Any handloaders here with experience in reduced-power rifle loads?

[Richard Steele]

I've finally finished a "project gun" I bought many years ago,
and I'm planning to take it to the woods for the upcoming deer season.

I'd like to have some practical experience with beforehand,
and it occurred to me that I could take it out for some squirrel hunting
if I concocted some low-powered rounds for it.
No one has hunted the squirrels around here for years-
they're fat, sassy, and exceedingly numerous. A younger man
with a good arm could probably take his limit by hunting them
with a bag of rocks, knowhutImean?


Anyway, my rifle is an 1895 Winchester chambered for 30-40 Krag.
Looking through my many boxes of odds & ends, I've come up with
a box of 85-grain hollowpoints designed for the .32ACP.

I'm looking to run those through my .308 sizing die, and then load
them atop a charge of pistol powder sufficient to move them out
at around 800fps. I reckon that a round like that would be some
pretty strong medicine for squirrels 25-50 yards away, no?

Does anyone here have expereince with a project like this?
Your advice, opinions, and random comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!
Richard Steele

[krispos42]

1. I think they're too big.

The .32 bullets might be too fat for the barrel. Winchester says that the .30-40 Krag uses a .308" bullet, and the .32 ACP a .312" bullet.

I think you'd have a problem trying that.


Hornady makes some 90-grain .308 handgun bullets.
https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=b39342d7fe44fa411c14137c2ce2e7cd&page=shop%2Fbrowse&category_id=fff7fc94ea9163c3a13845f21b10baf2


And a bunch of lightweight .308" rifle bullets.
https://www.hornady.com/shop/?ps_session=b39342d7fe44fa411c14137c2ce2e7cd&page=shop%2Fbrowse&category_id=ffd8e51c7827b4eed2fb35a333f4eafb



However, since you want to load it down to pistol velocities, you should stick with pistol bullets.



You can use rayon pillow stuffing (from a fabric/crafts store) to hold the gunpower up against the primer. You'll need to do this because otherwise the reduced charge might not be ignited by the primer.

Simply resize and trim the brass, prime the case and drop in a powder load, then before you put in the bullet, stuff a pea-sized wad of rayon or two in the case mouth with a wooden dowel and tamp it down to the bottom. Then seat in a bullet as usual. The rayon will keep the powder charge pressed up against the primer instead of rattling around the walls of the cartridge.


Caveat: I've never done this myself but I've read about using it for reduced-power revolver loads.




I don't know how you would figure out the correct powder charge. If you have a chronograph, I guess you can just start at a minimum rifle load and keep dropping it by 5% until you get the muzzle velocity you'd want. Probably about 6 grains of handgun powder would be enough, but might need 7 or 8 to overcome the increased friction from such a comparatively long barrel (24" vs. 4").




Hope this helps.

[Richard Steele]

2. I've got a .308 bullet sizing die...

It was originally meant for full-sized cast lead bullets,
but it works just fine on those little JHPs. I resized
some of these once long ago to load some high-velocity
rounds for a .30 Carbine.

Thanks for the tip about the rayon- that makes a lot of sense,
since it's gonna be a pretty small powder charge rattling
around in that big old case.

I don't have a chronograph at the moment, so I'm planning
to test the rounds on milk jugs full of water. Once I get
a load that goes all the way through without blowing the
jug to shreds, I reckon I'll have a good round for squirrels.

[old mark]

3. I agree the Hornady manual is probably the best source

for this kind of information.
I used one many years ago for reduced loads for the .45-70. Wound up with a good load using a 300 grain hollow point bullet over the old 3031 powder. Used them in a Marlin lever gun for groundhogs, etc. Liked it so much i loaded some hotter for deer. Great manual, lots of very good information.

mark