Originally Posted By: REDHAWK1954
For Christmas I am getting a 14 inch contender in 30 30. I plan to do some hand loading for this gun later after getting the dies, powder and bullets I will need.

My question is if you were going to use this gun to deer hunt out to about 150 yards and wanted to try some factory loads what factory load would you try?

I have been picking up various factory loads for this gun the last few months and have several loads to pick from. I have Winchester 150 gr power points, Winchester 150 gr Extreme Points, Winchester 150 gr hollow points, Federal 125 gr hollow points and Remington 150 gr core locks. Would one of these loads work for a 150 yard deer gun?

I am also getting a Weaver 2 x 8 pistol scope to go with it. Santa has been good to me again this year.
I have never shot factories from my 14" tender but, I have used 150 gr Hornadys spire point loaded with 33.5 gr H4895 [I am not recommending this load] and shot a doe passing me at approx. 35-40 yds. It actually turned out to be a perfect heart shot. The deer continued forward about fifty yards with its nose just above ground and collapsed. Doing a quick autopsy showed very little or no expansion. I now use 125 Nosler ballistic tips with terrific results on whitetail. I have not shot them through a chrono but I am estimating my load at 2200+.