[wreckhog]

So I am getting set up to reload very slowly. My New Old Stock Hornady dies came in the mail, I bought $2 of bullets at a show, and I had some ancient 30-30 cases appear.

Tried to fully expand them and destroyed 3 cases in a few seconds. Neck split or buckled case. Then I did this. My partially expanded 30-30 brass next to geniune .375 brass. Is this safe to use with light loads (assuming I find cast at the next show).

Of course I could buy real brass and real bullets, where is the fun in that when I can use up junk while looking for a .377 Lyman expander plug. Plus, I can freak out the guys at deer camp, with my alternative to crimping.

 

[Texas Shooter]

Seeing that would certainly freak me out but I know very little about handloading.

 

[City Slicker]

Yeah that makes me nervous just looking at it. When making a big step up in sizing it is a good idea to do it in stages. Example...run your brass thru a 32 sizing die, then a .35, before the final .377 die. Lube the inside lightly with a neck brush and you won't crunch as many cases.
Good Luck

 

[papajohn]

Here's a better idea..........put about 6 grains of Bullseye in your primed 30-30 brass, add cornmeal or instant oats to fill the case, add a TP wad on top, then go outside and point the gun skyward as you load the shell. Pull the trigger, and you have a fire-formed case, ready to trim and load.

This is the efficient (lazy) way to do it. I should know, I'm both! 8)

 

[City Slicker]

That's awesome papajohn....and you have cooked oatmeal when you're done. :

 

[dpe.ahoy]

Instant oats, pot of cowboy coffee and that TP sounds like a great way to start camp to me. ;D DP

 

[papajohn]

I used bacon-flavored Cream of Wheat, and after firing 20 rounds, the whole range smelled like a diner at breakfast time!

 

[Longfin]

The method of fire forming that Papa John described it the way to go. I started using that method 25 years ago to form 6mmTCU brass from .223 brass.

 

[Mr Fixit]

Very cool PJ!, how full is "fill the case"? up to where it necks down? How tight do you pack in the TP? I may just do that because I'm a bit short on brass for the 375. Mr fixit

 

[wreckhog]

I have read that folks plug their barrels with Cream of Wheat and then shoot again, packing a tight plug, which is hard to remove.. Don't want to snake the bore every shot. Also read that Bullseye can mix with the Cream of Wheat resulting in squibs.

 

[xbones88]

A better wad? Use a bar of soap to make your case forming over-oats wad. Just add the powder, then the oats, leave about an eighth inch in the neck above the oats and then jam the cart case neck into the bar of soap. Give it a twist and a perfect soap wad is created! A bar of paraffin candle wax works almost as good as soap too.

I used to make lead shot, snake loads for my .44 Mag pistols like that with soap wads. Take a .30-40 Krag or .303 Brit case, then cut them off slightly less than the cylinder's length. Prime the case, add 6 or 7 grains of Unique, then a paper wad, then some lead shot, stick the case mouth into the soap for a nice wad to seal it all up, and then fire it to fire-form the case to make it a perfect fit. It will then hold a little more lead shot the next time you reload it.

Yep, soap wads are old tricks.

 

[jeepster360mag]

What bullet is that in the pictures? Grand slam?

John

 

[papajohn]

I did all my fire-forming at the range, took all the stuff with me. Bullseye, Cream of Wheat, primed brass, a funnel, and the proper Lee scoop.

Scoop the proper powder charge into each case, pour in Cream of Wheat to top it off, point the gun up, load the round and fire. Voila.

Then enjoy fireformed brass and the aroma of scorched Cream of Wheat. The bacon flavor smells great! 8)

 

[swany]

The three photos I done while making this taper die. I have in the past made up an eliptical expander for my expander 38-55 expander die. Lube the 30-30s and one stroke does it.

Easiest way to obtain an expander is for Lee dies, you buy an expander decapper for a .375 H&H and put it in your .375 or 38-55 die and lube the inside of the case neck of the 30-30

The tapered expander I made from the old die, I have made many 30-30s into .375s in one stroke by lubing the inside of the neck. This is what you need to do to do yours without splitting. Else do some intermediate expanding.

Good luck.

 

[dgslr]

If your brass has been fired 9 out of 10 will split when you shoot them,unless you anneal them first.When I fireform 30/30 AI from 30/30 that have been fired,they split unless they are annealed first.After I had the 30/30 AI turned into a 30/30 cowboy I annealed 30/30 AI brass that had been fired 5 times and made it back into plain 30/30 brass again.Some of it has been shot 3 more times.After you anneal the cases you won't loose many necking them up to .375 or fireforming them.Otherwise you'll likely loose most of the cases.

 

[Longfin]

Good point about annealing the cases. Will certainly extent case life and is easy to do.

 

[papajohn]

If your brass has been fired 9 out of 10 will split when you shoot them,unless you anneal them first.

Nine out of ten? Bullpucky. I have yet to lose a single case to splitting. Annealing is helpful, but not always required. If your brass is old or work-hardened, then yes. But just because it's been fired doesn't automatically mean it's going to split.

 

[dpe.ahoy]

That's because of the smell, PJ. Who's gonna "split" with the smell of bacon cookin, not me. : ;D I agree, I have fireformed 7-30 waters brass from 30-30 brass and have never lost a case, and that is harder on the brass than blowing it out straight. With the 7-30 case, the shoulder is blown forward while maintaining a neck, thinning out the shoulder area. DP

 

[dgslr]

Nine out of ten? Bullpucky. I have yet to lose a single case to splitting. Annealing is helpful, but not always required. If your brass is old or work-hardened, then yes. But just because it's been fired doesn't automatically mean it's going to split.

I put over 5000 rounds thru my Marlin 30/30 AI and fired brass always split when I tried to fireform it without annealing.New unfired brass doesn't split.In the TC Contender 30/30 AI carbine barrel the shoulder is .050 farther forward then the Marlin and it is much harder on brass then the Marlin I loose a couple out of every 100 new brass when fireforming for it.The 14 in Contender AI I have has a shorter chamber then either of the others.Its more brass friendly then the other two.

 

[Hipshot]

PPJ,
Is it necessary to use new TP to cover the cream of wheat or CAN YOU GO GREEN and use recycled TP ? ;D

Hip

P.S. Yeah, I guess you would want to use new TP as you wouldn't want to overpower that bacon smell !