Well a friend came to me and asked if I could make some 30-30 ballistic tips for him. I had never done it so I said I would try. I researched and orederd all my stuff. Whenever I started reloading the first one looked wierd to me. After I seated the bullet I noticed a little gap between the end of the case and the bullet. I checked all of my lengths and they were ok. What is the problem?

I checked it in his gun and it goes in ok and even fires ok. The only problem is it sometimes hangs when loading.

30-30 should be crimped. That may solve the hanging up problem.

Rojelio

PS...I hope your loading for a bolt action 30-30 or single shot and not putting those BTs in a tubular magazine.

Well I will try to crimp the next ones I load.

Yeah I saw all of the warnings about the BT's in a tubular magazine.
So has anyone ever had an accident happen, or is it just something that could happen?

I've shot them out of my single shot contender, but never out of my lever guns. Don't tempt fate and try it. The reasons are clear. You have a small point resting on the center of the primer of the round in front of it in the magazine. It sits on the same spot that the firing pin strikes to ignite the primer. Under the recoil of the rifle, you are quite likely to have enough recoil force exerted to rap the point against the primer hard enough to ignite the primer.

You wouldn't pull the pin on a hand grenade and then hold onto it would you. You're basically risking the same thing. Many bad things can happen in a very short period of time.

If your friend has a tube magazine lever gun, don't make the ammo for him...

Just my 2 cents worth...

quote:

Originally posted by jj33002:
...Yeah I saw all of the warnings about the BT's in a tubular magazine.
So has anyone ever had an accident happen, or is it just something that could happen?

It has happened before and as long as people continue to ignore those who have gone before them, it will happen again. Since you read it and ignored it, I'd guess you are still fairly young. Those of us on this Board would really like for you to reach "old age" and ignoring Warnings is just not a good idea.

In addition, it is a very bad idea to Reload for anyone else. If they have any kind of problem, their Insurance Company will do their best to recover their costs by any means they can. If you are still living at home with your parents, the Insurance Companies can devistate their finances.

So, you need to let your friend "load his own". Nothing wrong with you looking over his shoulder, but he needs to make the decisions and make his own ammo.

In addition to those issues, most 30cal Bullets are not Designed to perform properly at the velocities a 30-30 can SAFELY create. Due to that, it is really best to stay with Bullets Designed for the 30-30.

For example, the 150gr RN Hornady is one of their 2-diameter Designs. The part ahead of the cannelure is Bore Diameter and rides atop the Lands. This helps center the Bullet in the Bore and Reduces Bore Friction. The aft portion is Groove Diameter and also Reduces Friction due to the small contact patch.

The 150gr RN Hornady provides excellent Accuracy and it is easy to achieve a SAFE MAX without increasing the Pressure beyond where it should be.

Best of luck to you and your buddy.

Used to be people would say put one in the magazine and one in the chamber. The length of a spitzer loaded round often will really hang up a model 94. Most of the time the angle of the bullet point will be below the case neck when loaded to proper overall length. I had a Savage model 340 and to use Hornady 110 spire points I had to trimm .100 off the case mouths.

quote:

So has anyone ever had an accident happen, or is it just something that could happen?

even if it hadn't happened before, would you want your friend to be the first? if you go with such a reckless course of action, i hope that your umbrella policy is paid up.

It's not that I ignored the warnings I was just wandering if it ever happened. I clearly told my friend about the risk of doing this, he said he understood and I think he would be responsible enough to listen to me. But maybe I should refuse to do any more of them for him, and just say that I wouldn't want anything bad to happen. Do you think I should make him sign something saying that I have warned him about the risk and if anything should happen that I would not be held responsible?

Hmmm....I flatted the points on the little 30 some grain Hornady red tips so I could shoot them in a 218 Bee "92. Shot quite a few. Never saw a mark on a primer that had been tail end charlie. No mark, not enough force to fire, eh? ned

quote:

Originally posted by jj33002:
It's not that I ignored the warnings I was just wandering if it ever happened. I clearly told my friend about the risk of doing this, he said he understood and I think he would be responsible enough to listen to me. But maybe I should refuse to do any more of them for him, and just say that I wouldn't want anything bad to happen. Do you think I should make him sign something saying that I have warned him about the risk and if anything should happen that I would not be held responsible?

if you want my opinion, i think you should weigh the perceived gain against the actual risk and make a mature decision based on that. if he ends up blowing his face off, you will be liable,legally and otherwise.

quote:

if you want my opinion, i think you should weigh the perceived gain against the actual risk and make a mature decision based on that. if he ends up blowing his face off, you will be liable,legally and otherwise.

Dead on the nose.
-----

Hey JJ, What is he trying to accomplish with the B-Tips? Longer range? More on-Game energy? Flatter Trajectory?

quote:

Hey JJ, What is he trying to accomplish with the B-Tips? Longer range? More on-Game energy? Flatter Trajectory?

Not sure if he knows what he wants. I know that he just likes the B-tips.

quote:

Originally posted by jj33002:
Not sure if he knows what he wants. I know that he just likes the B-tips.

I like B-Tips too, just not in a 30-30.

If he wants Flatter Trajectory, he might try the 130gr Speer. It is a right fine Bullet.

As I mentioned before, the 150gr RN Hornady gives him a great opportunity at achieving excellent Accuracy and plenty of Deer Killing power.

The 170gr FPs from all the makers provides the deepest penetration and hits like a Sledge.

Best of luck to you and your buddy.

Try Hornady's Leverloution or whatever it is called.....it is factory loaded, soft tipped to prevent those very issues. Lets you off the hook with liability too.

I used to not worry about suits from friends until i discovered that your friends don't have much to do with it at all. The medical pirates have lawyers running around trying to get someone else to pay instead of themselves and can get pretty ruthless.

Good shooting,


Dan

As long as there is only 1 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber then there should be no problem.

I'm not advocating the use of them by any means, but I did have some success when trying HDY's 150 SSTs in my Marlin 336. I intended to hunt with them while using the rifle as a two shooter(one in the bbl and one in the mag), but I never got around to hunting with the rounds. They were some of the most accurate loads I've tried in that particular 336 and I have no doubts the super soft SSTs would have been deadly on deer sized critters at 30-30 velocities. Noone should need more than two rounds when hunting anyway.

Good Luck

Reloader

Just noticed in the December Natchez Flier that the LeveRevolution ammo comes in 30-30. They have it On Sale for $16.99.

quote:

I used to not worry about suits from friends until i discovered that your friends don't have much to do with it at all. The medical pirates have lawyers running around trying to get someone else to pay instead of themselves and can get pretty ruthless.

dan - it can usually be traced to the insurance companies. i work in the industry and it's quite interesting sometimes to see who ultimately ends up paying for what.