Thought I would try loading a few 30 Carbine rounds for my Ruger revolver and wouldn't you know I'd have a question after the first 2 pieces of brass went in the resizing die. I am using an older set of RCBS dies that I borrowed and noticed the brass looks something like a 30-30 cartridge (not quite as pronounced, but the neck is smaller than the rest of the case). Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but this brass doesn't look anything like the commercial 30 carbine ammo I have on hand. I looked on YouTube and the 30 carbine brass I saw being loaded didn't appear to have the neck sized down as much as these do. Sorry to be so long winded, just want to make sure this is correct before I mess up a bunch of brass. Thanks!
Resizing 30 Carbine Brass Question
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ReloaderFred
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They almost look like .32-20 brass. See if your expander die will bring them back out.
The .30 Carbine is supposed to be a tapered case, not a stepped one. None of my .30 Carbine sizing dies produce brass looking like that.
If nothing else, you can call RCBS and they'll replace the die for you.
Hope this helps.
Fred
The .30 Carbine is supposed to be a tapered case, not a stepped one. None of my .30 Carbine sizing dies produce brass looking like that.
If nothing else, you can call RCBS and they'll replace the die for you.
Hope this helps.
Fred
The expander die increases the inside diameter from .302 to .306 and put a small bell on the mouth of the case. If I adjust it deep enough to remove the indentation the mouth of the case is destroyed. As this is a set of RCBS dies in one of the green cardboard boxes I better give them a call (someone may have had this die modified) Thanks Fred!
deputy bruce
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30 carbine
they almost look like 300 blackout cases
they almost look like 300 blackout cases
There is a set on e-bay that looks like the ones I have at the following link:
http://r.ebay.com/zaeYqy
It appears the newer sizing dies have the decapper pin where the one I have do not. Thanks again.
http://r.ebay.com/zaeYqy
It appears the newer sizing dies have the decapper pin where the one I have do not. Thanks again.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
I don't think you have a problem.
The die is giving you a straight section to seat the bullet in so you have a good deal of case neck tension.
With a straight taper, nothing would be touching the bullet tight, except the very end of the case mouth.
Go ahead and load some and see how they look after bullet seating.
Anyway, they don't have to 'look' exactly like factory loads.
They just have to work exactly like factory loads.
rc
The die is giving you a straight section to seat the bullet in so you have a good deal of case neck tension.
With a straight taper, nothing would be touching the bullet tight, except the very end of the case mouth.
Go ahead and load some and see how they look after bullet seating.
Anyway, they don't have to 'look' exactly like factory loads.
They just have to work exactly like factory loads.
rc
Sounds good. I'll load up a few and see how they do. Thanks.
Stony
Member
I've loaded carbine brass, and never seen any look like that. You have a problem....there should be a straight taper.
TimSr
Member
I'm using 1980's Lee dies, and mine are stepless.
lightman
Member
My RCBS dies don't do that to the case, either. They look like they should work ok. Load just a few and give them a try.
Smokey Joe
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.30 carb???
Parker 51--My RCBS .30 Carbine die set was made in 1971--It produces cases with straight, slightly tapered, not stepped, sides. Which function perfectly in my M1 Carbine.
Might I suggest, before you go loading up any of those cases, that you try chambering several of the sized empties in your Ruger revolver to see if they indeed are sized down enough to fit. If the answer is "No go" you will have saved yourself some time and trouble.
If the answer is "go" then you might bell-mouth and load up some cases just with bullets, and see if they still chamber. Frankly I still would not use these dies--.30 Carbine cases are normally slightly tapered, with no shoulder. There is something funny going on here. Which means that unless you can find some very good explanation for the unusual sizing, I am advising you to abandon these dies and get a new set. Yes, that seems extreme. But...
I wouldn't go for the E-bay dies that you note--The seller has a little difficulty with English, and there appears to be some kind of gunk stuck to the threads of the bullet seating die. Finally, the seller (1) has named a price and is not taking bids, and (2) warns you that he is very slow on returns if you have a problem. None of these things inspires any confidence in me.
You can get a brand-new set of Lee .30 Carbine dies, with carbide sizing insert, from Midway, for $38.45 plus shipping. You presumably already have the shell holder. The "standard wisdom" is that you must lube .30 Carbine brass, even with a carbide sizer, unlike carbide-sized pistol brass. So for about 50 bucks or less you're good to go, and no more questionable, funny-looking cases. I have several sets of Lee dies, along with several sets from other makers, and the Lee dies are every bit as good, IMHO. And, Lee is VERY good on returns should any difficulties develop. IMX, their CS is second to none. Midway has several other brands of .30 Carbine dies, for around 46 bucks, if you're dead set against Lee.
That kind of money, to be sure you have the dies you need, would not seem like a deal-breaker.
Remember, we are dealing here with fiendish pressures, and hella hot gases, and you do NOT want these getting loose anywhere but downrange.
