Do I Need to Measure Case Head Expansion for .30-30 Loads?

[JJE]

I'm going to load my first rifle cartridge: .30-30 Win for my Contender G2 rifle.

I have a caliper for measurements out to 0.001. I don't have a micrometer and as much as I'd like to spend $150 on a new gadget, I've got bills to pay. If I'm going to measure case head expansion, then I need to get the mic to measure down to 0.0001. How important is this for loading .30-30 hunting loads? I'm going to keep a careful eye out for bright rings indicating case thinning above the case web, and keep my brass separated by number of loadings. On the other hand, I'm probably going to be loading as close to max as I can get (as long as I can maintain sub-2 MOA accuracy) to maximize range and expansion (some hunts will be in areas that require lead-free bullets and the Barnes 130 gr TTSXs I bought need over 2000 fps for complete expansion).

 

[rcmodel]

If you get measurable case head expansion on a 30-30, you are already way over maximum 30-30 pressures of 42,000 PSI.

Measuring case head expansion only starts to become useful at pressures around 50,000 PSI or more.

rcmodel

 

[The Bushmaster]

Don't start at the maximum powder charge or you might have to get a new Contender and start over. Start at least 10% below maximum and work up watching for high pressure signs. And insure you are working from and within a manuals data and not some nim-rod's super duper recipe. Other then that... Load'em shoot'em...

 

[Clark]

What rcmodel said.

I have a number of 30-30 rifles that are stronger than the brass, but they are not Win 94.

I don't know how strong a Contender is, but unless there is lots of thick steel around the cartridge, I would use the published loads.

 

[qajaq59]

Don't start at the maximum powder charge or you might have to get a new Contender and start over. Start at least 10% below maximum and work up watching for high pressure signs. And insure you are working from and within a manuals data and not some nim-rod's super duper recipe. Other then that... Load'em shoot'em...

I agree. And how accurate they are is going to be a lot more important then how fast they're going. Begin at the manual's start load and work up to the best accuracy. Then you'll take plenty of game with them.

 

[JJE]

OK, thanks everbody. I know I'm probably thinking about this too much. One of the reasons I picked the .30-30 barrel was because this is supposedly an easy round to load for - perfect for my first rifle cartridge. But the more I read about it, the more confused I got.

Tomorrow I'm going to load up 20 rounds, starting 10% below max and increasing to near-max. Hopefully this weekend I'll get to the range and try Dan Newberry's load development method.