.30 cal. carbine reloading

[retnavyshooter]

I plan to load some .30 carbine cartridges in the near future. I have thousands of small pistol primers; can these be used vs. small rifle? If not, what is the difference between the two?

Thanks,
Mick

 

[Rule3]

Dimension wise they are the same

The rifle is a thicker cup and produces more flash to ignite harder to ignite rifle powder (or in a 30 carbine h110 or similar)

Higher pressure in a rifle round may blow out a pistol primer.

Best advice is use the primer it calls for,

 

[elpac3]

As above. The pistol primers will be softer and not a good idea to use with a higher pressure round.

Use the small rifle primer with 15 grains of w296 / H110 with the 110 RN FMJ.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Great little fun load to play around with..........
just don't get the idea that it is a 200 yard plus shooter.

Just that it is so much fun and you run out of ammo way too soon
enjoy.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Also you will need to check your overall case length. I find that I am lucky to get two firings out of a .30 carbine before I have to trim for length.

 

[Frank46]

I've used both 2400 and IMR 4227 for the 30 M1 carbine. Mostly 110 grain and some 110 rnsp. In my M1 Carbine. Frank

 

[retnavyshooter]

Thanks for the advice. I'll be buying some small rifle primers.

Mick

 

[Rule3]

Also you will need to check your overall case length. I find that I am lucky to get two firings out of a .30 carbine before I have to trim for length.

^^^^^^
As robert states above, the 30 carbine headspaces off the mouth of the case and case length matters If it is over spec you will have issues some of them not good at all!

 

[retnavyshooter]

I have read that case length is critical and I have been resizing and measuring all of the cases I have accumulated. Almost all of the GI cases resize and measure within spec. The Aguila .30 cases are all over the map. I have experienced Aguila rounds not firing and sticking in the chamber to a point where a rubber mallet was required to force the bolt to the rear. Never had this problem with the stock of GI cartridges I have.

Is the case length the problem with the Aguila rounds?

Mick

 

[Culina]

I have loaded A LOT of .30 Carbine rounds. I trim everything and never had a problem. You don't have a lot of option bullet wise, kind of like a Ford Model T, there is 110gr round nose ball, and 110gr round nose soft point and maybe a couple others that will feed. I believe H110 was designed specifically for the .30 Carbine so that is all I have ever used, along with W296 of course. Just a few years ago there was pulldown US military brass and bullets available, I don't see those anymore but I got my fair share. The softest primers I have used were the Wolf copper cuped Small Rifle Primers, they worked but got kind of flattened, CCI#41's and Small Rifle Magnum primers worked better. I never tried small pistol primers.

 

[JDBoardman]

The loads that I see recommended (15 grains H110/W296) are quite a bit less than top loads for a .357 mag load (23 grains H110/W296) with a 110 grain projectile, so I wonder about the need for small rifle primers. I guess the .30 carbine has a smaller case, so that would potentially result in a higher pressure than in a .357 mag case, so that could account for the difference.

 

[RGPM1A]

The main reason it is not a good idea to use small pistol primers in an M1 carbine is that it has a floating firing pin. If you unload an unfired cartridge from an M1 carbine you will always notice a small indent in the primer. Using a small pistol primer, which are softer/thinner than small rifle primers, IMHO may result in a slamfire.

 

[Rule3]

I have read that case length is critical and I have been resizing and measuring all of the cases I have accumulated. Almost all of the GI cases resize and measure within spec. The Aguila .30 cases are all over the map. I have experienced Aguila rounds not firing and sticking in the chamber to a point where a rubber mallet was required to force the bolt to the rear. Never had this problem with the stock of GI cartridges I have.

Is the case length the problem with the Aguila rounds?

Mick

Did they stick as brand new out of the box or after you reloaded them??

What is their case length after sizing them??

I just read an article on Aguila. Summary was they make some good rimfire ammo and the few centerfire they make is OK, not great but good enough. Not sure if he test 30 carbine.

