So J.Kb. thinks it was crazy for me to shoot a racoon with a 30-30. Maybe… (So people without a warped sense of humor get it, this is all in fun. Both J.Kb. and myself are having fun with this topic.)
The first time I went out on the porch because my wife was hearing “sounds out there” I didn’t think it was a human but it could have been anything from a chipmunk to bear. I wanted something with me that would stop it, whatever it was. That means I’m not picking up the 5.56 nor a .22LR.
That takes me to pistol calibers. Again, not enough stopping power for a bear. This lead to a compromise, 30-30 Winchester. I’m pretty sure that I can put multiple rounds on target with any of the 30-30s I own and if it was a bear of the size we have around here, I am positive it would be stopped with that 30-30.
Other choices are 7.62×39. Nothing but FMJ for that. 7.62×51. Big ass rifle with a scope, bolt action. About the same stopping power as the 30-30 at shorter ranges. 30-06 (M1), it would be nice but again a very long heavy rifle and it is currently set for two legged mode. FMJ.
This takes us up to the big boy, 45-70. Now I have a lever action at that size and it would be the right round for bear. But here’s the thing. It wasn’t handy. It is at the other end of the house with some of the other lever actions. I’d have to take a few extra minutes to go get it and make sure it was the right one.
In the meantime there is something on the porch and we have an injured chicken on the porch being cared for by my daughter.
So it was grab the 30-30.
Now after the first Racoon was dead and I saw there was another, I switched to a bolt action .22LR. It took 3 rounds to kill that Racoon. All three were kill shots but only the last was to the head causing it to cease to feel or function.
This is compared to the 30-30 which put the critter down with just one shot and instantly.
Now this lead to some discussion and the .357 that was on my wish list suddenly got a slightly higher priority.
And then a beautiful Rossi R92 in 0.357Mag followed me home. That is a story for tomorrow, but for today, it is the ready gun for small/medium critter work. I did a little gunsmithing on it yesterday and it is now running at 100%. It hits where I am.
Only thing happening on that front right now is working up a better 0.357Mag load. Currently I’m using hollow point cast bullets making a 115gr projectile sitting on top of a hefty load of TiteGroup. It works but isn’t a load I’m happy with.
Today I went to the LGS/sporting goods store and was happy to buy a pack of small pistol primers off them (9mm reloads) and they had 2400 there! Amazing. So that came home and when I have some brass I’ll be working up a load for .357Mag.
I do use a chronograph when working up loads.
357 is my favorite caliber to load and shoot!
I find about 14 grains of 2400 behind a 125gr bullet feels very similar to hornady critical defense 125gr.
I’ve also had excellent success with bayou coated bullets. Highly reccomend.
Man in the bad old days (2103+) it took 3 full years before I could find 2400 or H110 in stock anywhere.
The 125 gr bullets are good for fast loads, but for something closer the 30-30 take a look at the 180 gr WFN coated bullet from Missouri Bullet Co. I load it over a starting load (per the Hodgdon website) of H110 and it duplicates the HSM Bear Load in my 4″ revolver (HSM 1180 fps, H110 1140 fps) and my Rossi M92 with the 20″ barrel (HSM 1630 fps, H110 1570 fps). If you want more power, the Buffalo Bore loads are the place to look.