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gemihur
08-23-2019, 09:54 PM
Anyone ever do any reloading with IMR 8028 XBR in the 30 Herrett using medium/heavy bullets, let's say 150 grain cast?
I figured someone in this group has got to have some experience with some of the powders that have been developed since the early days of the cartridge's development
Seems that it falls on the chart almost same as IMR 4895 and Bob Milek had great success with his loads working with DuPont back in the '80's.
I'm open to recommendations and whatever insight you guys might offer.
Thanks in advance, certified contender junkie,
Jimmy
366
My thought is that the 7.62x39 can utilize IMR 8208 and the Herrett is similar case volume.
I just wanna stay around 39,000 psi and no higher than 41,000. With these little break-actions ya' just can't be too careful!

versifier
08-30-2019, 06:29 PM
I have never tried 8208, but I do have experience with the cartridge.

With 150 cast I had best accuracy with 2400 halfway up the charge table, getting <1900fps out of a 14" bbl. I got 3-4" 5-shot 100yd groups. I tried about six different powders but none of them did any better. Lee "soupcans", 120ish gr, did a wee tad better but still wouldn't make the grade accuracy-wise, so I sold it after it lived in my safe gathering dust for ten years. It did nothing that the .30-30 wouldn't do better and the 24" .30-30 bbl I had was good for 2MOA. You know the accuracy of any given individual Contender barrel is a roll of the dice, and if the one I got had been an accurate one I may have delved deeper, but it was not and I went on to greener pastures. (I also prefer the 10" barrels in handgun form - I shoot five different ones from .25-20 to .44mag - the 12's and 14"ers don't fit my chest holster and seem unwieldy to my hands unless rested, so that contributed to my negative experience with the Herrett. I use both 16" and 24" as carbines and love them to death.)

That .30-30 was replaced with a 24" .300Whisper barrel that I had rechambered to the full length .30-223. The barrel is MOA and with both cast and jacketed bullets up to 150gr it gets the same velocities as the .30-30 with about half the felt recoil in my carbine (due to less powder burned at higher pressure). Unlike the .30-30 it does not have the case capacity for heavier/longer bullets as the length limitation means the bullet protrudes back into the case, but as I don't think heavier bullets make any sense due to their rainbow trajectory. I shoot a custom cast 150, designed by "45 2.1" over at Cast Bullets at 2300fps, and Lee soupcans at 25-2600 with full cases of H335 or its surp equivilent. 20 rounds out of a .30-30 Contender carbine and my shoulder hurt for a week. 100rds from the .30-223 and I just want to keep shooting. (Same bullet at the same velocity.) The RCBS sizer/seater set was expensive and I had a custom Lee Collet die made for it, too. Brass is cheap and just takes only one pass through the FL sizer to turn a once-fired .223 into a .30-223 with 2-3% loss depending on the anneal quality of the specific manufacturer, no losses with new brass. One of these days I will rebarrel the .223 Savage Axis I bought for the project so I can have a repeater for the absolute perfect New England deer and pest rifle.

Not the question you asked I know, but that was my .30 Herrett journey and where it took me. If I shot sils or just wanted a plinker and had lucked out on an accurate barrel, maybe the Herrett would have intrigued me more, but as a deer hunter, it just didn't cut it for me.

versifier
09-04-2019, 04:42 PM
BTW, that stock and fore end have me drooling. I have always wanted to make some "pretties" for mine to wear when not hunting and have some really nice stockwood in my hardwood stash. That stock has got me thinking. I really like the look of that design. It is custom isn't it? Who did it if you don't mind sharing details?

gemihur
11-08-2019, 10:28 PM
Versifier,
I have some tools and a little imagination and spend way too much time without jobs in my graphic arts business, so that how it came about.
I shape a lot of wood and now and then I get my hands on a piece with some character inside.
As for my 30 Herrett venture, my chamber has a long leade and even seating the 168 gr. bullets out, I can't touch the lands. I would back it off a bit if I did.
I'm trying for a scenario of cartridge component design to optimize the chamber's dimensions for accuracy. Obviously stability is paramount.
I've got some ladder loads compiled with IMR 8208 XBR from 25 to 30.6 gr. and I'll stop as soon as pressure is indicated.
Thanks for the compliment on my wood. Here's another piece in play.
You're alright.
Jimmy
367 I was referring to the buttstock, the forearm is also in process.