Finessing Accuracy with Hornady Bullets

Pictured left, one of my favorite hunting rifles. A mini Mauser action, set up for interchangeable barrels with a lightweight Bell & Carlson’s Carbelite stock. A compact Leupold VX-3 2.5-8x36MM is all the scope needed for the 250 yard range of the rifle’s 30 Remington AR cartridge and it helps keep the rifle’s total weight to 6 lbs. The rifle represents a legal, lethal and accurate choice for deer or hog hunting, it meets my personal preferences for a very light and low maintenance firearm and it does so inexpensively.

While not a ballistic equal to the 308 Winchester, the little 30 Remington AR offers light recoil, 250 yard point blank range where its bullet is still pulling over 1,000 foot pounds of energy, and several hundred more fps of steam than the 7.62×39 or 30-30 Winchester. To place the rifle’s size in context, the little Mauser is more compact than the typical bolt action 22 rim fire rifle and both weigh about the same.

Hornady SST & Interlock BTSP

Recently, Hornady introduced a 125 grain 30 caliber bullet that has a ballistic coefficient edge over the AccuTip. The thought was that the new SST might tack some more yards onto the rifle’s reach and some foot pounds out near the round’s limits. The 150 grain was tossed in for a more direct comparison with the 308 Winchester and 30-30 WCF cartridges.

On hand was also a supply of small capacity cartridge type smokeless powder that might contribute to an improved result across the weight spectrum.

Pictured left, left to right, Remington 125 Grain AccuTip, Hornady 125 Grain SST and Hornady 150 grain Interlock BTSP. Their BC is respectively 0.273, 0.305 and 0.349.

Easy to assemble…

Assembling in a Redding Turret press, about the only problem encountered was insufficient seater plug adjustment; it ran out of travel before the bullet was fully seated, which is an issue with this short round regardless bullet or bullet manufacturer selected.

The solution was very high tech. A 1/2″x20 hex head bolt purchased from Lowes Home Improvement Center was chucked in the lathe and turned and knurled until it looked about the same as the original plug, just a little longer. When we cut and chamfered the nose cavity, we reduced it from the original 0.280″ to 0.250 in diameter. A few minutes of work that allowed precise seating.

The small case smokeless powder I had in mind did not work out. They proved to be too far over or under case capacity and some just didn’t generate the level of pressure anticipated. Benchmark will end up being used frequently, although I believe TAC can do more. Case capacity on once fired brass is considerably greater than nominal spec capacity.

Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet length will alter net case capacity,  pressure and velocity. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These are maximum loads in my firearms and may easily be excessive in others. All loads should be reduced by 5%,  and developed following safe handloading practices as represented in established reloading manuals produced by component manufacturers. Presentation of these loads does not constitute a solicitation for their use, nor a recommendation.   Cartridge: 30-Remington AR  Rifle: Mini Mauser  Max COL: 2.260″  Bullet Diameter: 0.308″  Primer: CCI 450 Barrel: 21″  Reloading Dies: Redding  Case length: 1.530″  3 Shot Group Distance: 100 yards

While the 30-30 WCF launches faster than the 7.62x39mm, at 200 yards the barn door streamlining of the flat nose 30-30 WCF bullet has dropped it into last place. Folks are very attached to the 7.62x39mm round, but it is significantly inferior to the 30 Remington AR at any bullet weights. The lack of availability of low cost military surplus ammunition and certain types of military weapons is not of consequence when it comes to this type of sport application.

Consistency…

Some effort has been put into this rifle. The action was blueprinted in house. The Douglas Ultra Rifled barrel sets were threaded and chambered, profiled and trimmed to 21″ at an outside shop that does very nice work. Stock fit and barrel float was done in house. My only point is that the rifle has good potential to be accurate and it is an accurate firearm with Remington factory ammunition. Subsequently, getting even better performance with a bullet change and handload is a big deal from a product perspective. These are half inch groups in one inch squares with both the Hornady 125 grain (Left) and 150 grain bullets.

Accuracy stayed at this level cold or warm barrel, which means the Hornady bullets will be the choice for hunting handloads. They out shot Nosler and Berger with this rifle and they are less expensive than either of those products. For more information, stop by the Hornady site.