glass and Flaig's Ace
trigger shoe would have screwed 'em down.
On the way home a coyote started a fast
get·away from about 85 yards. A 150 grain
Super·X pill intercepted his flight like a
Sidewinder missile on a journey of death
and destruction. My flabbergasted companion
loudly exclaimed, "Why you killed him !",
like the feat was impossible.
Scope mount best for levers like '94 is
Weaver's side type, (shown on M92).
A saddle carbine is a real fun gun, too.
Winchester evidently doesn't know this fact,
as they never advertise it. Handy as two
pockets in a shirt, they are fine short range
plinkers. Cheap and easy to reload, the cost
is hardly more than rim fire ammo. You can
shuck lead out faster than you can feed
coins to a one-armed bandit in Las Vegas.
They do have an attractive Western look
and flavor, The best appeal of a Winchester
94 or Marlin 336 is the fact these short,
light, fast·firing guns handle like a dream.
This one outstanding feature has sacked up
plenty of game and varmints for lads who
used it to their advantage.
We Handloading Benchniks need a rifle
for plinking cast bullets in volume, like
handgunners. Little saddle guns do the job
so well we can exce.ed the accuracy and/or
velocity of factory fodder. Some riffemen
look on the guns as crums from the upper
crust of gun society, and on cast pills with
even more contempt. If you like to let the
air out of myths and deflate the ego of your
Hi-V shooting companions, take this tip.
Popular .30-30 will yield more fun
and much more shooting with reloads.
Get a good Model 336 or 94, not a beat-up
clunker. Cast bullets generally require a
slicker bore than jacketed pills. If the bore
is chewed-up, or the lands slightly dull, you'll
never obtain the ultimate in accuracy. Glass
it with a good scope. Buehler's mount holds
positive zero on Marlin 336s. Williams makes
a good one, and Weaver has a new Pivot
Mount, that I haven't used on this gun, plus
their Detachable Top Mount that I prefer.
Marlin's new top·mount scope rig is real fine.
Best deal for a '94 is Weaver's Side Mount,
installed on the off side so the stock serves
as a cheek rest. A 4X glass is okay for test·
ing your gun and ammo, and can be used
for hunting. A 2.5X or 3X handles faster on
running game at close range.
With a new rifle, burn up several boxes of
factory fodder, carefully shooting for groups
in strings of three to five shots. When your
barrel heats up, your groups will widen, so
don't be in a hurry. This initial shooting
will slick up your new bore. Save all targets
to compare with your cast or jacketed loads
later. Reload your hulls, all the same Lot
Number and make, with jacketed bullets,
fiddling around with charges until you exceed
factory accuracy. Always assemble precision
ammo. Trim cases to 2.02", or 2.03"
max, watching for hulls with non·uniform
neck thickness after trimming and before
deburring. These are discards. I'm partial
to CCI primers with any charge. If not available,
substitute WoW with light charges, or
Remington or W·W for full charges. Use
only Round Nose or Flat Nose cannelured
bullets in tubular magazines. Sharp points
might fire all the rounds in the magazine
from recoil. This would be nasty and messy.
and we'd lose one valued GUNS reader!
The 150·grain pills for .30-30s, such as
made by Sierra, Hornady and Speer, and the
150 and l70·grain flat nose made by Norma,
(Continued on page 46)
14 GUNS JANUARY 1960