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I have owned obsolete ammo for 30 years. I specialize in hard to get and ammo for guns that are no longer made. I am the guy you go to when everyone else says no. I have my own collection of obsolete and newer guns so I can test out and chronograph ammo plus accuracy testing.
I also write product reviews and articles for various magazines and ezines in the U.S., Canada, and Australia.
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Poor shot placement doesn’t bring down game animals even with powerful rounds. That’s why mild recoiling rounds are sometimes better then something that beats you up. I have seen more then a few hunters that were afraid of their weapon due to recoil but had too much pride to admit it. Shooting and hunting should be about fun not how much punishment you want or are willing to take.
Ammo is not available commercially except for small specialized reloading businesses but brass can easily be made from 30-30 brass. Just shorten to 1.6 inches and full length size. With some brass it is advisable to check neck thickness though that’s not generally a problem. Most chambers are tight so full length sizing is necessary. Dies are fairly easy to get, my set is from RCBS and they work fine. By the way it has a case capacity similar to the 7.62 X 39 round though they have different shapes. In a same length barrel ballistics would be very similar. Any 308 diameter bullet can be used from 60 to 150 grains. Cast bullets will also work ok Anything heavier wouldn’t have enough velocity to produce useful results. Cast bullets, which are often overlooked, also will work fine as would reduced loads. Accuracy can be splendid and cast bullets are generally cheaper to buy or you can cast your own. You can reduce the velocity of lead bullets for general plinking. Some of the newer bullets such as the Barnes X type of bullets in the 130 grain range should work very well in the Harrett.
Shooting the 30 Harrett isn’t too bad as far as recoil is concerned though with the 150’s you know that you are shooting something. It does have some muzzle blast but no worse then many other high intensity calibers. Ear protection is mandatory unless you want some ringing afterwards. My pistol has a 10 inch barrel which is fairly handy and I wouldn’t want a shorter barrel in this caliber. Actually I wish it was 12” but it is what it is. The 10” barrel does reduce velocity somewhat as opposed to a 15”. My guess with the 150 grain is you would lose around 150 feet per second. While the TC with proper grips will handle many calibers I don’t ever intend to fire something along the lines of the 416 Rigby thank you.
Here are a few loads for the Harrett
LOAD BULLET VELOCITY COMMENT
5 X Unique 110 grain cast 1176 ok
21 X 2400 110 grain round nose 2119 consistent
21.5 X 296 123 grain spitzer 2077 very good
28 X IMR 4198 123 grain spitzer 2119 good load
25.5 X RL 7 150 grain round nose 1851 consistent
25 X IMR 4198 150 grain round nose 1847 good load
My chamber is very tight so I had to shave a couple of thousands off the shell holder in order for all the ammo to chamber and fire. Once that was done I had no problems with the ammo. With the proper ammo it makes a nice compact hunting package.
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