30-30 160 grain ftx

[mountain_man]

I found some 160 grain Hornady ftx and was going to load some up with blc2. Hodgdon lists 29.1 to 31 grains. Seems low compared to what others were saying on the web. Anyone have a Hornady manual for comparison. I know there is sometimes variance between sources

 

[HOWARD J]

I found some 160 grain Hornady ftx and was going to load some up with blc2. Hodgdon lists 29.1 to 31 grains. Seems low compared to what others were saying on the web. Anyone have a Hornady manual for comparison. I know there is sometimes variance between sources

30.8
33.3 max Hornady manual

 

[Riomouse911]

Great bullets for the .30-30, once you find your load you’ll like them .

My Win 1894’s like the 35.5 gr load, which is the max load listed for this bullet/powder combo.

Stay safe.

 

[Thomasss]

Are you sure "the others" are talking about a 160 grain bullet.
20 years ago the most popular 30-30 was a 150 grainer. Dropping down one size can do wonders for load and performance.

 

[mountain_man]

According to what they posted on different forums "the others" were specifically saying 160 ftx bullets. Hornady only makes the ftx in 160 according to their site for 308 diameter. I mean I guess they could have been mistyping so to speak. I just thought it odd that hodgdon lists max loads for the 160 (31.5 grains) were lower than 170 (32.5 grains) loads. I know there are differences in bullet bearing surfaces, bullet length etc, but some of the posted loads were around 33 grains for the 160 which was well above the hodgdon max. That's why I was wondering if Hornady had different load data. And besides I trust the people here more than on some of the other sites.

 

[Dale Alan]

Hornady only makes the ftx in 160 according to their site for 308 diameter.

They also make a 135 grain FTX in .308" . I believe the 135 is FB and the 160 is BT . I have both but would have to dig to find them . Maybe that's where the confusion is ?

 

[mountain_man]

You could be right

 

[ms6852]

As Howard J stated 30.8 min and 33.3 max with 160 grain FTX 0.308 diameter for 30-30. From Hornady 8th edition reloading manual.

 

[PapaG]

I've got about eighty left in the box. Going to see if they'll outshoot my 170s in my Marlin. 170s group an inch less than 150s. 1.5.

 

[tjmga]

According to what they posted on different forums "the others" were specifically saying 160 ftx bullets. Hornady only makes the ftx in 160 according to their site for 308 diameter. I mean I guess they could have been mistyping so to speak. I just thought it odd that hodgdon lists max loads for the 160 (31.5 grains) were lower than 170 (32.5 grains) loads. I know there are differences in bullet bearing surfaces, bullet length etc, but some of the posted loads were around 33 grains for the 160 which was well above the hodgdon max. That's why I was wondering if Hornady had different load data. And besides I trust the people here more than on some of the other sites.

I think the 160 FTX sits deeper into the case than the std. 170 gr bullet giving you less powder space to begin with. Because the bullet is pointed and set to the same COL as the flat nose bullet the base sits deeper in the case.

 

[DMW1116]

I've got about eighty left in the box. Going to see if they'll outshoot my 170s in my Marlin. 170s group an inch less than 150s. 1.5.

I’d be curious what would happen if you slowed the 150 grain bullets down to the same speed as the 170s. My Marlin seemed to prefer 170 grain bullets too. I’ve recently tried some slower moving bullets that were also lighter. I wonder if it just shoots better with lower velocity whatever the bullet weight is.

 

[PapaG]

Never thought of that. I have only tried factory loads so far, funny since I love to reload.

 

[kerreckt]

I have shot a bunch of the Hornady 160 ftx. These are the poly tipped pointy ones made for tubular magazines. I use the max listed load for Leverevolution(sp?). Very accurate load. These are shot from my Marlin 336 30-30.

 

[DMW1116]

I have found the FTX to be accurate as well, though some say their Marlins either love or hate them. I’m using LEVERevolution powder though so I’m no help there other than confirming the max charge above from Hornady.

PapaG, I tried some 150 grain round nose loads a while back that my rifle detested. I went back and tried them with a reduced load on Alliant 2400 powder and they shot about as good as the best of my other attempts, which is to say at or just under 2.5 MOA. The group was a little over 1/2” but I shot it at 25 yards since I had no idea where it would go.