30-30 neck sizing

[El Chivo]

I've been setting up my 30-30 dies (Lee) and I made a few dummy rounds to get the OAL set.

I noticed a tight fit when setting the bullet into the case, and a few little lead shavings after seating the bullet. The bullets are .310 lasercast.

I measured the inside of the case mouth after sizing and it reads about .303", subject to error of course. I also removed the pin from the sizing die and measured that, it reads about the same.

So far I've only reloaded .357 and the die flares the case mouth comfortably so there's no damage to the bullet. But the rifle setup is much tighter. Also the brass seems to be thicker as well.

Is this normal? Is there something I should do to flare the case mouth a little?

[J Miller]

Sobenk,

Yes it's normal. 30-30 dies are designed to load jacketed bullets. To load lead you need to buy an expander die that corresponds to the diameter of your bullet. The case mouth will also need a bit of a flare to work with lead bullets.

Lee sells a universal case mouth flaring tool, RCBS and Lyman sell expander dies for lead bullets so there's plenty of tools to get to fix your lead shaving problems.

Joe

[Charles]

Buy a Lyman "M" die and follow the instructions to expand your case necks and flair the mouths a tad. Life will the be good.

[1886]

I just bought an M die for the .30-30. The expander measures .3075". This will be fine for softer cast bullets that measure .309-.310". The M die will in all likely hood be to large for many of the commercial hard bullets that are available. What you can do is to remove the expander from your die, chuck it into a power drill and polish the expander down to approx. .3045"with crocus paper assuming you are loading .309" bullets. You will find that this size expander will be about optimum for loading jacketed as well as hard cast. It is important to match the size of the expander to the hardness of the projectile you are loading in order to optimize neck tension. Proper neck tension improves load consistency which contributes to improved accuracy. Do not take a one size fits all approach. Many people do just that and never fully realize their reloads potential. Also many people feel that crimping is key to neck tension. Crimping is a component to achieving proper neck tension but optimal expander size is critical. Always match expander size to bullet size and hardness. After you polish the expander down you will still need a means to slightly flair the case mouth. As others have said Lee makes a universal expander. The M die expands and flairs the case mouth. You can buy extra expanders for your sizer dies cheaply. Good Luck. 1886.

[Chuck 100 yd]

Lyman M-die !

[Ram Hammer]

M die did the trick for me.

[KirkD]

I use the Lee universal case mouth flaring tool for my 30-30 reloading, as well as for one or two other cartridges. Very handy to have.

[Griff]

Usually I lightly chamfer the inside of the case mouth on my .30-30s and that does the trick. My sizer pushes 'em out at .309". I am using a gascheck, so that may help in the lack of shaving.

[El Chivo]

Thanks guys. I've been reading about expander plugs. It sounds like I need both!

The Lyman is the only one that expands the whole case neck. The neck expander portion of the die is one size for the length of the neck. Push a little deeper and there's a collar that expands the case mouth a little more. But it looks like it creates a stair-step shape rather than a flared mouth.

The Lee is shaped to flare the mouth only, not to size the whole neck. But it would create a smooth flare at the mouth, and it's loose in the die so it's self-centering.

I like the idea of expanding the whole neck evenly, forcing the bullet in might deform it or the case. But I like the idea of a gently flared mouth for easy insertion.

Looks like I'll have to get both!

Also it seems I should use separate brass for cast or jacketed bullets.