30 Carbine...

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Anyone here reload 30 Carbine?

Mostly interested in what powder you find works the best.

Thanks
Adam
 
Anyone here reload 30 Carbine?

Mostly interested in what powder you find works the best.

I used 2400, which is commonly loaded in this caliber. If you shop around [online], you should be able to get bullets from pulled surplus ammo quite reasonably.
 
If you shop around [online], you should be able to get bullets from pulled surplus ammo quite reasonably.

Yes I have and I did get a great deal by the thousand on these. Thanks for the tip!

And thanks Eddie as well.
 
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My load for years has been 13.0 gr. H110 under a 110 gr. FMJ. (CCI #400 caps and mixed make/mixed mil-civ brass.) This was once chrono'd about 100 fps below military nominal and has always cycled my carbines flawlessly.

One caveat about reloading for the .30 US M1 Carbine: despite what people think, this is NOT a straight-wall case. As a result, you need some lube, even with carbide sizers. My practice has been to lube, say, 20 cases on an RCBS pad, and then push one of the lubed cases through, followed by 3, 4 or 5 unlubed ones, then another lubed one, and so forth. If you try to push all unlubed cases, you'll eventually get one stuck, and stuck case removers can be hard on carbide dies.

On the other hand, though not truly a straight wall case, the .30 Carbine round does headspace on the case mouth. Ergo:

a) Not a bad idea to run a new (to you) batch of brass through a case length guage before first loading. I don't guage them afterward, as .30 Carbine cases do not seem to stretch.

b) Use only a taper crimp, and only enough crimp to keep the slug from migrating in either direction when in the magazine, on account of recoil. Since the carbine doesn't recoil more than a tad, this means a pretty light crimp.

One final preachment -- and if you're new to reloading for the .30 Carbine but not to shooting and handling it, I apologize: the bolt hold-open on a carbine is NOT TO BE TRUSTED. Even properly engaged, you can jar the bolt closed with a comparatively light tap on the butt plate (or elsewhere). Either get one of those bright plastic hold-open things or case the carbine when not actually shooting it.
 
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I am very familiar with shooting the 30 Carbine. In fact, it was my hunting rifle when I was only 7 years old, and now belongs to me. The bolt hold-open issue is one I know well. Though the one on mine does work respectably, I am a safe shooter and know how to handle the gun. Thanks for the concern though.

Also thanks for the info for the load. I have done a ton of reading on reloading this caliber, and am aware of the slight case taper, but good to hear it again anyway.
 
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