30-30 loading issues

gixer1

Well-Known Member
I was trying to knock up my first batch of 30-30 reloads this morning and I cannot get the neck to resize enough to grip the bullet, I tried about 15 and got one that stayed in place! All the rest pushed into the case when I go to measure the length with the caliper.

i tried Remington, PPU and Winchester brass, all once fired and I am resizing them with a lee classic hand loader...

the bullets are Speer 150gr hot-cor (they are the usual 308 OD, although when I caliper them I get .305 or .306 max OD.)

am I missing something with 30-30???

Very frustrating as I have never had an issue with any of my lee loaders, I guess I need to try another bullet...

Regards,
gixer
 
I troll some picks of the measurements (I also took a pic of measurements of a 223 and 9mm just for reference on the caliper)

one thought - it was a little cold in the garage when loading, would this small amount of shrinkage make enough difference to lower the neck tension enough to let the bullets slide in?

refards,
Gixer
 
I troll some picks of the measurements (I also took a pic of measurements of a 223 and 9mm just for reference on the caliper)

one thought - it was a little cold in the garage when loading, would this small amount of shrinkage make enough difference to lower the neck tension enough to let the bullets slide in?

refards,
Gixer

Not really. Email those pics to Speer and get some different Flat Point bullets.
The Lee Loader does very little sizing which is why you can get away with no lube. If you have bullets that are .002 and .003" undersized they will fall out.~Muir
 
Well I got hold of some Barnes bullets and also a few spitzer 30 cals and it appears the Speer bullets were undersized (below are some of the measurements for comparrison) I have sent speer a message so will see what they come back with, out of all the ones I tried to load I managed to find two that would seat tightly enough, so the box now has 98 bullets in it - will this matter to speer?

I should also mention that I did find 3 barnes bullets out of 50 that I loaded that slid in without sufficient neck tension, but nothing like the speer bullets were.

Regards,
Gixer




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Well, I tested the Barnes bullets and they are also sliding within the case neck due to recoil when in the gun (although they won't move when pushed by hand)

would using a 30-30 crimp die solve this?

regards,
Gixer
 
Having never used a crimp die - do the dies crimp to the standard crimp or do they need set up? And if so can you over crimp a round?

Regards,
Gixer
 
Having never used a crimp die - do the dies crimp to the standard crimp or do they need set up? And if so can you over crimp a round?

Regards,
Gixer

I have pulled factory rounds that were darned near cut through the jacket with a crimp. But the Lee FCD will only crimp so far and stop.~Muir
 
I have pulled factory rounds that were darned near cut through the jacket with a crimp. But the Lee FCD will only crimp so far and stop.~Muir


Thanks Muir, you and southern have been very helpful with this whole 30-30 thing!

regards,
Gixer
 
Muir 'converted' me to the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It is an excellent piece of kit and works very well. It is cheap to buy and easy to use. There are some very good demonstrations of setting up and using on Utube too.
 
Muir 'converted' me to the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It is an excellent piece of kit and works very well. It is cheap to buy and easy to use. There are some very good demonstrations of setting up and using on Utube too.

Thanks, I have found over the years with 243 (the caliber I used most) that my reloads were extremely accurate - as in cloverleaf groups (in part due to sauer building an excellent rifle in the 202!) so never really considered crimping but with the 30-30 it seems that I can't get the rounds to stay together (although I've only tried 2 types of bullet) but I don't want to be worrying about a round being dangerously short so the crimp seemed like the sensible option.

i am also struggling to get my recently bought AR 223 below a 1 inch group but can't decide if this is the rounds or the rifle (it's a short barrel colt version so I have heard they do have accuracy limits) but a crimp die may be worth a try to see how it effects the grouping.

thanks again for all the help and advice.

regards,
Gixer
 
Thanks, I have found over the years with 243 (the caliber I used most) that my reloads were extremely accurate - as in cloverleaf groups (in part due to sauer building an excellent rifle in the 202!) so never really considered crimping but with the 30-30 it seems that I can't get the rounds to stay together (although I've only tried 2 types of bullet) but I don't want to be worrying about a round being dangerously short so the crimp seemed like the sensible option.

i am also struggling to get my recently bought AR 223 below a 1 inch group but can't decide if this is the rounds or the rifle (it's a short barrel colt version so I have heard they do have accuracy limits) but a crimp die may be worth a try to see how it effects the grouping.

thanks again for all the help and advice.

regards,
Gixer

Crimping with a tubular magazine rifle is pretty much a requirement. I thought you knew.~Muir
 
Crimping with a tubular magazine rifle is pretty much a requirement. I thought you knew.~Muir


No sir, this would be the point where I hang my head in shame as I sold my lee manual a while ago! I have now ordered a new one....although in my defence - these under lever things just aren't that common in the UK, and the 2 I have back there are rimfire so I never reloaded for them.

regards,
Gixer
 
No sir, this would be the point where I hang my head in shame as I sold my lee manual a while ago! I have now ordered a new one....although in my defence - these under lever things just aren't that common in the UK, and the 2 I have back there are rimfire so I never reloaded for them.

regards,
Gixer

Sorry Gixer but I have to contradict you there, lever action rifles are extremly popular in the U.K.
They are however though in mainly pistol calibres and used in the majority by the gallery rifle guys as substitutes for pistols. They are almost as popular as the Ruger 10/22, you just don't move in the right circles mate.
 
What I mean is go into any gun shop and count the bolt action rifles vs the under levers, then come over here to the USA and do the same - you will find there are WAY higher percentages of UL's here than in comparison to the UK - every store here prettyuch has a section with rows of Henry's or Marlins - that would be a rarity in the UK.

regards
Gixer
 
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