Say guys I just picked up some gear for loading 30-30, is there anything about loading this that is different from any of the other cases?
Thanks Greg

Slowing down will get you done faster as the case is thin and the neck is long. This is one cartridge I crimp in a stand alone operation.

You will find some interesting info at; <leverguns.com> look in the articles section, and check out the article titled '7.62x51R revisited'. Some interesting load information there. Cheers.

after sizing make sure the brass is trimed to the same legnth .then crimping will go easy without any crushed cases.

any load receipe that doesn't use
Either IMR-3031 or W-748 should be discarded.

150's are pointless compared to 170's.

Repeat after me: "Lee Collet Crimper"

Crimp to cannelure.

That's REALLY all you need to know...


As a technical note:
Any 30-30 that CANNOT tolerate a load of 30gr of IRM3031
behind a 170gr bullet should be restricted to "two nail" use.... In other words, hung on two nails above your fireplace and allowed to gather dust (and rust)

Brass life? why worry?

I personally had a two lifetime supply of 30-30 brass
L-O-N-G before I ever owned one... at the state ranges here in PA in the week or two leading up to deer season you practcally need a snow shovel to clear a path to the shooting benches (well you used to before brass scrap went sky high)

I've never bought any 30-30 brass and I consider the likelyhood of my doing so only slightly less than my becomming the King of england.

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I love loading the 30/30.. it is not my favorite hutning cartridges but it is one of my favorite ones to load and shoot...

a fun thing I like to do is to duplicate the early black powder loads... 160 grain Cast bullets and about 9 grains of TrailBoss... MV of about 1100 fps, and recoil like a BB gun...

for field use hunting, I go old school again... 19 grains of Sr 4759 and a 150 grain RN bullet, with a sedate MV of 1850 fps....but more than adequate for a 150 yd load... and very very accurate, especially for 30/30s... I have an old 30/30 that 5 to 6 inches at 50 yds is good for this rifle.. however that SR 4759 load will do 1/2 inch at 50 yds and 1 inch at 100 yds...

pressures are low enough with both of these, that brass will last a lot more than 10 reloads...

for dies, I use Lee's RGB 30/30 dies ( aobut $12.00)... I also use a neck expanding die, from RCBS's Cowboy dies, for cast bullets..and finally a Lee Crimp die ( about $7.50) that is well worth the price...

I also have a set of RCBS 30/30 dies, but they collect a lot of dust, but are available for back up...

This is just a fun cartridge to load and plink with....

I love loading for and shooting my Marlin 30-30. I'm lucky, it is not picky about what it will shoot. It is an extremely versatile gun. I've loaded everything from and 85 grain pistol bullet all the way up to 180 grain rifle bullets.

Since the brass is a bit thinner than some other calibers, watch for splitting after several reloads and be careful to trim to proper length after sizing.