Reloading .30-40

[Pitspitr]

Do any of you who reload .30-40 buy bullets? If so would you be interested in buying lead 220 gr RN from a fellow GAF member?

[Drydock]

That would be a good bullet in any .30 caliber really,  from .30-30 up to .30-06, along with the Brit .303 and Russian 7.62.  I might be interested myself if the price is right.

[Bat 2919]

I would be interested as well if, like Dry Dock said, "the price was right."  I've got all the hardware (Dies / Shellplate) now it's time to look for bullets, powder, Etc.

[Sam Perfye]

Jerry, What are they sized to? If they are .312-.314 I'd be interested. Good fodder for the Argentines. Thanks, Al

[Pitspitr]

He hasn't bought a mould yet. He said he would if there is enough market potential.

So what feature would everybody want? All I really need is that it is a round nosed 220 grain.

[Pitspitr]

He says, "The cost of 1000 .30 bullets would run somewhere between $110.00 and $120.00"

[Bat 2919]

Price sounds right to me. 

I assume that you know and trust this vendor to make a quality product. 

I'm sure you've asked these questions of him but for my info:
What diameters can he size them to?
Will they be a gas check bullet?
How hard will they be?

[G.W. Strong]

I'd be interested at that price.

[Pitspitr]

I assume that you know and trust this vendor to make a quality product. 

Yes,
Scruffy Skippy is a GAF member and regular Muster attendee. He almost always can be counted on to donate some of his bullets for door prizes. He doesn't post much here in cascity, but I sent him a link to this thread and I hope he'll jump in and provide the answers to you questions himself. If he doesn't I'll find out and get back to you.

[pony express]

Well, I don't know how hard he will be making these, but at the last muster I was at with him, he was shooting holes through the steel targets with a 30-30. I think his loads were "a bit" hotter than GAF standard, probably approaching factory load levels.

[cpt dan blodgett]

Are they going to be gas checked?  Right now I am shooting my 30-40 in the long range match at WR.  Year before last they shot 100 200 and 300 yards.  Last year only 100 and 200 I want to be able to drive them close to 2000 fps for long range.  I could be interested in them for GAF shooting at 1400 fps or less.

My Krag has a new barrel so 309 310 is the right size others may want 2 or 3 thousandths bigger.

[Pitspitr]

Wasn't it Rattlesnake Jack .303s that were going through the targets?

[Pitspitr]

I contacted Skip with your questions and here is his response:

"OK  Here are the answers I can give you.  1) I can size to .308 or .309.   2)  Yes I can gas check at an additional cost.  3)  I usualy cast them from wheel weights which are pretty hard, then if they want to really push them hard we can add the gas checks.  But if they are not pushing them over 1400fps I don't think they would not need the gas checks.  If you have any more Q's please past them on and I'll try and help.  Have a good weekend.
Skip"

[Stu Kettle]

Wasn't it Rattlesnake Jack .303s that were going through the targets?

It was, and as much as I enjoyed it, I was glad they weren't my targets.

[Drydock]

I'd prefer mine unsized, if thats ok?

[pony express]

I don't know about Rattlesnake Jack's 303s, but when we had the Grand Muster in Texas, Scruffy Skippy's 30-30 was tearing up their targets, which were mostly pretty lightweight scrap steel, mostly 1/4" or so.

[Pitspitr]

Yeah that's right I don't think you were here the year Rattlesnake Jack was here.

[RattlesnakeJack]

Hey .... I don't think I "drilled holes" .... just caused a wee bit of cratering!   

In my defense, the powder I loaded with that year (IMR4320) had published charges ranging from a minimum of 32 grains up to a maximum of 42 grains, and "to be safe" - or so I assumed - my loads were only 30.5 grains.  Unfortunately, I haven't got a chronograph and the rifle gongs at our range are already so cratered I couldn't test the effect.  At the DOM Muster, however, it was soon clear that the loads were still too hot!

Just a note - doesn't sound like the bullets under discussion would be suitable for .303 British, which has a normal groove diameter of .311" - .312", and usually requires bullets up in the .314" diameter range .... or larger, if the bore has any significant amount of wear.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I now have several Lee Enfields, the prize is a long Lee rifle.  I haven't scored an LEC yet.  There is plenty of .303 Brit data around the web, but some may not be familiar to many US shooters, like this one;

http://www.303british.com/id1.html

And for cast bullets;  http://www.303british.com/id37.html

Milsurps.com also has a lot of data of interest to GAF shooters;  http://www.milsurps.com/index.php

It seems that the recommended Lyman styles are; 311284, 311299, 314299

Note;  As the 19th Century small bores are very similar in bore and case capacity, data for one can be adapted, within reason, to another.  .303 Brit and .30-40 US are near twins in this regard.

Note2; See this article on enlarging bullet moulds, by "Beagle"; www.castpics.net/subsite2/MoldMods/BDE.pdf

[cpt dan blodgett]

For our purposes one should think 10 grains of fast pistol powder Red Dot, Bulleye or anything similar would push the bullet out at close to the target velocity especially in heavier bullets.