170’s have a litle more punch, but 150’s kill em just as dead. Which is best, or better, Depends on what flavor your rifle likes and shoots best or better IMO.

 

:dito: Good advice--find out what your rifle likes!

 

Some of my guns favor 150s while others like 170s. I just shoot whatever each prefers.

 

I prefer 150’s,but I agree with what’s been said so far. Shoot whatever your gun likes the best.

 

Mine both shoot 170’s better. And they both shoot Remington corelokts great. Neither one shoots 150’s well, and neither likes Winchester ammo. So, I stocked up on a lifetime supply of what they both shoot well.

 

The 1981 336 30-30 that I picked up this past spring seemed to like the Winchester 170g power points the best out of the several ammo types that I tried it out with, so I'm going with those for now.

My daughter used that combo for her first deer which was DRT when she shot so I have no complaints.

 

Both are leathal... It depends on the gun... My 30-30's all like the Federal 170gr Round nose bullets... They shoot near identical to the REM 120gr managed recoil ammo... Both have dropped me deer in the twin tiers of southern NY and northern PA..

 

Both are lethal... It depends on the gun... My 30-30's all like the Federal 170gr Round nose bullets... They shoot near identical to the REM 120gr managed recoil ammo... Both have dropped me deer in the twin tiers of southern NY and northern PA...

Hey, you are from my neck of the woods! I live in Galeton.

 

neither! a 125gr. sierra FNHP. and life is good, except for the critter it connects with,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Cut em up olskool.

View attachment 739807 View attachment 739809 neither! a 125gr. sierra FNHP. and life is good, except for the critter it connects with,,,,,,,,,,,

 

It really amounts to what your rifle shoots best.

 

shawlerbrook, I agree 100% and as long as it is adequate for the game you are using it on,,,,,,,,,,

 

I've only shot one box of 150 gr. ever, so can't say much about them. I use 170 gr. because the 150 gr. aren't fast enough to make up the weight difference, especially down range.

 

Well I take it that given the relatively short ranges fired with an iron sighted 336 with a 20" barrel and the slight velocity gain with 150 gn bullets fired from it, it makes sense to use 170 gn bullets if the gun shoots them accurately. For the record I am a firm 180 gn 30-06 man; 150's don't interest me in the least with my 30-06. I have a bunch of 150 gn Sierra flat nose bullets that I inherited. Maybe my gun won't like 170's but my luck it loves them! Thanks to all.

 

Well I take it that given the relatively short ranges fired with an iron sighted 336 with a 20" barrel and the slight velocity gain with 150 gn bullets fired from it, it makes sense to use 170 gn bullets if the gun shoots them accurately.

That has been my experience. My 336W shoots 150gr more accurate than 170gr.

 

In my opinion, you would have the advantage with a bigger bullet at short range. The 30-30 is a short range rifle. Providing your rifle does not wear a scope I would suggest the 170 grain bullet. Just my 2 cents...

 

all three of my .30-.30`s like the 150gr. a tiny bit more. I load with Hornady interlocks, RP brass and CCI primers. The factory corelokt`s shot ok (seemed like a hotter load) but not as good as my handloads,both 150 and 170. The 170`s didnt shoot too bad either. Any of these rounds though would work just fine. I`m gonna stick with my Hornady 150`s

 

In my opinion. The marlins with micro groove rifling shoot 170 more accurately than 150 . It’s the 1-10 twist rate . The xlr marlins have a 1-12 twist. They shoot the levereveolution well in general as well as 150 gr. But every rifle is different.

 

Both are accurate in my Win 94's. I lean to the 170's, I like a heaver bullet.

 

160 gr Leverevolutions. Shoot great out of my 1971 336 and my son's 336 circa 1971.

 

.... Ive taken deer with both - but tend to lean towards the 170 gr - a little more punch

 

My gun shoots 150's slightly better than 170's but I am going to try my 130 grn. fphc handload next season.

 

I have 20 boxes of 30-30 ammo in assorted bullet weights. I stack them in no particular order but I do try to keep the oldest on top. I've killed a lot of deer in my 60+ years of hunting. I never paid attention to what bullet weight I had on hand, just whatever I grabbed at the store. Every deer I killed sustained massive internal damage regardless of bullet weight...... I fail to see any concern about bullet weight at the distances the 30-30 is designed to kill. Shot placement is everything. JMHO

 

I see a lot of comments about the 170 having more punch / thump than the 150, but that would depend on how you measure punch / thump. The energy of a bullet is known as momentum and is calculated as mass times velocity.

The 150g bullet is about 12% lighter than the 170g, but in 30-30 factory loads the 150g muzzle velocity is 9% faster than the 170. Because of velocity, ballistics charts show the 150g having more energy than the 170g from the muzzle out to about 60 - 65 yards.
At the muzzle, the 150g bullet has about 9.6% more energy than the 170g at factory load velocities for each, but at 100 yards, the 170g has about 9.5% more energy than the 150g.

The lighter bullet will also expand quicker and do a little more damage.

There's another factor to consider; sectional density. The 170g wins here which means it will penetrate deeper, especially at ranges greater than 60 yards or so.

So, the 150g might perform best for deer at close range (under 75 yds) unless the hunter wants to break down the shoulders to prevent the animal from running. Beyond 75 yards, the 170g has more energy & penetration, but the shooter has to know where it will hit because the lower velocity means greater drop.

If hunting black bear or hogs and a shot might be over 60 yards, the 170g would be the most lethal.
30-30 ballistics info from Remington here==> .30-30 Win.

 

The 2 with microgroove rifling in this house shoot 170 Rem best.

 

Based on Saturday's range trip, my XLR likes 170g better but, it's only one data point. Both CoreLokt and Flocci 170g grouped tight. The 150g opened up. Of course it could be the order of fire.

 

Both of my early 336's love 160 FTX's.
My brother's Winchester 94 loves 170 grain ammo. Ironically it shoots Remington better than Winchester.
One of my buddies has a 1980's 336 that likes 150's best.

So go figure.

 

My 1966 RC loves the 160gr ftx over leverloution powder. Honest 1" groups, always amazed when I shoot it.
Good combination of weight and speed.

Did a nice job on this years Tioga Co PA buck.

 

I load 150gr for 336 & 94win. also buy 150s in factory loads. Shot a lot of deer with 150gr with no problems. I don't scope 30/30s so
the accuracy probably wouldn't show up much. The 94 I only shoot 150gr. The 336, my main 30/30, I have shot everything from 1/2
jacket 100gr plinkers to 180Rns. I have 130gr Speer HPs loaded with Win powder that are super accurate but have to be single loaded.
I bought a bunch of Federal 125gr factory and save it for women & kids in deer season. None have made extremely long shots, all under a 100yds but the 125gr got their deer. Never had one go much over 50yds from hit. I've got 2 boxes of Hornady 90gr XTPs in .309" dia
that is next thing I want to try. If they are accurate will make a good Varmit load. A HP pistol bullet should almost explode out of a 30/30.