Buffalo Bore Heavy 30-30.

[Gebe]

I was wondering if any of you have tried these?

I live in a rural area where bears visit my house all the time and they've been threatening at times.

I'm not scared but was wondering if these rounds were seriously effective and if they were worth the sky-high price?

I was thinking of purchasing the Horandy 30-30 140 gr. MonoFlex rounds which are also good bear medicine but Horandy recommends that that you don't load your rifle with these and let it sit as they can flatten the flex tips.

That is UNACCEPTABLE as I want my 30-30 to be LOADED at all times in case a brute comes around.

What do you gents think?

 

[6mmman]

get them , they will work, but nothing beats a 12 gauge stoked with #1 magnums at close range.

 

[papajohn428]

If you don't handload, that's probably your best option for the 30-30. If you do handload, a good heavy hardcast flatnose over a stiff charge of your favorite medium-speed powder will do as well as anything else. Shot placement is still critical!

 

[brucev]

If your hunting black bear, a .30-30 with standard factory 170 gr. loads will do fine. However personally I'd look hard at BB's heavy .30-30 load using a 190 gr. JFN @ 2100 fps (1860 ft.lbs.). For a bear bent on fooling around with you or your stuff, a .30-30 with the same load would be very effective. A heavy hard cast bullet in the above weight ranges at similar velocities would likely do just as well. JMHO. Cheers.

 

[30-30remchester]

I study terminal ballistics and have in my collection close to 200 bullets ACTUALLY recovered from animals, so I do have some experence. I was a big game guide for 9 years and a hunter of big game for 46 years. If you can tell from my user name I am a fan of the 30-30 though must confess I havent used it on many head of big game. My bear count is exactly 3 blacks, so I am limited there as well. However having seen hundreds of animals taken and studied their demise I feel I can give some advise that might be relavent. I have not shot any of the Buffalo Bore 190's though I own a box. I feel the Hornaday may be too lightweight for deep penatration, as well as the large frontal area of these type bullets slows penatration as well. I do not agree with a few others that a good hard cast bullet is the best medicine. These simply put a small hole though the animal with minimul damage to the vital organs. I once shot a mule deer in the butt running away with such a bullet in the 30-30 caliber. When I found him the bullet had completely traveled though his body and exited his throat, yet internal damage was so slight it was difficult to find any real damage done to his organs. If it were me I would use Federal 170 grain Nosler partitions. I have used partions for decades with zero failure, as has many top riflemen. These mushroom very fast for good tissue damage, then "peel" back to a small frontal area for deep penatration. The exit hole created by such a bullet has lead many unexperenced people to believe thy didnt expand. This is not the case. An excellent artice was written by a man that had shot over 100 bears using about every concievable handgun bullet and his experences are well documented. In short he stated that hard cast solids on black bears seemed to not have much instant effect and simply upset them more though they eventually died. However on black bear he liked a good soft point that expanded. When hit with these he said the aggression left the bear and the bears main concern was to fight the pain not the hunter. This man seems to be very knowledgable and has vastly more experence than I ever will on bears at least.

 

[Gebe]

Very informative and thanks for your opinions 30-30remchester!

 

[35Rem]

I'll second the 170 Nosler Partition in the Federal Premium line. I have read of people using these for elk. Honestly, the 170 grain power points or corelockts should be fine. Stay heavy for caliber.

 

[buckeyeshooter1]

Nothing wrong the the Nosler partition. I like the barnes X FN myself --but I don't think its available in factory ammo.

 

[Texas Star]