Just my opinion, of course. And please keep us posted, on your final results!
Parker 51--My RCBS .30 Carbine die set was made in 1971--It produces cases with straight, slightly tapered, not stepped, sides. Which function perfectly in my M1 Carbine.
Might I suggest, before you go loading up any of those cases, that you try chambering several of the sized empties in your Ruger revolver to see if they indeed are sized down enough to fit. If the answer is "No go" you will have saved yourself some time and trouble.
If the answer is "go" then you might bell-mouth and load up some cases just with bullets, and see if they still chamber. Frankly I still would not use these dies--.30 Carbine cases are normally slightly tapered, with no shoulder. There is something funny going on here. Which means that unless you can find some very good explanation for the unusual sizing, I am advising you to abandon these dies and get a new set. Yes, that seems extreme. But...
I wouldn't go for the E-bay dies that you note--The seller has a little difficulty with English, and there appears to be some kind of gunk stuck to the threads of the bullet seating die. Finally, the seller (1) has named a price and is not taking bids, and (2) warns you that he is very slow on returns if you have a problem. None of these things inspires any confidence in me.
You can get a brand-new set of Lee .30 Carbine dies, with carbide sizing insert, from Midway, for $38.45 plus shipping. You presumably already have the shell holder. The "standard wisdom" is that you must lube .30 Carbine brass, even with a carbide sizer, unlike carbide-sized pistol brass. So for about 50 bucks or less you're good to go, and no more questionable, funny-looking cases. I have several sets of Lee dies, along with several sets from other makers, and the Lee dies are every bit as good, IMHO. And, Lee is VERY good on returns should any difficulties develop. IMX, their CS is second to none. Midway has several other brands of .30 Carbine dies, for around 46 bucks, if you're dead set against Lee.
That kind of money, to be sure you have the dies you need, would not seem like a deal-breaker.
Remember, we are dealing here with fiendish pressures, and hella hot gases, and you do NOT want these getting loose anywhere but downrange.
Just my opinion, of course. And please keep us posted, on your final results!
Last edited:
mhblaw
Member
I think you have 32 WCF dies...
345 DeSoto
Member
What RC MODEL said, My RCBS 30 carbine dies do the same thing, and after the bullet is seated, the case is very slightly bulged out...
Sunray
Member
"...die is giving you..." Still the cases should not end up like that. Something is not right. Highly unlikely to be the dies though. Hard things that they are, they're not really user changeable to produce those cases. Wouldn't be smaller than factory either.
"...wouldn't go for the E-bay dies..." Because E-Bay funds the people who want to take your firearms away from you.
"...wouldn't go for the E-bay dies..." Because E-Bay funds the people who want to take your firearms away from you.
sevt_chevelle
Member
I have some carbide RCBS dies that are about 2 yrs old and produce straight cases.
With that said, I have a CH4D trim die that makes a case similar to yours.
When I emailed CH4D about it I got this this SAMMI drawing of 30 carbine.
On my brass the two pieces measure the same at the case mouth, down by the extractor groove and about in the middle of brass. It's just "MY" RCBS die is making the taper more gradually vs the CH4D.
RCBS die brass on top CH4D on bottom.
With that said, I have a CH4D trim die that makes a case similar to yours.
When I emailed CH4D about it I got this this SAMMI drawing of 30 carbine.
On my brass the two pieces measure the same at the case mouth, down by the extractor groove and about in the middle of brass. It's just "MY" RCBS die is making the taper more gradually vs the CH4D.
RCBS die brass on top CH4D on bottom.
I contacted RCBS today and they requested photos of the die to see if they can figure this out. The fellow I spoke to indicated the dies appear to be from the early 60's as they changed the resizing dies to one's with a decapping pin in late 60's. I've taken another photo of the inside of die and you can see where the neck stops. I'll let you know what I hear back from RCBS.
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I have some carbide RCBS dies that are about 2 yrs old and produce straight cases.
With that said, I have a CH4D trim die that makes a case similar to yours.
When I emailed CH4D about it I got this this SAMMI drawing of 30 carbine.
On my brass the two pieces measure the same at the case mouth, down by the extractor groove and about in the middle of brass. It's just "MY" RCBS die is making the taper more gradually vs the CH4D.
The cartridge in the drawing looks like the ones I'm getting from this RCBS die. I'll use this to compare measurements. Thanks for posting this.
rcmodel
Member in memoriam
All the old RCBS dies I have are date stamped on the top of the die with the year they were made.
Last two digits of the year.
So 68 = 1968, etc.
Look at yours.
rc
The date stamp on 2 of the 3 dies in this set is the letter "N". I found an old THR thread indicating that the letter "J" was from 1959. I'm guessing, that if these may be from 1963 if they assigned a new letter yearly. Which would be pretty neat as this was the year of my first car
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