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30 cal trifecta!
- Thread starter 40 Creedmoor fan
- Start date
What are the best qualities of 30 cal bullets?
Since I’m not sure what you mean, the top three .30 cal cartridges and the reasons would have to be:
- 300blk for great efficient subsonic use
- .308 for general purpose
- 300 Win Mag for long range/big game
Perhaps 300 PRC or 300 Norma could replace 300WM on this list in the future. But definitely not at the moment.
Since I’m not sure what you mean, the top three .30 cal cartridges and the reasons would have to be:
- 300blk for great efficient subsonic use
- .308 for general purpose
- 300 Win Mag for long range/big game
Perhaps 300 PRC or 300 Norma could replace 300WM on this list in the future. But definitely not at the moment.
widnerkj
NES Member
Running 125 hornady SST’s supersonic in a 300 blackout makes it basically a light 30-30. Honestly that blackout is my most flexible hiking rifle.
30-06 will always be the king of the hill in the minds of Americans.
I would have a win mag if I didn’t have a 300 weatherby mag.
30-06 will always be the king of the hill in the minds of Americans.
I would have a win mag if I didn’t have a 300 weatherby mag.
Agnotology
NES Member
.30 cal thread without actually including a .30 Carbine? You don't get to touch my M1 now.
I love the M1 Carbine, but the 30 Carbine may very well be the worst .30 cal cartridge out there. Sorry man, acceptance is the first step towards appreciating and enjoying the M1 Carbine for what it is.
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It could be worse. He could be a 6.5 Creedmoor fanboy...
But it sure is fun firing them from a Ruger Blackhawk, the fireball is impressive!
Agnotology
NES Member
And it excels at it's role. WW2, Korean War, Vietnam War, only second to the ever-venerable .45 AARP 1911. Imagine an AR-15 in .30 Carbine. Overall length should fit, but might have to play with the feed lips.
x25 Tokarev? Fixing dissidence since 1930.
… whaaa? 5.56 has less recoil, more energy, better trajectory/external ballistics, and better terminal ballistics. Why would you want to put 30 carbine in an AR?
If you want a 110gr .30 cal bullet, use the Barnes 110gr Tac-TX loaded 300blk.
The M1 Carbine is a light and handy rifle. It excels at its role despite the cartridge it has, not because of it.
30 Carbine is better than a lot of its detractors think. Hell, it almost has the muzzle energy of 5.56. But it’s time has passed.
Agnotology
NES Member
I didn't slather on enough /s apparently.
.30 Carbine was a stop-gap at best between the thompson and grease gun and the m1 garand. The only benefit to having .30 Carbine ammo right now is you can sell it for 75 cents a round.
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Folks tend to hold on to old and familiar. 45 ACP, 223, 30-06, 30 Carbine. All have been surpassed, but folks keep holding on. This insane desire to hold onto the past, refusing to learn from the past and apply it to new/future/better designs, is what keeps the "AR of the month" industry churning out the same old crap. DOD and its preference to waste money on anything, but what infantry needs doesn't help either...
I've owned all the classic standards over the years. I still have a 45, but I don't kid myself. History and nostalgia are great, but progress still happens. Evolve or die: that's the only constant.
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It has a fun fireball through my AutoMag III too!
The problem is, the .30 M1 factory loads are all made to function in the M1 Carbine with an 18" barrel, thus the powder charge is calibrated to fully burn in 18 inches of bullet travel. Firing these loads in a 7" pistol barrel means the bullet is already out of the barrel before half the powder has burned. The heavy muzzle flash is created by the rest of the powder burning outside the barrel, thus totally wasted.
Looking for an alternative, I worked up some handloads for the Ruger Blackhawk that are far more accurate with much less muzzle flash.
The case diameter and capacity are very close to that of the .327 Federal Magnum, so I started with some light load data for that and worked my way up a little bit to get a nice soft shooting and accurate load for the Blackhawk, without the muzzle flash.
This works well in revolvers, but I don't expect it to cycle your AMT.
