Reloading Subsonic .30-30 Win - Introduction
You will find in this blog everything you need to know to make your own subsonic .30-30 Win cartridges. More generally, it will help you to get started in reloading any rifle cartridge.
I’m a huge fan of silenced firearms. We don’t shoot for noise and recoil, do we? When I acquired my Marlin 336 XLR chambered in .30-30, the very first thing I did was threading the barrel and mounting a silencer, the ASE Utra SL7i.
Combined with subsonic ammo, my Marlin is actually quieter than some air guns (not taking into account the noise of the bullet crashing into its target).
However, the .30-30 Win cartridge was originally made for medium to big-game hunting, and so I guess the goal wasn’t really to have silent, subsonic bullets. It is quite the opposite actually: standard .30-30 Win bullets have a muzzle velocity between 700-800 m/s (2300-2600 fps), more than twice the speed of sound.
Still, some manufacturers make subsonic .30-30 Win cartridges: Hornady in the US with their 30-30 Win 175 gr Sub-X® Subsonic and Sologne here in France. But there are three problems:
- Accuracy: the brand I could try (Sologne, in France) had terrible accuracy. The cartridges had very inconsistent bullet velocities (I measured velocities from 170 m/s to 300 m/s). Some bullets would even hit the ground before reaching the target less than 50 m (55 yds) away.
- Availability: finding a retailer selling them can be difficult because it’s a pretty specific product and not all gun shops have it.
- Price: here in France, Sologne is the only manufacturer making these cartridges and a box of 20 Subsonic .30-30 Win sells for €70 (= $80 at the time of writing this page): that’s €3.5 ($3.81) per cartridge!
Continue reading to know how I started my journey into reloading and achieved better performances with my handloaded cartridges!
