Reloading the 30 Cal carbine ?

[EdinCT]

The post on the 30 cal carbine got me to thinking a few weeks back. I have about 500 empties of military brass once fired. I bought hornady half jackets 30 years ago to fill them and loaded them with a middle of the road load of 2400 and the pressure was too high.
I have some H110 on hand and the recommended load is 13-15 gr I can't even get a bullet to set on 13 gr. I loaded 12.5 yesterday and the primer seemed to flow back a little. It doesn't eject very far but I was thinking it may be sticky from pressure. I know in the 44 you are told not to load them to light.
If anyone has used milt brass I am interested in what powder You have used and what velocity you are seeing. I have the older flip sight not windage ajustable other than drifting and don't want to change it where its shooting factory ammo well. I also know to reduce any new load and work up but am not asking for a set amount of powder to load.
Thanks!

[Terry Murbach]

H110 WAS INVENTED TO LOAD THE 30CARBINE WWII AMMUNITION, SO YOU CAN BET THE RANCH IT IS GONNA WORK PRETTY DANGED GOOD.
ALSO HAD EXCELLENT SUCCESS WITH 296 PROPELLENT FOR ALL THE SAME REASONS.
AND 2400 WORKED FINE TOO FOR THAT MATTER.
WE ALWAYS USED MILITARY BRASS BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAP[FREE!!]
PART OR MOST OF YOUR PROBLEMS MAY WELL BE THOSE DANGED HALF-JACKET[ halfast] BULLETS. BUY SOME REGULAR 30cal 110gr BULLETS DESIGNED FOR THE 30CARB AND TRY THOSE.

[O.S.O.K.]

Terry is spot on. I too think its the bullets.

I use h110 and rem 110 gr soft points and they work great in my Saginaw.

Load is 14.5 gr for book velocity of 1950fps.

This cartridge is very picky about bullets...

[EdinCT]

Same issue with the softpoints. 13 gr of H110 fills the case to the top edge. I put different bullets cal and weights, I had around to see if the scale is off but it appears fine but the lightest I have is a 6mm 80 gr.

[Yodar]

I have used this load successfully in the M1 Carbine: Federal cases, CCI small rifle primers, 14 1/2 grains of Win 296, 100 grain Speer Plinkers bullets, OAL= 1.67 inches, Lee crimped. Five shot group at 50 yards from a rest measured 1 1/4 inches. Muzzle velocity averaged 1887 fps. 13 1/2 grains of Win 296 with the Sierra 110 grain soft point averaged 1809 fps. Don't try 110 grain JHPs unless you want to shoot them one at a time. They just won't feed. Michael Venturino had the same experience. Good luck and reload carefully.

[EdinCT]

Well looks like I need to work on the H100 I have I will try 12 gr under the 110 gr soft point. I also bought a box of those 110 gr speer hp about 30 years ago and found out they would not feed. I loaded some in 30wcf's for a friend and he tore up coyotes with them though:)

[kasTX]

Something is definitely wrong here!

As pointed out above, the 15gr of w296 (maximum) was worked out long ago. If you can't fit that in a 30 carbine case then there are either problems with the cases, the powder, or the methods you are using to weigh the powder. Any of the above can hurt you.

I have loaded both softpoints and the semi-jacketed in the 30 Carbine, and other than feeding problems and poor accuracy with the semi-jacketed, there was nothing remarkable about them.

I would start by taking a hard look at your scale. Try verifying it against a known mass, like a 36 or 40 gr 22LR bullet. Better yet weigh your charges on two scales. A bad scale is scary because you may have overloaded other rounds that do not have as much margin as the 30 Carbine, or have a large amount of unused space in the case that would not alert you to an overcharge.

Even more concerning is the possible combination of a light charge of w296/h110 and the semi-jacketed bullet. The maker of w296/h110 specifically advises against light charges because you could end up with a bullet stuck in the bore, and the makers of those semi-jacketed bullets warn about low velocities because it is possible for the jacket to become lodged in the bore while the lead core exits. In this case you see a hole in the target and assume the bullet exited when instead you have an obstructed bore.

Let us know what you find out.

[Bob Hatfield]

Been loading and shooting the 30 Carbine since 1984 when I stumbled into a Murphys Mart and they had surplus GI carbines in the rack for $149.95 (thank you Mr. Reagan)

I've always used 15 grains of H-110/296 with either a regular 110 grain soft point or a Hornady Short jacket. Never a problem. I used to have target that I shot at 100 yards. Ten shots of the above load in 2-9/16ths inches nice and round group perfect to the POA. But alas I shot some Korean surplus in it and didnt clean. It was supposed to be non corrosive, but it was not. Now my bore is freckled, but it didnt seem to hurt the accuracy.

I always used a RCBS little dandy powder rotor that dumps close to 15 grains and the bullets seat A-OK. I crimp with a taper crimp die.

Bob

[EdinCT]

Just a update I checked the scale with a large variety of bullet weights and it seemed ok but I then looked closely and noticed the scale had alot of dust on the beam and pivot area. I cleaned it with a tooth brush and wiped it down.
Checked 14.5 gr and it was good loaded some and they shot good, 1.25" at 50 yards no pressure signs. Went to 15 in some Remington cases and they also showed no sign of pressure but the group opened a little.
No fool like a old fool I guess, My scale is put away covered when not in use from now on.

[kasTX]

Good to hear you got it figured out, and thanks for letting us know.

[Cast Bullet Hunter]

H110 WAS INVENTED TO LOAD THE 30CARBINE WWII AMMUNITION, SO YOU CAN BET THE RANCH IT IS GONNA WORK PRETTY DANGED GOOD.

No, not exactly. H-110 is very close in burn rate, but the actual propellant for .30 Carbine was retailed many years ago by Hodgdon as H-109. It was just a very little bit slower than H-110, and there is no current equivalent, but it wasn't H-110.