If I?m going down the 30 cal rabbit hole, should I consider the 300 whisper/blackout? There?s also the 6.8 Rem, or the 7-30 waters.... I reloaded the 7-30 yrs ago... had fun doing it too. 7mm TCU maybe?
Rabbit hole is a good description. They will all work with the right bullet. Just depends on what you want.
A 30-30 in a 14" contender will give you a good bit more velocity then listed on factory 300 ammo with the same bullet. 30-30 AI would be a boost beyond. but I would argue it isn't necessary for the ranges you are talking. 30 cal gives you a lot of great spitzer bullet options that grew out of the 300BO that function at lower velocity. The Barnes bullet Michael mentioned (the black tipped ones, 110 or 120gn) work great. They hold together (full weight retention) at velocities a well over 2500fps and open reliably down to 1400fps.
I use the 110gn barnes(or the 110gn vmax for cheaper plinking) and can launch them all day at 2500 fps with no discomfort. At that MV they don't drop below 1400fps until >400 yards. Well beyond my personal effective range. Michael launches them at ~2300 fps for a little less recoil, better accuracy and no real change in effective hunting range. I've shot several deer the load and it's a hammer. IMHO, it drops them faster then 12g slugs.
I played with a 7-30 waters for a while but returned to the 30-30 because of the barnes bullet.
If you do go 30-30, check out the lee collet die for neck sizing.
I now reload 30-30 much faster without using any lube and only one cleaning for powder residue.
