How would you rank the strength of the older federal 7-30 waters brass, the non-plated stuff factory loaded with the 120 grain Nosler FP bullet? Is it tougher than standard 30-30 brass?

Since the 7-30 Waters case is nothing more than a blown out 30-30, I would say that the brass is pretty much identical. I have some of the unplated Federal 7-30 brass and it doesn't seem to last any longer or load any better or worse reformed 30-30 brass (virgin 30-30 brass and assuming it has been reformed correctly to start with). Plus the last time I found Federal 7-30 brass it was almost 3 times as expensive as 30-30 brass. Even if you can't get as many reloads out of the 30-30 brass, you can buy at least twice as many or more for the same price.

[ 09-07-2003, 19:10: Message edited by: DennisF ]

The 7-30 Waters brass is about the same as the 30-30 brass. If you would like brass that is stronger go to the 375 Win. brass it is a lot better than the 7-30 Waters brass this is all I use in my 7-30 Waters. If you need to know how to form it e-mail me.

wildcat51,

I see no reason at all to get 7-30 Waters brass (unless you want the 7-30 Waters on the headstamp) or for that matter, 375 Wincherster brass. I just returned from my shooting bench after shooting my T/C Contender in 7-30 Waters caliber and the brass that I am shooting is fireformed from Federal and PMC 30-30 Winchester brass. The Federal brass has been reloaded 18 times and the PMC brass has been reloaded 12 times! Not a problem yet. 30-30 brass is dirt-cheap, and much of the time it is free for the scrounging at a range! Good-luck...BCB

Yep, here in Oregon 30-30 brass grows under the bushes. When I had a 7-30 waters my fire forming loads were some of the most accurate loads.
Man I miss that bbl now, guess I'll have to talk to Mike over there at OTT, maybe I'll try a carbine length this time round.

Wes

Do you have a case of each brand to sacrifice? Cut both in half and get a true case thickness measurement. One way to weed out personnal preference from the facts. Then again, you could always go with 375 brass. After getting 23+ reloads (I quit counting after that #) out of a batch of Winchester 30-30 brass I never saw a reason to switch. (IMR 4064, 120 grain Hornady V-Max, Federal primer, neck sized only after the initial fireforming)

Thanks for the advice.

I use the federal factory stuff to fire form brass for my 20" Gary Reeder 7 GNR barrel. Works great for fire forming plus shoots a single hole group at 100 yards during the process. This barrel is just plain sweet. Today at the range after dialing in a new scope I shot single hole group at 100 yards using 120 Nosler BT's, federal 210 primer, and varget powder.