 

[BUFF]

.30 Carbine was my introduction to Berdan priming. Back in college, went to the range early one Monday morning instead of class. Somebody had been there the previous day with probably an M-2, as there was brand new, shiny .30 Carbine empties all over the place. I went nuts and gathered up probably 1,000 or more of them. Tumbled them, went to reload and the decap pins broke. Took me a couple of pins before I looked inside the case!

Fool's gold!

 

[retnavyshooter]

Rule 3; The Aguila rounds are new cartridges that I purchased from CMP about 3 years ago. The GI cartridges are WWII rounds packed in 1944. I have never had a GI round malfunction. I have had several Aguila rounds stick in the chamber. I still had the last Aguila round that stuck and took it apart to measure case length. Un-fired case NOT resized measured 1.297. Another 20 Aguila cases after resizing, 14 measured between 1.271 to 1.277; 4 cases measured 1.280 to 1.285.

Mick

 

[TAROMAN]

Kurac nailed it.
Tried "starting loads" at first. Wouldn't even cycle the action.
CMPs Carbine Accuracy paper says 15.0 H110/296. Tried it and it works.
Was gifted some Korean War vintage GI ammo.
At out club's New Years Day military rifle shoot, I stuck a bullet in the barrel with this stuff. It was very cold (1 degree).
So, maybe the stories about this stuff in Korea have some merit.
With proper ammo, my carbine shot high.
Discovered the front sight had been filed down. Probably to compensate for bad ammo.
Installed a new one and it shoots to the sights with the 15.0/110 FMJ load.
And, yes, trim your brass! An out of battery firing might spoil your day.

I have loaded A LOT of .30 Carbine rounds. I trim everything and never had a problem. You don't have a lot of option bullet wise, kind of like a Ford Model T, there is 110gr round nose ball, and 110gr round nose soft point and maybe a couple others that will feed. I believe H110 was designed specifically for the .30 Carbine so that is all I have ever used, along with W296 of course. Just a few years ago there was pulldown US military brass and bullets available, I don't see those anymore but I got my fair share. The softest primers I have used were the Wolf copper cuped Small Rifle Primers, they worked but got kind of flattened, CCI#41's and Small Rifle Magnum primers worked better. I never tried small pistol primers.

 

[DWalt]

Best to use small rifle primers for carbine loads. I have used H110 mostly, and occasionally 2400. I will echo the comment about the need to keep the cases trimmed. Many will need trimming even after only one firing. I load much lighter lead bullet loads for my .Ruger Blackhawk in .30 Carbine (about .32-20 level). Full loads in it are way too loud and are unpleasant to shoot. I use small pistol primers for those.

 

[ddraper]

I know a lot of people swear by H110 however when I couldn't get any I used IMR4227 with good results. 14.7 grains behind a 110 grain RN got me 1900 fps.

 

[retnavyshooter]

Just finished resizing and sorting all my carbine brass. One bunch is less than 1.280 case length. Second pile is 1.280 to 1.290; anything over 1.290 was set aside for trimming. Over 95% of the GI brass fell into the 1.280 to 1.290 pile. Over 90% of the Aguila brass fell into the less than 1.280 pile, with some of them not even 1.270.

Is the any use for the short cases, possibly pistol loads?

Mick

 

[Ceapea]

Rule 3; The Aguila rounds are new cartridges that I purchased from CMP about 3 years ago. The GI cartridges are WWII rounds packed in 1944. I have never had a GI round malfunction. I have had several Aguila rounds stick in the chamber. I still had the last Aguila round that stuck and took it apart to measure case length. Un-fired case NOT resized measured 1.297. Another 20 Aguila cases after resizing, 14 measured between 1.271 to 1.277; 4 cases measured 1.280 to 1.285.

Mick

What rifle are you shooting these out of? A genuine mil-surp rifle? Or is it a modern/replica rifle? If modern, maybe the chamber spec is not to spec.