I study terminal ballistics and have in my collection close to 200 bullets ACTUALLY recovered from animals, so I do have some experence. I was a big game guide for 9 years and a hunter of big game for 46 years. If you can tell from my user name I am a fan of the 30-30 though must confess I havent used it on many head of big game. My bear count is exactly 3 blacks, so I am limited there as well. However having seen hundreds of animals taken and studied their demise I feel I can give some advise that might be relavent. I have not shot any of the Buffalo Bore 190's though I own a box. I feel the Hornaday may be too lightweight for deep penatration, as well as the large frontal area of these type bullets slows penatration as well. I do not agree with a few others that a good hard cast bullet is the best medicine. These simply put a small hole though the animal with minimul damage to the vital organs. I once shot a mule deer in the butt running away with such a bullet in the 30-30 caliber. When I found him the bullet had completely traveled though his body and exited his throat, yet internal damage was so slight it was difficult to find any real damage done to his organs. If it were me I would use Federal 170 grain Nosler partitions. I have used partions for decades with zero failure, as has many top riflemen. These mushroom very fast for good tissue damage, then "peel" back to a small frontal area for deep penatration. The exit hole created by such a bullet has lead many unexperenced people to believe thy didnt expand. This is not the case. An excellent artice was written by a man that had shot over 100 bears using about every concievable handgun bullet and his experences are well documented. In short he stated that hard cast solids on black bears seemed to not have much instant effect and simply upset them more though they eventually died. However on black bear he liked a good soft point that expanded. When hit with these he said the aggression left the bear and the bears main concern was to fight the pain not the hunter. This man seems to be very knowledgable and has vastly more experence than I ever will on bears at least.

I'd like to read that article. Do you recall where it appeared? The author's name?

Thanks for your informative comments, too.

 

[Texas Star]

Just as an aside, I don't like the idea of keeping a rifle with a tubular magazine sitting around loaded for emergencies. Might weaken the spring.

Have you got a rifle with a box magazine, maybe even detachable? If detachable, you can rotate spare magazines.

Just a thought...

 

[Jst1mr]

Be proactive! Light 'em up with some birdshot when they show up. Taxidermists tell me it is hard to find a bear hide in Wisconsin that doesn't show the mark of a few shotgun pellets. They generally leave the area after a bad experience or two, and, with the shotgun handy, keep a few heavy loads of slugs or buck for comfort to be used if you need to. If you want to keep the 30-30, don't worry about leaving the magazine stoked - springs wear out from repeated cycles, not from being compressed.

 

[30-30remchester]

I'd like to read that article. Do you recall where it appeared? The author's name?

Thanks for your informative comments, too.

TEXAS STAR, I dont know how to cut and paste. It took me awhile to find the forum I had read the mentioned article. The folowing is where I found it and the forum search. The author was a professional bear control hunter and guide. His comments are quite imformative. His screen name is JJHACK and the forum name is ACCURATERELOADING.COM and the topic was "MODEL 29 MOUNTAIN". If you have trouble finding it, I will get assistance to post the forum. His experence with hard cast bullets is similar to my one experence.

 

[Texas Star]

TEXAS STAR, I dont know how to cut and paste. It took me awhile to find the forum I had read the mentioned article. The folowing is where I found it and the forum search. The author was a professional bear control hunter and guide. His comments are quite imformative. His screen name is JJHACK and the forum name is ACCURATERELOADING.COM and the topic was "MODEL 29 MOUNTAIN". If you have trouble finding it, I will get assistance to post the forum. His experence with hard cast bullets is similar to my one experence.

Thanks. I found Accurate Reloading.com, and it is misnamed. Its forums host a variety of hunting and other lore, with members in several countries, and some good safari stuff. I loved their section discussing spears and atlatls!

But I'll have to join to Search for the story that you mentioned. May do that.

 

[Cyrano]

I'd prefer my Rem 760 pump in 30-06 with 180 gr Noslers, but that may not be an option for you.

 

[Ironhand]

Just as an aside, I don't like the idea of keeping a rifle with a tubular magazine sitting around loaded for emergencies. Might weaken the spring.

Have you got a rifle with a box magazine, maybe even detachable? If detachable, you can rotate spare magazines.

Just a thought...

TS,


It's not the compressing of a spring that weakens it, it's the cycling from compressed to non-compressed that weakens the spring. The spring in my Mossberg 500 is the original one that came with the shotgun in 1990, and it still works just fine.

While it's true that springs will take a 'set' over time they will not stop working due to a mag tube staying loaded. I have used magazine springs that were well over 30 years old, some almost 40(various AK and FAL magazines), and they worked without problems. I know of several shooters who have found 1911 mags that had been loaded since WW2 that worked, as long as corrosion wasn't a factor.