Hummer70
Member
It has been a long time since I have loaded 30-30 and since I just got a 336 Texan at a sale I pulled out my dies and started loading up some ammo to give her a run around the coral.
First load I tried was 35 gr. 4895 with Sierra 150 bullets.
Since I last loaded 30-30 I have become enlightened and done got me some book learnin! ! ! ! I found out about case gages about fifteen years back which allows one to take a fired case and adjust your FL die until the shoulder just sets back .001 to .002".
I am not sure if RCBS makes a Precision Mic for 30-30 so I made my own as I have a 30-30 chamber reamer. UPDATE: Apparently they do not, least ways Midway doesn't list one for it so it looks like you will need to make your own.
I took a section of 30 cal barrel and chucked it up and turned the outside of the barrel the same size for about 1/8" longer than a 30-30 case. I then ran the reamer in until a FL sized 30-30 case went all the way in to the rim.
I pulled barrel section out and cut it off about 1/8" in front of the neck and faced it off.
I then went back and took stock off the back of the barrel until a FL sized case would go in, contact ONLY the shoulder and still be sticking out the back of the barrel section an estimated .075". In short the case will be sticking out of the barrel section about .075" which is what you want.
After I filed off the sharp shoulder, I came in and set up my bench inspection gage and slid in a FL sized case. I calibrated my bench inspection gage to zero on the case gage surface,put in a FL sized case an slid it under dial indicator and the case was sticking up .082". The die was set up to size about .020" off the shell holder! ! ! !
Hold on to your lolly pops sports fans ! ! !! The 14 fired cases I had shot yesterday measured from .088 to .102" high which means the case shoulders moved forwards from .008 thru .020" ! !! !! With that much forward movement cases will stretch near the head giving insipient separation quickly.
I took the longest cases .102 and readjusted the FL die till the shoulders of the fired cases moved back .002". Thusly a .102" high case sized and put back in gage will only show it is .100 to .101" high. This means I will get a much longer case life on my brass as the case shoulder barely moves.
To adjust a FL die without a gage remove your expander decap assembly and back your FL die off and run lubed case in and look at neck to see if your die is at the bottom of the neck and turn your die in about 1/16th turn and keep running case in.
Keep easing it down till it "feels" different at the top of the stroke and you should see evidence of die contact with case shoulder. Stop right there.
To make sure you are good to go take this empty case (wipe off lube) and place it in chamber and close lever to make sure there is no bind and the lever comes all the way in. Set your die to size right there. As long as the shoulders just clear there should be no hindrance to closing lever/bolt.
Now one more tip, I decap all my cases with a Lee universal decap die. I do not use the neck expander in the normal sense in that you are stretching the neck lengthwise when the ball comes back up through the neck.
My cases are cleaned with stainless steel pins in a tumbler so are quite clean and I then put expander assembly back in die and ease it in top of FL sized cases. This expands the neck in the same way but does not stretch it. This will also increase brass life.
I looked at my 30-30 die in relation to shell holder and there is lots of gap. I estimate if I ran my FL die till it touched the shell holder the shoulder would be set back .040"+! ! !! ! Such a large shoulder movement would ruin the cases quickly.
Bottom line is you should never get insipient separation lines on your cases if the dies are adjusted properly. If you care for your cases you should be able to reload them till the primer pockets get loose. Hint: If you get a box of Wolf (Russian) Primers, they are slightly larger diameter than ours and the primers will fit much nicer for a few more rounds.
Since RCBS apparently does not make the Precision Mic in 30-30 and you shoot lots of 30-30 it will pay you get a gunsmith with a 30-30 reamer to make you one as described above. You can also accomplish the measurement with a dial caliper from front of gage to back of case head inserted in gage.
I estimate this will tripple the life of your 30-30 brass if you adjust FL die correctly.
First load I tried was 35 gr. 4895 with Sierra 150 bullets.
Since I last loaded 30-30 I have become enlightened and done got me some book learnin! ! ! ! I found out about case gages about fifteen years back which allows one to take a fired case and adjust your FL die until the shoulder just sets back .001 to .002".
I am not sure if RCBS makes a Precision Mic for 30-30 so I made my own as I have a 30-30 chamber reamer. UPDATE: Apparently they do not, least ways Midway doesn't list one for it so it looks like you will need to make your own.
I took a section of 30 cal barrel and chucked it up and turned the outside of the barrel the same size for about 1/8" longer than a 30-30 case. I then ran the reamer in until a FL sized 30-30 case went all the way in to the rim.
I pulled barrel section out and cut it off about 1/8" in front of the neck and faced it off.
I then went back and took stock off the back of the barrel until a FL sized case would go in, contact ONLY the shoulder and still be sticking out the back of the barrel section an estimated .075". In short the case will be sticking out of the barrel section about .075" which is what you want.
After I filed off the sharp shoulder, I came in and set up my bench inspection gage and slid in a FL sized case. I calibrated my bench inspection gage to zero on the case gage surface,put in a FL sized case an slid it under dial indicator and the case was sticking up .082". The die was set up to size about .020" off the shell holder! ! ! !
Hold on to your lolly pops sports fans ! ! !! The 14 fired cases I had shot yesterday measured from .088 to .102" high which means the case shoulders moved forwards from .008 thru .020" ! !! !! With that much forward movement cases will stretch near the head giving insipient separation quickly.
I took the longest cases .102 and readjusted the FL die till the shoulders of the fired cases moved back .002". Thusly a .102" high case sized and put back in gage will only show it is .100 to .101" high. This means I will get a much longer case life on my brass as the case shoulder barely moves.
To adjust a FL die without a gage remove your expander decap assembly and back your FL die off and run lubed case in and look at neck to see if your die is at the bottom of the neck and turn your die in about 1/16th turn and keep running case in.
Keep easing it down till it "feels" different at the top of the stroke and you should see evidence of die contact with case shoulder. Stop right there.
To make sure you are good to go take this empty case (wipe off lube) and place it in chamber and close lever to make sure there is no bind and the lever comes all the way in. Set your die to size right there. As long as the shoulders just clear there should be no hindrance to closing lever/bolt.
Now one more tip, I decap all my cases with a Lee universal decap die. I do not use the neck expander in the normal sense in that you are stretching the neck lengthwise when the ball comes back up through the neck.
My cases are cleaned with stainless steel pins in a tumbler so are quite clean and I then put expander assembly back in die and ease it in top of FL sized cases. This expands the neck in the same way but does not stretch it. This will also increase brass life.
I looked at my 30-30 die in relation to shell holder and there is lots of gap. I estimate if I ran my FL die till it touched the shell holder the shoulder would be set back .040"+! ! !! ! Such a large shoulder movement would ruin the cases quickly.
Bottom line is you should never get insipient separation lines on your cases if the dies are adjusted properly. If you care for your cases you should be able to reload them till the primer pockets get loose. Hint: If you get a box of Wolf (Russian) Primers, they are slightly larger diameter than ours and the primers will fit much nicer for a few more rounds.
Since RCBS apparently does not make the Precision Mic in 30-30 and you shoot lots of 30-30 it will pay you get a gunsmith with a 30-30 reamer to make you one as described above. You can also accomplish the measurement with a dial caliper from front of gage to back of case head inserted in gage.
I estimate this will tripple the life of your 30-30 brass if you adjust FL die correctly.
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