Kaboom!

[Tuckerp229]

"That is a scary thought, Mate. As others have advised, ALWAYS check case length AFTER sizing. Perhaps going back and reviewing the loading process in one of your manuals (Lyman book or ABC's Book) might be a good idea."

My experience/ bias has been with handgun ammo. Furthermore I use a Dillon XL650 progressive reloader so the very idea of stopping after sizing to remove and check trim length seems to run counter to the concept of 300-500 rounds per hour. Yes I know kabooms destroy guns and injure people. I guess I have learned that rifle bullet reloading should be done on the single stage press. I am still a bit baffled as to why the straight walled .30 carbine is soooooo much different than say my .357 pistol rounds. These are high pressure, high velocity and yet I have had no trouble making up 300-500 per hour without case stretching issues. I have even read how members of college shooting teams make up huge quantities of .223 rounds and I don't remember that they stopped between the sizing and powder stage to check or trim. Go figure?

 

[zxcvbob]

I am still a bit baffled as to why the straight walled .30 carbine is soooooo much different than say my .357 pistol rounds. These are high pressure, high velocity and yet I have had no trouble making up 300-500 per hour without case stretching issues.

The main reason is because it's tapered. It also operates at higher pressure than .357. 9mm and .45ACP are also tapered, but they are a lot shorter (and fatter) than .30 Carbine so stretching isn't a problem.

I bought a .30 carbine shell plate for my LNL-AP progressive press, but I haven't figured out a good procedure yet. Probably run them thru twice: Once to resize, decap, and bell the cases. Then trim off-press. Then run the prepped cases again to prime, powder-drop, seat, and crimp.

Currently I just size and decap the cases with a Lee hand press while watching TV, then measure the lengths using my Ruger Blackhawk cylinder as a Go/NoGo gauge, and trim any that are too long. That way I have lots of prepped brass ready whenever I'm ready to reload .30 Carbines.

 

[243winxb]

RCBS Carbide Sizer Die Instructions for the 30 carbine.

My OLD RCBS dies have a special note on sizing the 30 carbine case.

The .30m-1 carbine case is heavy-walled, tapered and must have some lubrication. We recommend lightly lubricating evry fourth or fith case for best results.Not lubricating will damage the shell holder.

Thats part of the info. From another RCBS reloading die instructions

The .30 M-1 carbine tungsten carbide sizer die is shipper from the factory for use with American commercial cases ONLY. The wall thickness of some military and foreign cases is to thick and should not be used with this die as damage to the die and shell holder could result

The one instructions seem to recommend sizing a different way, but its unclear to me how the die should be adjusted for proper sizing as its different it seems from other calibers like 357mag types? Maybe a call to RCBS would help. Not sure that this has any thing to do with you Kaboom?

 

[eagleseeker]

I had the samething happen to me but i was shooting my 243 i had reloaded the brass three times on the fourth i had a kaboom i later after much searching i cleaned the inside of the brass an found stress cracks needless to say i no longer go past three reloads.

 

[Grump]

At the very beginning of my reloading experience, some .30 carbine cases with lead bullets had grown so long the crimped portion was over the "ledge" of the chamber and were "pinching" the bullets in the throat.

Very nice prints of chamber machining marks on the cases. A few were so high in pressure that the primer pockets no longer held a primer.

Checking case length after sizing is your friend.