30 carbine reloading: Anyone care to share experience

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commodore

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  1. Reloading 30 carbine using 110gr RN bullets and Hodgdon Lil'Gun powder?
  2. Augilla 30 carbine ammo having an off centered flash hole?
  3. A work around for the offset flash hole?
  4. A reputable source for once-fired 30 carbine brass? or other 30 carbine components?
 
No mystery involved, use good handloading procedures and it is easy to make a good product. I have never used lil gun. I use H-110. Lube your cases even when using a carbide sizing die, I have never crimped the case as it is very strong and has heavy bullet pull. I found that Berrys and Rainier plated bullets work fine, even with full power loads in Ruger revolvers, T/C Contenders and carbines, Marlin and military. Good shooting!!!!!
 
Reloaded M1 Carbine rounds with 14.8 gr of WW 296 behind 110 gr RN.
No fuss, no muss.
Have read 15 gr of WW 296 duplicates original specs of war ammo.
Got to CMP sight to verify.
BacSi
 
Once fired is tough to find. I got 500 from a Gunbroker auction last week but you have to be lucky or patient ... it's scarce enough that prices get crazy.
/Bryan
 
Been reloading 30 Carbine for some time. I load 12.5 grains of IMR 4227, with a cast 100 grain rd nose. Yep, gotta lube those cases.

I cast my own using the Lee # 310-100-2R bullet mold. This works with loades all the way up to 14 gr. of IMR 4227. I cut back to 12 to 12.5 grains because I only use it for plinking and I get more loads per lb. of powder.

I got all my brass as range pick-up. Was going to suggest one of the surplus suppliers but see they're out. So Gun Shows, New Mfg, or range p/u are the options left.
 
I have been reloading the .30 Carbine for only about 6 months. Already I have had my first ever "kaboom". After careful investigation I discovered much to my surprise that the problem was not "me" or rather my reloading. I learned so much through this that I feel it would be worth it to point out a few things that were not readily obvious to me after having reloaded several different pistol calibers for years with no mishaps. Perhaps these tips are already known to you...great.

1. The M1 Carbine WILL fire out of battery! Try it yourself, unload the gun, manually pull the bolt to the rear, and pull the trigger when the bolt is all the way back. Now let the bolt move slowly toward battery and observe when the firing pin releases. Two of my WWII editions fire the pin at about 1/2 way to battery! I found out the hard way and indeed this was the cause of my "kaboom".
2. High primers can cause premature firing as the rotary bolt impacts the round when it is stripped from the mag' and or turns into lock position
3. The .30 carbine case length is critical. Anything over the max can lead to the rotary bolt not locking fully. Check every case and trim, trim, trim!
4. Cold weather or over or under lube can cause the M! rotary bolt to be "lazy" and not return to full battery.

I was not injured by the grace of God when my M1 fired the round with the cartridge 4/5's of the way into the chamber. I hope these tips will help someone as unaware as I was about the special concerns of the .30 carbine.
Be safe and enjoy.
 
Another tip, I experienced failure to fire in the Ruger BlackHawk frequently when using rifle primers. We had 3 RNMBH 30's at the bench that day and several different loads and factory brands. The Ruger would not touch the PMC factory ammo, the other brands were hit and miss. Handloads were a little better but not consistant until we started using small pistol primers. All three Rugers were the same performers and had much different useage levels and histories, one was very new.
 
I reloaded a batch of .30 carbine on my Dillon 650 recently. It was my first time through the process with this caliber. I found by cycling through the chamber that if you load them to 1 hundredth below the overall length listed in the manual, they feed properly. Definitely lube the cases - learned that one the hard way. I used 110 grain moly bullets over 13 grains of IMR 4227. Then I read the intro section for .30 carbine, where they said that H110 or W296 is closest to the original powder used, at a charge up around 15 grains. 13 grains functioned just fine. There was a noticeable difference in recoil to the 3 kinds of factory loads (S&B, Wolf, and one other I can't remember) we had on hand, and measuring said factory loads bore out my trial and error on overall length. Definitely use the small rifle primers and make sure they are seated all the way in, since the firing pin rides the case into battery. I used Winchester primers and they worked just fine. Accuracy with this load was great - I was hitting 9 of 10 bowling pins consistently at 50 yards or so. My next batch will be using Berry's bullets at 14 grains of 4227.
 
New Winchester cases w/CCI primers always gave me a hard time--make sure that they
are seated as far as possible.
I have an Iver-Johnson that I don't trust--I never exceed 12.8 gr. of H110 w/ a 110gr RN.
I use 14 gr of H110 ( 110gr. RN) for my Ruger Blackhawk pistol.
I use small rifle primers for both---work fine.
When resizing cases w/ carbide dies always lube every 3 or 4th case .
Mild taper crimp only.
Have fun.........................
An easy way to lube these cases:Squeeze a couple of inches of Lee resizing lube on hand -rub together--dump cases in bowl or bucket & run your hands thru case--works good.
 
Last edited:
Been reloading 30 Carbine for some time. I load 12.5 grains of IMR 4227, with a cast 100 grain rd nose.
Click to expand...

Yep, me too. I am glad to see someone else using this same load. It has worked great in my carbine.
 
Precision Reloading out in the dakotas has always been a good source for brass and bullets. always seem to have something on hand of the carbine
 
Tuckerp229 said:
1. The M1 Carbine WILL fire out of battery! Try it yourself, unload the gun, manually pull the bolt to the rear, and pull the trigger when the bolt is all the way back. Now let the bolt move slowly toward battery and observe when the firing pin releases. Two of my WWII editions fire the pin at about 1/2 way to battery! I found out the hard way and indeed this was the cause of my "kaboom".
Click to expand...

I think you have something mechanically wrong with your guns. :eek:

None of my 3 carbines from the CMP suffers this defect. Conditionwise, all have been beat to hell from WWII to the present and they all function perfectly. After pulling the bolt all the way back, pressing the trigger while allowing the bolt to slowly move homre results in NO ACTION even as the bolt fully locks. I have to "release" the trigger and then press in order drop the hammer.

A mechanically sound USGI carbine with good ammo will NOT fire out of battery
 
Last edited:
I agree with Lee Roder. Just checked both of my carbines and neither one has this problem, like Lee says, you have to release the trigger and then "pull" as ingage the trigger for the hammer to drop.

Better get those checked out!
 
This may be an old thread originally, but the information is all good and since there are a lot of new reloaders out there it doesn't hurt a bit to see all this up again.
 
When I say I don't trust my Iver-Johnson---I never had any fire out of battery.
I was using S. Korea military ammo & the slide blew out of the gun. I found it 30'
behind me. It came out of the gun & did no damage--UNREAL.....
So I don't use heavy loads & it works fine........................
 
I can't get my loads to chamber. When I seat the bullet, they are bulging out one side of the brass. I've tried a lot of things, but they don't seem to want to work.
Click to expand...

We need specifics to help you. Machine, brass brand, bullet brand, etc...

Justin
 
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