Ram Loads .30-30

Centerfires, rimfires, pistol cartridges and everything in between.
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Tlee
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Re: Ram Loads .30-30

Post by Tlee »

cslcAl wrote:Dennis,

I know you stated that you don't have many rams under your belt. I ran the numbers on your 130 using a speed of 2500 which I know is a guess, but may be close to what you may be getting. At 200 meters your "Ramentum" is 1.13. It has been suggested that a "Ramentum" of 1.20 is an accecptable number for reliable ram knockdown.

What you will probably find with your load is as your percentage of ram hits goes up so will your likelyhood of losing a few. Time will tell, and I hope you progress to hitting many each time out. Also if you shoot on more than one range you will see there are some that have more challenging rams than others. The most detrimental factor to ram success is wind blowing in from behind the rams. That situation will tell you real quick how good your ram load really is.

Al Foust
Agreed 100%! ^:)^

IMHO/experience, there is NO (practical) load that will take the ram 100% of the time... I've personally observed a 170gr FN Speer running 2000FPS+ ring rams "like a church bell" with high back, neck, and horn hits and then have a guy on the very next relay ON THE SAME BANK OF TARGETS.... have them all fall (mostly center hits) with 1700FPS 170gr loads. The difference?.... A slight breeze to the backside of the targets for the 1st example and NO wind on the next relay.

I've also shown up the range with NO ram loads, shot them with a 130gr bullet, and they ALL fall.... So as I interpret what Al mentioned, "it all depends", LOL!

Also, directly related to what Al mentioned; It does absolutely no good to have a heavy recoiling shoulder bashing ram load if your flinch with it is so bad you hit fewer! While I do still carry some 170g/2000+FPS loads in my stash to the range for "wind in my face rams".... (just in case), I'm actually hitting more rams (and have only lost a couple to date) using a softer recoiling 173gr gas checked lead boolit running about 1700FPS.

FWIW, my pig/turkey loads are either 1700 or 1500FPS 150gr loads, depending on the day and what box of ammo I grab, LOL! My Chicken loads are 110gr M1 Carbine bullets with 9gr of TrailBoss... Feels like a 22LR.

.02 more,

- Tim

:ymcowboy:
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Re: Ram Loads .30-30

Post by AMB »

You gotta hit 'em to git 'em, and sometimes you still don't. For me 170 Sierra over H322 probably 95% effective nothing is 100%. As pointed out by Al, you get some back breeze, all bets off. My original load... nothing has changed in ten years or so. It's accurate, and recoil impulse is comfortable, more like a push. However, I DDed one a couple weeks ago at our PA State shoot (low center body), nothing you can do. Although, not sure what I'll do when I run out if they're still not available.
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Re: Ram Loads .30-30

Post by TheBugFather »

Sorry guys, just saw the Reply from last year.
Thanks again for the advice!
Dennis
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...I don't like recoil, but I love to experiment.
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