Getting yet another .30-30 barrel (14") for a song and already have barrels in .30-30 and .30-30 AI. I'd like a rechamber on this one to something new/old and/or exciting and/or different. This isn't for hunting, just for wasting powder and bullets. Any recommendations or suggestions? By the way, I already considered rechambering to one of my all time favorite wildcats; the .32 Winchester Special necked down to .30 cal, the ballistics of which are amazingly close to .30-30 WCF! (tongue in cheek)

Welp,

You have the 309 JDJ, 308 Bellm, 306 Flatchman, The Bellm-Stewart 308, The Bower 308, among others.

Any of the over 2" long cases will help to eliminate the factory 30/30 throat getting into fresh rifling.

I'd go for either the JDJ or Bellm (uses stock dies) myself.

Regards

why not the 30/40 Krag nice case with good rim and more powder capacity than 30.30 .

good shooting

DAN TEC

Why the issue of the Krag in a Contender won't die remains a mystery, but it won't.

The thin brass is problematic, especially if you bump pressures up to potentials, and ANY highly tapered case is more prone to set back, thus putting more backthrust on the frame.

All points of arguement favor the .444 Marlin or .307 Win. based cases with thicker, stronger brass which does in fact contain much of the pressure load in the barrel.

If more people would read and take seriously "The Experiment Every Contender Shooter Should Perform," they can test for themselves the phenomenon that occur in the chamber resulting from various pressure levels.

Movement of the case in the chamber relative to the breech face cannot be observed with the extractor in the barrel, but fire the barrel without the extractor after first noting and measuring the protrusion of the case head in relation to the end of the barrel and the barrel to breech face distance WILL reveal the effects of:
1)size die adjustment, good or bad,
2)collapse of the shoulder when the firing pin hits the primer,
3)how much the frame itself flexes when the fired case head sticks out of the end of the barrel MORE than what the barrel to breech face gap measures.

These are the basics, but you can also study the effects of case taper, thickness of the brass, and surface finish of the chamber wall, ie., slick or slightly rough.

The article about "The Experiment...." is on www.bellmtcs.com

Including the arguement in favor of factory ammo for the Krag, there is no arguement that holds water. The 180 gr. factory loads in a Contender handgun barrel have application only for big stuff like hogs, elk, or bear maybe, but for 90% of potential users, they would be better served by something perhaps less nostalgic but more effective. There are just a multitude of better choices.

The final determination is more one of what you want to pay for dies. When all is said and done, inspite of wild claims by their promoters, you can throw them in a bag, shake 'em up, and they come out "sixes." The fact remains that you have:
1) the same case head diameter,
2) within a range of limits, the same thick case web,
3) a minimum body taper,
4) more than ample case capacity, and
5) the same pressure limits.

Unless one is going over the pressure limits, which some perveyors do, badly, one is no faster than the others.

Case in point. At Alliance, NE, I witnessed 7mm Bower loads being shot in a Contender that were too damned hot for even a bolt action rifle, yet Don acted like nothing was wrong and proceeded to demonstrate how to manipulate the Contender to extract sticking cases as a routine operation.

He would have you believe the 7mm Super Bower is the ultimate Contender cartridge.

Parallel situations exist with the various .30 caliber Contender cartridges.

So again, choice of cartridge boils down to what you want to pay for dies..... and I guess just how gullible you are.

(1buba, if you see this, we may want to make a place for archiving it on the site)

THE TC Heretic

I'm on it.

Oh, almighty Heretic, I grovel at your feet as I bask in the light of your wisdom. As a "shooter" I think the .30-40 Krag has much "sex appeal." When you tell older shooters what you've got it really opens their eyes and it just plain sounds COOL. As a casual shooter who doesn't need a balls-to-the-wall load I probably wouldn't experience any problems with this cartridge at all. I have pushed a bunch of .444 Marlin cases through various dies and like what comes out. I think the 8mm X .444 (run into an 8x57 die) is a handsome case indeed and bet it shoots like a house afire; the relative scarcity of 8mm barrels and bullets would elimiminate this as a choice for me. So... I think I'll try for a .308 Bellm and am curious as to: 1. When and for how much $$$ I can get a rechamber done, and 2. How much are the dies? Thanks for all the great input.

Rez,

Head over to Mike's site as he has a pricing schedule over there.

Briefly,

444 Marlin cases are used.

The 308 Bellm uses a standard 308 Win sizer adjusted to position the shoulder at the proper location. Some users also use a 444 Marlin die to size the base area of the case that the 308 sizer doesn't reach. This isn't always needed though. Some also like to size down to an intermediate level such as 358 with a 358 Win sizer then on into a 308 die for final forming.

Regards