What is the preferred 30-30 brass

[Condor]

I had to vote Remington…this was the brass i used in the first cartridge i reloaded. For years I bought boxes of Remington 150g in the fall and saved the brass in an old Folger’s coffee can. I got 5 sets of reloads from the brass in that coffee can once I started my reloading journey.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

Im happy with what ever i have on hand. Before i started to reload. I always bought Remington core lokt for my 30/30 and 30.06.

 

[entropy]

Prefer Win., then Fed., then Remington. Is there other .30-30 brass?

 

[DMW1116]

I've had the best results in terms of the reloading process with old Remington brass. It sizes easier, trims a little faster, and generally behaves itself. Winchester and Federal have been basically just as good, just something about the RP feels better. The only one I've had trouble from is Hornady. The primer pockets are either tighter or shallower or a different shape. Winchester Large Rifle Primers seat about 0.002" higher and aren't always flush or recessed in the Hornady I have tried. No function issues though.

 

[Riomouse911]

Today, any brass I can get is my favorite brass .

I have a bunch of Win, Rem, Fed and PMC brass from factory loads, my two 1894’s haven’t shown much of a preference for any one above the others.

Stay safe.

 

[rayatphonix]

It's a 30-30. It's not something that will be used for benchrest competition. It's a caliber used for deer that 'might' shoot 2" groups at 100 yards in the rifles chambered for it if great loads are used. Chasing different brands of brass will make literally zero significant difference in accuracy. Use what you can find and afford. Try not to think too hard.

My 22 year old Marlin Cowboy shoots -1” groups with Remington ammo. But I’ve mounted a scope on the rifle. I can’t have the only 30-30 that shoots well.

 

[Ru4real]

30-30 is a sweetheart of a cartridge.

Any brass is good and any differences are small and don’t matter much. You will get many reloadings out of Win, Rem, Fed or *-*

 

[Hugger-4641]

My 22 year old Marlin Cowboy shoots -1” groups with Remington ammo. But I’ve mounted a scope on the rifle. I can’t have the only 30-30 that shoots well.

Here's what my 94AE does at 100yds with 160ftx and Lever Evolution powder. The factory rounds are almost as good, which kind of made me mad cause I spent a lot of effort to work up this load before I could get my hands on the factory rounds, and I'm only 1/2 Moa better. Oh, BTW, that's a three shot group in the pic, two shots on the left are almost one hole.

 

[N555]

Anything but Remington.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Another vote for Winchester, but only if it's 25+ years old. (I didn't actually vote because I don't think current Winchester brass is a superior product.)

If it's recent production brass I don't really have a favorite. Everything I've loaded seems to work fine, but I mostly shoot low pressure cast loads.

I'm the same way @Swampman, Most of my 30-30 brass is left over from the 50-60s and I'm still using it. I did buy 100 new raw Winchester 30-30 brass back in the '80s and it was about the best you could get at the time.
Bought about 100 30-06 Win brass at the same time and still have a bag of 50 un-opened.

Today? I would probably buy Starline if I could get it, but if I had to settle for the new Winchester I would make it work.

 

[Stevel]

I've used them all, plus Hornady. I weigh my cases and group them. Win has the most inconsistent weight. I've got notes in my journal from 124g to 149g. Rem is almost as bad. Fed is more consistent and usually in the middle of the weight range at around 136. Hornady has been consistently on the heavy end, usually around 142gr.
As far as the best?
I don’t think there's that much difference, but if I were going to buy my choice of 100rds for the same price, I'd probably pick Federal or Hornady above the other two.

You weigh 30-30 brass. Nice work by you.

 

[Walkalong]

My .30-30 was decently accurate, and I never shot any cases enough to wear any out or develop a preference. It killed deer just fine, and my son still uses it. I gave him 100 fully prepped and sized RP cases with it, along with a couple of boxes of RP Core-Lokt ammo. I don’t see him wearing the cases out, it’s a deer rifle, doesn’t get shot a lot.

If I was buying cases today, I would probably look at RP, but price might dictate, I just don’t think it matters a bunch in a 1 1/2”/2” rifle that’s a tool.

I know some folks here shoot their.30-30 a lot, and that is who I would listen to.

 

[Hugger-4641]

You weigh 30-30 brass. Nice work by you.

Only because of what I mentioned. I still use all the brass, I just group 50 to 100rds into batches by weight within a grain or so. One of the days when I've got nothing better to do, I may take a few light cases and compare the same load in some heavy cases, but I doubt I'll see more than a 1moa difference. In a gun I'm typically not going to shoot deer at much over 200yds, it's not gonna matter.

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

My .30-30 was decently accurate, and I never shot any cases enough to wear any out or develop a preference. It killed deer just fine, and my son still uses it. I gave him 100 fully prepped and sized RP cases with it, along with a couple of boxes of RP Core-Lokt ammo. I don’t see him wearing the cases out, it’s a deer rifle, doesn’t get shot a lot.

If I was buying cases today, I would probably look at RP, but price might dictate, I just don’t think it matters a bunch in a 1 1/2”/2” rifle that’s a tool.

I know some folks here shoot their.30-30 a lot, and that is who I would listen to.

I shoot more .30-30 out of a 10" Contender barrel than a 20" Marlin carbine barrel. With a Hi-Tek coated 170gr. LFN-GC it's a pretty decent, low-recoil, high-impact handgun round for hunting from a blind in dense woods. A Super-14 barrel might be better but anything longer gets a little unwieldy in tight quarters. Deer might be extremely short-sighted but their ears and noses are plenty sharp.

 

[Bob Meyer]

I like the brand with the primer on the end. They all work for me.