What is THE Ultimate 30cal Cartridge for ELR/Reloading?

[Litehiker]

.300 PRC. If the Army likes it so much it is likely for good reasons.
1. No "magnum belt" (can now be headspaced off the shoulder)
2. longer neck for heavy, long, high BC bullets (No need to compress powder with long bullets.)
3. better shoulder angle for improved accuracy and better powder burning

Reasonable barrel life, great accuracy, manageable recoil. What's not to like?

So do you REALLY need the fastest, most brutal recoiling 30 caliber cartridge? Do you REALLY want to shoot something like a 300 RUM when a 300 PRC will kill an elk as cleanly at any ethical distance?

 

[Grizzly60]

.30 Carbine.

Or the 30-30

 

[Calvin45]

.300 PRC. If the Army likes it so much it is likely for good reasons.
1. No "magnum belt" (can now be headspaced off the shoulder)
2. longer neck for heavy, long, high BC bullets (No need to compress powder with long bullets.)
3. better shoulder angle for improved accuracy and better powder burning

Reasonable barrel life, great accuracy, manageable recoil. What's not to like?

So do you REALLY need the fastest, most brutal recoiling 30 caliber cartridge? Do you REALLY want to shoot something like a 300 RUM when a 300 PRC will kill an elk as cleanly at any ethical distance?

I see your perspective and for sure it's a valid one! But for me "ultimate" and "most practical" are almost never the same thing. That's my perspective. 30xc!

 

[Calvin45]

Or the 30-30

Not the ultimate but perhaps some of the "ultimate" fun you can have shooting. Few things more enjoyable than seeing how from far away you can pop a milk jug or an old watermelon with an iron sighted lever gun shooting freehand haha. But that's for a different thread I suppose.

 

[del2les]

Personally, I'll stay with my 300 RUMs. If I can't do it with those in 30 cal, then I'll pick up my 338's or larger.

 

[swabby56]

If you could get any powder, primer, brass, bullet, dies, etc. etc. etc....... including action, barrels..... blah blah blah.
Who cares about factory cartridges or easy to find. This is about ELR/Reloading.

What is The Ultimate 30cal Cartridge for ELR and reloading?

I built a 300 PRC. WOW IS IT AMAZING!!!

 

[Stetson05]

Great info! I love getting all these perspectives.

I'm going to say 300PRC which I've loaded for but I'd actually prefer the idea of a 30 Sherman. There are several reasons for my opinion specifically due to reloading.

30-06 shoots great but is slow and inefficient to today's standards. I think 308 is even worse. (Personal opinion).

300wm is good but my rifles don't like the heavies so I'm at 180gr with a 500 bc. There are so many nicer long range bullets out there.

300PRC is easy to tune with heavy bullets. Great velocity. Brass was half the cost of the 300 RUM or the Norma Mag. Step up the case to a Sherman with fire forming and you get even better velocity. Great velocity, affordable brass, less powder than others, high BC bullets.

I've got a 300 RUM in Rem 700. Great velocity! My gun won't stabilize heavy for caliber bullets so I'm stuck shooting 150gr. Tons of powder expended. Brass life is low, 3 times max without annealing. Brass is expensive and was hard to find during the good years, harder now.

300 Norma has great stats but brass is twice as much as 300PRC and that adds up. 30 Sherman closes the gap on the stats.

My next rifle should be a 30 Sherman built on my 300 RUM action for great velocity with heavy bullets reasonable powder quantity and affordable brass.

 

[Swiftkill]

If you could get any powder, primer, brass, bullet, dies, etc. etc. etc....... including action, barrels..... blah blah blah.
Who cares about factory cartridges or easy to find. This is about ELR/Reloading.

What is The Ultimate 30cal Cartridge for ELR and reloading?

Thats Almost an impossible question. It depends on the application, who is carrying it, if you want a lightweight gun or a bench gun or a muzzle brake, et cetera.
Do you just want the highest velocity with the heaviest bullet question? Do you want the most efficiency it's a efficiency? You want the most accuracy? Mark the Marines have gone back to the 300 win mag. It's my personal choice because you can get away with a 24 to 26" barrel, is, a shorter lighter action action and 90% performance of a 338 Lapua.
One of the ultramarine, Weatherby or Lazerronis really require more than a 26" long barrel. 28-30. Like a 357 with a 4" barrel is almost no point.
So, the answer to your question..., "it depends....."

 

[floyd kittrell]

Lazzeroni Warbird. No other answers needed.

X2 hands down .

 

[Swiftkill]

Thats Almost an impossible question. It depends on the application, who is carrying it, if you want a lightweight gun or a bench gun or a muzzle brake, et cetera.
Do you just want the highest velocity with the heaviest bullet question? Do you want the most efficiency it's a efficiency? You want the most accuracy? Mark the Marines have gone back to the 300 win mag. It's my personal choice because you can get away with a 24 to 26" barrel, is, a shorter lighter action action and 90% performance of a 338 Lapua.
One of the ultramarine, Weatherby or Lazerronis really require more than a 26" long barrel. 28-30. Like a 357 with a 4" barrel is almost no point.
So, the answer to your question..., "it depends....."

Well, I should have proof read my voice to text. Im watching football.!

 

[Bravo 4]

Calvin,
My understanding is you won't need special dies for a 30XC, just a correct bushings. The 33, 37, & 41 are the same die with simple bushing changes.
My 33XC is on a Savage 112 single shot Savage action. At first I just punched out the chamber on the factory barrel because it shot factory .338 Lapua ammo so good.
The XC has close to 10gr more capacity than a 30-378 Weatherby. Improve the Weatherby case and it cuts that down a bit, got a buddy with 2 of Kirby Allen's Kahns.

 

[cornshank]

Thats Almost an impossible question. It depends on the application, who is carrying it, if you want a lightweight gun or a bench gun or a muzzle brake, et cetera.
Do you just want the highest velocity with the heaviest bullet question? Do you want the most efficiency it's a efficiency? You want the most accuracy? Mark the Marines have gone back to the 300 win mag. It's my personal choice because you can get away with a 24 to 26" barrel, is, a shorter lighter action action and 90% performance of a 338 Lapua.
One of the ultramarine, Weatherby or Lazerronis really require more than a 26" long barrel. 28-30. Like a 357 with a 4" barrel is almost no point.
So, the answer to your question..., "it depends....."

I agree ,it's an individual choice that boils down to what you like in the larger 30 cal.
Also what is ELR to you .
If your talking what will shoot the farthest , neck down the biggest case you can to 30 cal ,chamber a rifle for it ,put it on a leadsled ,put a couple mattresses on top of it and pull the trigger with a 100' piece of string.
I choose a 300 weatherby mag, a 30 cal that has been used and reloaded ,for the last 75 years , And ballisticly its not that far behind some of the new 30 cal calibers.

 

[Calvin45]

Calvin,
My understanding is you won't need special dies for a 30XC, just a correct bushings. The 33, 37, & 41 are the same die with simple bushing changes.
My 33XC is on a Savage 112 single shot Savage action. At first I just punched out the chamber on the factory barrel because it shot factory .338 Lapua ammo so good.
The XC has close to 10gr more capacity than a 30-378 Weatherby. Improve the Weatherby case and it cuts that down a bit, got a buddy with 2 of Kirby Allen's Kahns.

Great to know thanks. Yeah combine that capacity with Peterson brass and it should stomp pretty hard haha

 

[blvette75]

As far as 30 Caliber, 300 win Mag Throated to handle the longer bullets, just because it is what I have, and I have a lot of experience loading for it.