This past summer I picked up a used Super 14 .30-30 Winchester Contender. Promptly I borrowed a chamber reamer and with the help of a machinist buddy of mine we rechambered it to .30-30 AI. I spent the summer nad fall fire forming new Winchester .30-30 Brass into .30-30 AI Brass.

Once I had a good supply of brass fire formed I set out to work up a load. I concentrated on 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips. Powders used were Hodgdon's LEVERevolution, Varget, H-4895, IMR-8208XBR and IMR-3031. In the end two loads (one with LEVERevolution and one with Varget) surfaced as shooting the tightest groups. In the end the load with Varget won out producing groups ranging from .535" to 1.212" with an overall average of just under and inch.



Prior to shooting the above group a week ago today the best two groups had been .640".

Our SD Deer Season doesn't open till the 17th, but Minnesota's Deer Season is open now. With that said I asked a buddy of mine from Wheaton Minnesota if he wanted to try his hand a Handgun Hunting this year instead of using his Slug Gun. He took me up on my offer and yesterday connected on his first ever Handgunned Buck.

Up to this point in Traverse County (a Shotgun Zone, but Muzzleloaders and Handguns are allowed in the Minnesota Shotgun Zone) my buddy has only ever harvested his Deer with Shotgun Slugs. He told me he would not have gotten this Buck with his Slug Gun.

He sat on that farm (a couple different stands) Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and this morning without ever seeing a Deer of any kind. Today he decided to go back to his stand at 1:30PM. Well by 2:00PM the Buck was on the ground. He told me he watched the Buck emerge from cover and was moving on a Deer Trail left to right. He said he didn’t realize how thick the cover was there until he looked through the scope.

Finally he said he located a clearing where there was no brush in the way and concentrated on that spot. He said he had the crosshairs on the clearing and when the Buck stepped into the clearing he bleated with his voice, and no sooner had the Buck stopped and the Contender roared.

I asked him if he was pleased with the way the hunt went with the Handgun and if he would be hunting with a Handgun in the future. Actually I asked him if he was now in the market to buy a Hunting Handgun and he said YES. After we talked a bit and I helped him hang his Buck he said well I guess if I cannot use your Contender next year I’ll have to buy one.

My buddy took some photos of the Contender with the Deer and promised to e mail them to me but I have not see them as yet.



At any rate above is a photo of my Contenders after they returned from getting Hard Chrome Plated. My .223 Super 14 is on the Frame and my .30-30 AI is below it in the photo.

The last time I offered to let a Minnesotan borrow one of my Contenders for the Minnesota Deer Season that was all it took. The next year he bought a G2 Contender with a use Super 14 .30-30 AI Barrel and has been a Handgun Hunter ever since.

Larry

All things being equal, what kind of velocity are you getting with the Ackley, and what kind of improvement is it over the standard .30-30 chambering? Thanks

Nice to see your barrel working out. I used a 30/30 AI factory barrel this year with success also. Mine loves varget powder also. It groups very well with varget and 130 Barnes tipped x bullets, and they perform very well on game. Shot a muley doe at 60 yards, flesh only in, one rib out with about a one inch exit hole and total destruction of the lungs.

That's great Larry. Way to go.

Thanks guys.

The average velocity of the 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips loaded with Varget is 2306 FPS. For the record my .30-30 Winchester Loads with 125gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips averaged 2325 FPS. In other words the .30-30AI is shooting a 150 as fast as this barrel shot the 125's as a .30-30 Winchester.

Larry

Glad to see you with an AI again ! Nice looking gun.

Loved my thuddy thuddy AI!!

that looks like it will be a very potent load on whitetails...

Thanks guys, I am really looking forward to this coming weekend, even thought I only have an Antlerless Tag this year.

Larry

Yesterday turned out to be my turn with the .30-30 AI Contender Handgun. I was just settling into my stand when a pair of does emerged from the cat tails. I could tell one was larger than the other one so I settled the crosshairs on the chest and squeezed the 2 pound trigger on the Contender. I was rewarded with the audible WHUMP of the 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip finding it's mark. At the shot the doe's front end almost hit the ground but she gathered herself up and managed to sprint about 20 yards.

