30-30 to 7mm

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rodwhaincamo

New member
I have my heart set on a decent med-long range (250 yds) barrel for a Contender. The best I can see is the 7mm x 30 Waters. Brass is too expensive. What exactly is envolved to neck down the 30-30 brass? My father told me long ago of a friend that loaded him up some hot 30-30's since he was using a 45-70 action. He said they were near 308 Win performance. The Contender also can handle that and so I'm wondering 1st) Is this safe to do in a Contender? and 2nd) Is it a slower burning powder or just a little more of it? And just how close to 308 does it really get (I think he stretched it a bit)?
 
G

GP100man

New member
It`s a good performer for sure!!

My experience is limited but i remember case forming , set the 7-30 die down just enuff to get the case to chamber then load as normal after the case fire forms you`ll see why it is compared to a 308.

as memory plays back the forming loads were as accurate as any other , ya had to measure close to see a difference!!!!

All this happened with a contender also.
 
S

SL1

New member
The Contender frame isn't strong enough for .308s

Or, for .30-30s loaded to .308 pressures. It will stretch with repeated firings of loads that are that hot.

See Mike Belm's site: http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/ and look at the articles listed in the green box to the left side of the page. The one that compares .30 caliber cartridges for the Contender is here http://www.bellmtcs.com/store/index.php?cid=82& .

I didn't see the articles that I remember from the last time that I looked at Belm's site, where he discusses the pressures to which cases with different head diameters should be limited to avoid stretching the frame.

Of course, the Encore can take the thrust from the .308 and more.

SL1
 
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reloader28

New member
If you're talking about reforming 30/30 to Waters it should be very easy. I've done alot of reforming mainly cause I was bored and wanted to see how it would perform. It's kinda fun. I would just run it thru the Waters die like normal and than anneal it good because of the shoulder moving forward so much. I've never took a shoulder forward like that, but Ive moved it back many times. I think if you dont anneal it though you could have major problems when it fireforms. From my experience, I also think that since they're the same NEW case length, the new REFORMED brass will quite a bit shorter than factory length after fireforming. Its worth trying a least.
 
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hoghunting

New member
I have run new and once-fired 30-30 brass into the 7-30 sizing die to form 7-30 brass. I have never had to anneal any of the cases. Just load a midrange load for fireforming, then load up a hunting load. Some of my cases have had 8 firings, and they are still in good shape.
 
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