Lead Free 30 cal?

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ThornyGreenwood

Member
May 2, 2023
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California
Hey all,

New airgunner here looking to get a hatson 30 cal break barrel. I was wondering if anyone could point me to any lead free 30 cal pellets. I have looked around all over and even emailed some companies like H&N to ask if they will make 30 cal lead free pellets in the future with no luck. Is this just not a thing? I am interested in taking small game and do not wish to handle lead as I have gotten elevated lead levels from firearms in the past.

Thanks!
 
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ThornyGreenwood said:
Wow, that would be fantastic! Do you happen to know where I can pick those up if I like them?
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Nobody makes commercial .30 unleaded pellets, not yet anyway. I make (or cast) my pellets myself using NOE pellet molds. You can get the molds from them, www.noebulletmolds.com. They list them by caliber, and the .300 pellet molds are listed under .308 - .311 (close enough, I guess). They're the first ones under that heading.
What I can do is send you a dozen or so pellets of the different weights (basically the depth of skirt) for you to try out. If they work, then buy your own mold and start casting!
Mike
 
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Berserkeley Mike said:
Nobody makes commercial .30 unleaded pellets, not yet anyway. I make (or cast) my pellets myself using NOE pellet molds. You can get the molds from them, www.noebulletmolds.com. They list them by caliber, and the .300 pellet molds are listed under .308 - .311 (close enough, I guess). They're the first ones under that heading.
What I can do is send you a dozen or so pellets of the different weights (basically the depth of skirt) for you to try out. If they work, then buy your own mold and start casting!
Mike
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Oh! Sorry for the confusion, I meant the molds themselves. I can't seem to find any that are in stock, are they difficult to get?
 
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ThornyGreenwood said:
Oh! Sorry for the confusion, I meant the molds themselves. I can't seem to find any that are in stock, are they difficult to get?
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Oh, hmm, yes I see they are out of the diabolo ones, "hunter" and "magnum". And it could be months, a year even before they mill some more. They do have the "Bob's Boat Tail" one, 300-68-FN-BI3, that will cast a ~45 grain tin cylinder, or whatever that shape is, and the 300-55-HP-BY6 slug mold that should cast something around 35-40 grains in tin, depending on whether you use the hollow-point pins or not. I haven't tried those molds... yet. And molds and casting is a bit of a gamble, the resulting pellet might or might not shoot well from your particular gun; you just have to try it.
I read back to your original post, you don't have the .30 gun yet, right? And you wanted that caliber because a friend said it would be better for turkey and hogs. I don't know about that, but the Hatsan 135 in .25 has as much power as the .30: 34fpe. (Their Mod125 _says_ it has 34fpe in .25, but that may be optimistic.) At least in .25 you can buy commercial unleaded pellets for it, and you can still play around with casting if you want, depending on which molds NOE has in stock.

Mike
 
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Berserkeley Mike said:
Oh, hmm, yes I see they are out of the diabolo ones, "hunter" and "magnum". And it could be months, a year even before they mill some more. They do have the "Bob's Boat Tail" one, 300-68-FN-BI3, that will cast a ~45 grain tin cylinder, or whatever that shape is, and the 300-55-HP-BY6 slug mold that should cast something around 35-40 grains in tin, depending on whether you use the hollow-point pins or not. I haven't tried those molds... yet. And molds and casting is a bit of a gamble, the resulting pellet might or might not shoot well from your particular gun; you just have to try it.
I read back to your original post, you don't have the .30 gun yet, right? And you wanted that caliber because a friend said it would be better for turkey and hogs. I don't know about that, but the Hatsan 135 in .25 has as much power as the .30: 34fpe. (Their Mod125 _says_ it has 34fpe in .25, but that may be optimistic.) At least in .25 you can buy commercial unleaded pellets for it, and you can still play around with casting if you want, depending on which molds NOE has in stock.

Mike
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Thanks for the advice! I think I may try a mold, it seems like an interesting thing to learn. Do you know if there is any important functional difference between the brass and aluminum ones?
 
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ThornyGreenwood said:
Thanks for the advice! I think I may try a mold, it seems like an interesting thing to learn. Do you know if there is any important functional difference between the brass and aluminum ones?
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At the relatively low melting temperatures of tin (~450F), I haven't noticed a performance difference, although I don't have one of each in the same mold size/caliber to directly compare. I prefer aluminum, as it is cheaper and lighter.
 
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TacticalAnt said:
What about powder coating projectiles? Thst would protect your skin, breathing lead fumes, and looks like some additional physics benefits as well. Here is an article on it https://www.snipercountry.com/powder-coating-bullets/
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Sure, and who doesn't want better performance too?!
Depending on what one's concerns with lead are, coating them may or may not help. A layer of paint, copper or even lube will help keep lead off one's fingers, but there is still the lump being hurled downrange. Firearms apparently have some lead fumes when fired, due to the energies in general and the use of lead styphnate as a primer, but I don't think airguns have much fumes, just particles in the bore and out the barrel, and the projectile itself and splatter at the target. Here are the CMP / USA Shooting lead management guidelines, a good read:
Mike
 
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Some time ago I made these .30 cal sabots for 3D printing, which could be used with either .22 or .25 cal. lead free slugs or pellets... Here's the link:

Freshly designed .30 caliber Sabots for .22 / .25 cal. Slugs

Hi there everyone! I got a request to design .30 caliber sabots for use with airguns, that can be 3D printed. So here they are: As you can all see, the blue ones are for use with .25 / 6,35 mm slugs or even plain pellets and the red ones are for twenty-twos. And as I've already explained...
www.airgunnation.com www.airgunnation.com
 
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