She was standing in some tall reed canary grass and I could only see about the top 1/3 of her chest so I kind of guessed where to hold the crosshairs. I was a bit forward and managed to totally destgroy one shoulder, the heart and both lungs were literally gone.

I have hunted deer for 45 years and have shot more than my share of deer, some with Speciality Pistols some with Rifles and a couple with Revolvers and Semi Auto Handguns. I have never seen the destruction this 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tip caused to the chest cavity of that deer. When I say the heart and lungs were literally gone that is exactly what I mean. It is going to be interesting when we get her skinned.

So far the .30-30 AI Contender is two for two with the 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips.

Larry

Congratulations Larry!

Nice shooting Larry! Congrats...The BT are hard to beat in the 30-30 AI cal.

Thanks guys. Now the ice is broke on the new barrel & new load so to speak and I can get serious about filling another antlerless tag or two.

Larry

Great gun. Love mine.

Well we skinned the doe today, and now I know why the insides looked like they did. The bullet hit a shoulder on entrance and exit plus a rib going in and out.



Yes the photo is a little graphic but definately shows the bullet did it's job. No portion of the bullet was recovered.

Larry

Dang Larry, it made hamburger out of your sausage meat. Impressive damage.

Good going Larry, your load development paid off.

Thanks, yes it kind of messed things up a bit. I am still amazed that this deer ever took as step.

Larry

Larry in SD what scopes is that on your barrels in the picture. They do not look like any I have seen. I am currently using Burris but I willing to try something different. I like the picture posted showing the bullet results. I have been leary about using my 30-30 instead of the 375 JDJ I have. I will now carry the 30-30 with confidence. Put it on the shoulder and touch the trigger.

The scope on the .223 Super 14 is a 3x12x Burris LER Ballistic Plex Handgun Scope and on the .30-30 AI Super 14 is a 2x7x Burris LER Handgun Scope. I have shot a few Whitetails with the .30-30 AI but up until this one have always used 125gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips. This particular barrel shoots the 150gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips quite a bit better than the previous .30-30 AI Contender Barrel I had.

Yes I was very pleased with the bullet performance with the 150's.

Larry

seet looking rigs

I'm interested in the AI. My question is: do you get the problem with case head separation with the AI that I get with the standard 30-30? How much do you FL re-size opposed to neck sizing? Maybe I reuse cases too long, but have fixed my separation problem by neck sizing more. My loads are not Max.

Thanks guys.

I have not had a case seperation problem with the .30-30 AI. I start with .30-30 Winchester Brass and seat the bullets for my fireform loads so they are hard into the lands to help keep the case from moving upon firing. Once my brass is fireformed I then adjust my sizing die so sizing stops at the neck / shoulder junction.

Larry

if you get case head seperations, i'm pretty sure you are way oversizing your cases. your size die is adjusted incorrectly, and pushing the shoulder back too far. back that full length sizer up a few thousandths to help your case fit the chamber/action better. the case is streching excessively upon firing to fill that void. adjust for proper headspace....

Great looking pistol and congratulations on the hunt. Those 150grn Ballistic Tips are the bomb in .30 cal. I shoot them in my 309JDJ rechamber of an old 30-30 rifle barrel, cut to 15" with IMR 4350. They are moving along at 2354fps and have knocked the legs out from under a few whitetail since getting it a few years back. I used to shoot my deer in the high shoulder but was loosing too much meat with the 150grn BT's so I started putting them right behind the leg, about mid body and they either drop or run a few yards and drop.
Good luck on the rest of your season.

Mike

Thanks Mike

I am loading the 150's with Varget in the .30-30AI and they are running 2308 FPS from the Factory .30-30 I rechambered to .30-30AI with a borrowed reamer. I am sure pleased with the accuracy and results. My buddy that used my .30-30 AI in Minnesota was supposed to send me some photos of his buck but I never did get them.

Merry Christmas

Larry