.30-30 Flat Point Assistance

[MCW Sky]

I will be loading .30-30 Winchester soon. However, the projectiles that I have are Flat Point (plated 150 grain from X-Treme), but the only data I see online for 150 grain is for round nose (and round nose, soft point), so I don't think the COL for those will work for me. At the moment I have some H335 and some IMR4198 remaining - not much of either - but then I only have about 100 cases on hand.

I will be picking up the rifle alter this week - so will find out if he has any factory ammo to go with it. So I figure there are several possible options to determine my COL. If he has factory ammo, I can try to compare the two, and adjust depending on whether or not it is also flat point. Or, I could figure out what I would need to measure off the O-give, but that would still require published data or a reference cartridge to compare against and likely require equipment I don't currently have. Or, I could use the rifle to find out where the projectiles I have engage the lands and back it down from there.

So my question to the group is whether or not anyone has experience with the X-Treme flat point plated 150 grain and can provide any guidance.

[Wes Sage]

Seating depth is determined by the load data. Hodgdon has data for a 150gr Sierra Flat Point with H335. Plated bullets don't load the same as Jacketed. It is recommended to use LOW to MID Range Jacketed data. May want to drop a line to Xtreme and see what they recommend for top speeds in their 150gr FP. See if it can withstand even the lowest speeds and pressures.

[JeffreyDeGraff]

In lever actions, seating depth is determined by feeding. Too long of an OAL will not feed through the action. Too short may get jammed up when feeding into the chamber. Use a seating depth for any other FP bullet and that should put you where you need to be. If you can find load data for a cast lead 150gr bullet, that should give you a good place to start with that plated bullet.


JTD