forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

spaceman spiff · Post by **spaceman spiff** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:37 pm

Gents,

Has anyone on the forum formed .30-30 from .38-55 brass? I know it's not cost effective as .30-30 is about the cheapest brass around, but I have a few .38-55 that are too short for my rifle and was wondering if it was safe to run the brass into a .30-30 sizing die and trim to length. Any guidance is appreciated.

Regards,

Troy

1886 · Post by **1886** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:23 pm

I have not tried it. If we are discussing W/W brass I suspect that there is little difference between their ."38-55" brass and their .30-30 brass other than the headstamp. If we are discussing Starline brass, there is a decided difference. The Starline .38-55 brass has the proper case neck thickness at approx. 0065". Most .30-30 case necks are about .009" thick. Regards, 1886.

TedH · Post by **TedH** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:28 pm

Can't say as I've not tried it. I have gone the other way though and necks usually end up on the thin side. Sizing them down, I'd just make sure the neck's not too thick and capacity is real close to a 30-30.

Modoc ED · Post by **Modoc ED** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 8:43 pm

Just keep your .38-55 brass. Ya never know when it may come in handy -- either for your own use or for trade.

I've got various sizes of brass on hand for guns I've never had and may never have but I like to keep it on hand.

Post by **Hobie** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:32 pm

Having both a .38-55 and a .30-30 I'd never size .38-55 down to .30-30. I see no sense in doing that unless the boogie man could only be killed by .30-30 bullets and you had absolutely no .30-30 brass...

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:44 pm

If you've got extra .38-55 brass...

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:16 pm

Maybe trade that brass for some .30-30 from someone who has a .38-55 gun and some extra .30-30 brass...?

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:21 pm

You might have to inside neck ream after your done. I can trade you some 30-30 brass for your 38-55 brass. But let 20cows have first option to trade.

spaceman spiff · Post by **spaceman spiff** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:31 pm

I'm only talking about a few here, very few that were way too short for my rifle. I was just curious about the viability
of sizing down to a .30-30 and the safety in doing so.

Regards,

Troy

RSY · Post by **RSY** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:57 pm

spaceman spiff wrote:...I have a few .38-55 that are too short for my rifle...

Is that really even possible? As far as I know, a piece of brass would have to be incredibly short to be unusable. Case length is not as critical as cartridge OAL is. That's what the rifle cares about. It doesn't know how long a case is if there is a bullet seated to the proper length on it. As you shoot and reload them, they'll probably grow back to where they belong, anyway.

Scott

forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass

Re: forming 30-30 from 38-55 brass