30 Whitetail Premium Hunting Ammunition
30 Whitetail Premium Hunting Ammunition
What exactly is the .30 Whitetail?
It is a .30 caliber, bottle-neck cartridge with a case length of 1.400". The parent cartridge of this "wildcat" is the bench rest (BR) cartridge. The most commonly used "BR" cartridge in use today is the 6mm BR Norma. Although this is the most common BR in use today, the 7mm BR has seen popularity in years past. The 6.5mm BR and 30 BR have also seen their time in the favor of a few. Since 6mm BR Norma (6BR for short) brass is so readily available, we start with 6BR brass. The brass has to have the necks opened to .30 caliber and shortened to 1.4" to comply with Illinois law for legal bottle-neck deer hunting cartridges. In an attempt to create a larger case capacity, we have the shoulder of the case fire-formed to 40 degrees. This 40 degree modification is generally referred to as being "Ackley Improved". So, the .30 Whitetail is essentially a shortened .30 BRA.
How is this legal?
Illinois has had the option to use handguns to hunt deer for several decades. The law for handgun hunting included the use of revolvers or single shot handguns. The cartridges that were allowed included any straight-walled cartridge that was .30 caliber or larger of any length or a bottle-neck cartridge that was .30 caliber or larger with a case length not exceeding 1.4". Many hunters used the 300 Blackout in AR-15 pistols and bolt action handguns since the 300 Blackout was a bottle-neck cartridge and was shorter than 1.4". In 2023, Illinois law allowed for hunting with single shot rifles with very similar cartridge restrictions. In the 2023 law, the bottle-neck description called for . 30 caliber or larger, but noted that the case length could not exceed 1 and 2/5", which is another way of saying 1.4". There are also two other caveats to the law. One says that the cartridge must have a factory available ammunition offering and the other says there must be published data showing that the cartridge has at a minimum of 500 foot/pounds of energy at the muzzle. Factory .30 Whitetail ammunition can be purchased from Lucian Norton, a licensed ammunition manufacturer. He can be contacted at, jeep_87_cherokee@yahoo.com or 217-502-3177. The published ballistics data is posted on the .30 Whitetail FaceBook page and H&W Precision website www.handw.biz.
What does the .30 Whitetail do differently?
The .30 Whitetail shoots flatter and hits harder with less recoil. When compared to other popular Illinois deer cartridges such as the 350 Legend and the 450 Bushmaster, the .30 Whitetail performs better. How? It is done with the higher B.C. bullets fired faster. The .30 Whitetail will overtake the 450 Bushmaster at 125 yards in delivered energy. The 450 Bushmaster starts out with more energy, but since it shoots a large diameter bullet with a low B.C, it loses velocity and power quickly. The .30 Whitetail outperforms the 350 Legend from the start. When a Barnes 120 grain TAC-TX is shot out of a .30 Whitetail, the impact velocity of the bullet on a deer creates a tremendous wound cavity and deep penetration. Exit wounds are expected. What about accuracy? The . 30 Whitetail rifles are shooting MOA out to 500 yards. In summary, you can put devastating terminal performance exactly where you want it at distances beyond the capability of most other commonly used Illinois deer cartridges.
