Loading 30 carbine

[Handshaker]

HI all, Can anyone tell me a load to get full power 30 carbine ammo? I assume there was some military ammo specs but cant find it or what it would mean with todays powders ect. Yes i have reloading books but I am not sure where to start to get full power loads. I'm assuming there is a difference between most of the on the shelf 30C ammo and military ammo.
Thank you

 

[N555]

H110 for full power, AA9 for plinking ammo.
Some of the commercial 30 carbine appears to be loaded like plinking ammo delivering 100 to 200fps under top 30 carbine ammo.
Also w296 and H110 are the same.

 

[Bayou52]

As per the Hogdon website, 15.0 grains of H110 would be a max and likely mimicking a full military power charge. This would be using a 110 grain FMJ projectile.

https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center?rdc=true&type=54

Bayou52

 

[Handshaker]

Thanks all, i wasn't sure what full powers pecs would be. I have 4 or 5 bottles is H110 so i will load some when i get a chance.

 

[35 Whelen]

I'll second 15.0 gr. of H110 or W296, which are identical. I've loaded a few pounds of it for my .30 Carbines. Another really good one I've begun using is Accurate 4100/Ramshot Enforcer, which are the same. It'll actually get a 110 gr. FMJ very close to 2200 fps.

35W

 

[GooseGestapo]

I find recent manufactured H110 to be a tad bit hotter than older lots of H110/296.
I use 14.5gr to match velocity and sight setting match for my match loads. They get right at milspec performance.
A max load (15.0-15.5) will get 2,100fps from my Saginaw SG with an Underwood bbl. My Inland (most accurate) gets 2,200fps. I use this for my hunting loads.

RMR is the best source for 110gr FMJ bullets.

 

[N555]

Yes to rmr, I always go there first.
You may want to work up a load, load some with 14gr, 14.3, 14.6 and 15 and if there's no signs of over pressure or hard ejection, maybe work up a half grain over 15. You maybe be able to knock an inch or 3 off your groups at 100yd by using a tiny bit less powder.

 

[Handshaker]

Were military 30 carbine limited to 110gr?

 

[N555]

Normally they always seemed to be 110gr.
All the milsurp I ever bought was 110gr.

 

[Handshaker]

Ya i was looking at Speer Flat point 130gr 308, kinds of hard to find in this climate.

 

[Palladan44]

Knowing how much I love WW-296 (H-110) in magnum pistol cartridges....I'd personally start with that for full powered 30 carbine loads.

I'm guessing Lil-Gun would perform similarly, followed closely by AA#9.

I'm surprised that 2400 isn't published for 30 carbine anymore. Grandpa said that 2400 was made especially for the M1 Carbine round. Maybe grandpa was wrong?

 

[N555]

I heard a powder like H110 didn't exist 30carbine.

 

[35 Whelen]

Ya i was looking at Speer Flat point 130gr 308, kinds of hard to find in this climate.

If it's heavier bullets you want...

You probably don't cast, but I do and two heavier-than spec bullets I cast shoot lights-out from just about all my carbines.



The one on the left is from an RCBS 30-115SP mold and weighs around 116-118 grs. I use the same data as I do for a 110 gr. FMJ and the resulting velocities are all but identical. As I said, accuracy is wonderful-



Matt's Bullets actually offers this bullet, although it's sized .312". I bet if you contacted him he'd size them .309" for your carbine.

The one on the right from a Lyman 311578 mold and weighs about 125 grs. I keep it about 1850 fps and it too is way more accurate than one would expect-



I'm not really sure the 130 gr. Speer work.

35W

 

[N555]

If it's heavier bullets you want...

You probably don't cast, but I do and two heavier-than spec bullets I cast shoot lights-out from just about all my carbines.

View attachment 1117351

The one on the left is from an RCBS 30-115SP mold and weighs around 116-118 grs. I use the same data as I do for a 110 gr. FMJ and the resulting velocities are all but identical. As I said, accuracy is wonderful-

View attachment 1117352 View attachment 1117353 View attachment 1117354

Matt's Bullets actually offers this bullet, although it's sized .312". I bet if you contacted him he'd size them .309" for your carbine.

The one on the right from a Lyman 311578 mold and weighs about 125 grs. I keep it about 1850 fps and it too is way more accurate than one would expect-

View attachment 1117355 View attachment 1117356

I'm not really sure the 130 gr. Speer work.

35W

I got a keg of AL410, it's a single base and I figured it would make a good clean burning 30 carbine plinker powder, I didn't know if it would be accurate or not. Look like it gives great accuracy. And it's almost a 1 for 1 swap with 2400 data.

 

[35 Whelen]

I got a keg of AL410, it's a single base and I figured it would make a good clean burning 30 carbine plinker powder, I didn't know if it would be accurate or not. Look like it gives great accuracy. And it's almost a 1 for 1 swap with 2400 data.

