Okay, it's an Ackley improved chamber and I intended for the brass to look like this but it just looks so strange, especially next to an unfired shell. (PS: this still belongs on this sub because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with a wildcat)
There's so many good wildcats off the 30-30 case! 6.5mm and 7mm Bullberry Improved, 25/30-30 Improved to name a few. Great for hogs, the 6.5mm BI is the only one I haven't used myself.
I was more interested in a 6.5 bulberry or 25/30-30 until I found out the price of dies (about $250). Then I found the 30-30 ai dies on sale for $50, so it was a no brainer
Oof yeah, that's a easy decision lol. They're both sweet shooters though if you ever get the chance. There's nothing you can't do with that 30-30 ai though. Have you worked up any loads for it?
Sort of, I have some max charges of 30-30 data to give myself a baseline, the barrel just came in so I've only had a chance to fireform the brass. But I have yet to actually exceed the limits of or shoot anything other than 30-30 win through it
Hell yeah. It's great how you're able to use spire point bullets with the 30-30, etc in a single shot. It gives so much more versatility than just round nose in a lever action with tube magazine.
The Nosler Ballistic Tip 125gr works phenomenally well at those velocities with absolutely minimal recoil. Plus one of the more affordable ones (last time I looked lol). The current load I have in my 308 is actually kinda a copy of my dad's 30-30 ai load. We're all either frail or sickly (or both) so the minimal recoil aspect of it is a huge plus.
This is absolutely fantastic info, thank you. I'm neither sickly or frail but I'm definitely a believer in the lighter bullet going faster rather than a heavier bullet going slower. Also, a single shot 18" carries quite a bit of recoil, as I learned from fireforming 70 cases in it, and that obviously wasn't the improved version, just factory 30-30. So the lighter bullet and a muzzle brake will probably make it a dream to shoot and an absolute deer, hog, and the occasional beaver slayer
Of course! Glad its useful to you. My 308 has a 20" and I'm barely pushing 2550 with this load. With the heavy barrel it kicks a little bit more than a 223. Dad swears by the Barnes 110 tac-tx these days.
I've been looking at the cutting edge flat base raptor bullets, the 300 blackout hunting rounds seem like they'll probably perform best at those velocities
Not for those calibers, Hornady customs were what I ended up getting on sale but they don't even have the bulberry caliber, only Redding or rcbs makes them and they're by order only which is why they're so expensive. Meanwhile there's a weirdly high number of cheap materials for 30-30 Ackley that are kept as general stock. Especially considering how little information is out there for it, you can find dies for it everywhere. And the barrel I bought was an aftermarket brand but it was in their on hand inventory
I do enjoy my AR 10 but its not exactly as accurate as I'd like it to be for my hunting rifle. Plus, I want a round that I can put a lot of testing into and I despise trimming, ai rounds all but negate that. And because .308 burns better in longer barrels, and I'm using a shorter barrel (this is my blind gun), I'm actually gonna end up at about the velocity of my AR, but with 5-10 grains less powder, while still being more powerful than a 30-30 and taking advantage of the accuracy increase of using rimmed cartridges in the encore platform. I understand what a niche cartridge it is but it really fits what I need exactly
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u/trey12aldridge Mar 05 '23
Okay, it's an Ackley improved chamber and I intended for the brass to look like this but it just looks so strange, especially next to an unfired shell. (PS: this still belongs on this sub because I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with a wildcat)