Yeah there's no published data for using it in the .30 Carbine, but I found it in a LGS when there was NO other powder I'm stock. I never tried it with jacketed bullets it as the photos show it's great with cast.
35W

 

[N555]

I did the same thing. Saw AL410 looked it up and that's when I was rediscovering my H322 that had been shelved forever, also a very clean burning single base stick powder. I was starting to use silencers more too and really discovering how dirty ball powders are. I figured I would attempt to transition what ever rounds I can to single base powder.
My 30 carbine carbine has a silencer and i found H110 burns real dirty through a silencer.

 

[Bayou52]

My preferred cast bullet for the 30 carbine is the Lyman gas checked 311359 @ 115 grains. Both accurate and reliable cycling.

Pic of cast and powder coated projectiles:



Bayou52

 

[Handshaker]

If it's heavier bullets you want...

You probably don't cast, but I do and two heavier-than spec bullets I cast shoot lights-out from just about all my carbines.

View attachment 1117351

The one on the left is from an RCBS 30-115SP mold and weighs around 116-118 grs. I use the same data as I do for a 110 gr. FMJ and the resulting velocities are all but identical. As I said, accuracy is wonderful-

View attachment 1117352 View attachment 1117353 View attachment 1117354

Matt's Bullets actually offers this bullet, although it's sized .312". I bet if you contacted him he'd size them .309" for your carbine.

The one on the right from a Lyman 311578 mold and weighs about 125 grs. I keep it about 1850 fps and it too is way more accurate than one would expect-

View attachment 1117355 View attachment 1117356

I'm not really sure the 130 gr. Speer work.

35W

I do cast, but so far its only been for BP, i haven't done any hardcast yet. There is data for 130 gr. The 130's dont look all the different than the 110gr speer i have loaded previously.
https://www.hodgdonreloading.com/reloading-data-center?rdc=true&type=54

 

[35 Whelen]

I should've mentioned, there's no voodoo, special alloys or coatings associated with my cast bullets for the .30 Carbine. The alloy is plain ol' wheelweights, air-cooled and gas-checked. Best of all, no leading, EVER.

35W

 

[Handshaker]

I should've mentioned, there's no voodoo, special alloys or coatings associated with my cast bullets for the .30 Carbine. The alloy is plain ol' wheelweights, air-cooled and gas-checked. Best of all, no leading, EVER.

35W

I was always under the impression soft was for sub sonic and hardcast for higher velocities. You dont get any degradation when approaching 2k FPS with soft lead?

 

[35 Whelen]

I was always under the impression soft was for sub sonic and hardcast for higher velocities. You dont get any degradation when approaching 2k FPS with soft lead?

"Soft" is relative. Typically air-cooled WW alloy will run 13-14 Bhn. I have run cast bullets to 2000 fps in my 1903's and 1903A3's and always got leading, albeit light, while the .30 Carbine doesn't typically lead at all. I believe the reason the .30 Carbine doesn't lead is the difference in twist rate in the barrels. The 30-06 1903 barrels have a fairly steep 1-in-10" twist while the .30 Carbine barrels have a much slower, gentler 1-in-20" twist. If you think about it, many rifle cartridges of the 1800's used pure lead bullets with MV's running in excess of 1200 fps, but the barrels had slow rifling usually around 1-in-20".

So to answer your question, no degradation in accuracy as the photos above show.

Another option is these .30 Carbine bullets from Bayou Bullets. I don't usually buy cast bullets but caught these on sale for something like $8.00 per 100. While not as accurate as jacketed or my cast bullets, they're not bad to 100 yds., shooting 4" or so groups. At 200 yds. they didn't do as well unless I sorted the bullets and loaded only those where the sprue cut was in the center of the base of the bullet.





35W

 

[GooseGestapo]

re: heavier bullets in the .30Carbine.

The 130gr Speer FN will not expand at .30Carbine impact velocities. It’s intended for .30/30 and faster velocities. (>2,000 impact velocity). I’ve lost deer well hit due to lack of expansion at 2,400fps m/v.
These do REALLY WELL in my .308 Marlin Express at 2,800fps m/v.

 

[Laphroaig]

I don't think this adds much to what already has been said, but this CMP paper about shooting/loading for 30 Carbine is a great resource:

https://thecmp.org/wp-content/uploads/CMP_Carbine_Notes_2007.pdf

I've been using WW296 with both 110 FMJ and Berry's plated. I've backed down to 14.6 grs. with good results from several Inlands.

 

[Handshaker]

re: heavier bullets in the .30Carbine.

The 130gr Speer FN will not expand at .30Carbine impact velocities. It’s intended for .30/30 and faster velocities. (>2,000 impact velocity). I’ve lost deer well hit due to lack of expansion at 2,400fps m/v.
These do REALLY WELL in my .308 Marlin Express at 2,800fps m/v.

Thanks for the info, I dont really care about expansion since i will only be shooting paper,