Case-forming .30-30 shells to 7-30 Waters

[patocazador]

Some cases are difficult to find and have to be made by forming other common cases to the desired caliber. Some involve just shooting a live round in the gun as is the case with an "improved" cartridge. Others involve necking the parent case up or down to accommodate the new caliber like converting .30-06 cases to .35 Whelen.

Some, like the 7-30 Waters, need to be resized by necking down a .30-30 case and improved by firing the round in the gun.
Below is a sequence showing the progression from .30-30 to 7-30 Waters.



From L to R: .30-30 cartridge, .30-30 fired case (empty), Necked down .30-30 case to 7mm in the full-length resizing die, Necked down and fire-formed case (now a 7-30 Waters case), Reloaded formed case with a 120 grain Barnes-X bullet.




Below is the T/C Contender in 7-30 Waters caliber. Not such a great rifle cartridge but a very good pistol cartridge for hunting deer and hogs. It is a better choice than .30-30 in both a pistol and a rifle due to the greater powder capacity and (in the pistol) a more aerodynamic bullet since it doesn't have to have a flat nose to avoid accidental discharge in the original tubular magazine.

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Probably no one else on the forum is doing this sort of reforming but it's easy and mandatory if you have a gun that shoots an obsolete or hard-to-obtain cartridge.

 

[mark1945]

Bob
I have been doing that for years , 8mm/06 and 7x30 waters , 22k hornet .I think I actually have 15 pieces of 7x30 waters real brass all the rest I made. Had my 8mm/06 since back in the late 60s think someone finally started mfg brass for it a few years ago. My 7x30 is a Contender also 14 in with factory brake Have shot many hogs coyotes and coons with it love that caliber.
Mark

 

[Fyrstyk]

I have been reforming cases for several of the wildcats that I own for years.  I have to form my own brass for the .256 Winchester Magnum, the .338-06 and the .375 Winchester Hybrid and 445 Super Magnum.  Some, like the 256, require several dies to form, and some can be made with just one pass thru the sizing die.  Wildcat cartridges are fun to play with.

 

[patocazador]

"Wildcat cartridges are fun to play with."


They sure are. The only Contender shells I have to form is the 7-30 and .357/.44 Bain & Davis but I had a hankering for a 6.5 JDJ and a .309 JDJ at one time.
My rifle "wildcats" are 3 Ackley improved cartridges. That extra volume really helps.

 

[Marty1]

pat', when you fire-form the case do you use a standard, reduced, or max powder charge?

 

[mark1945]

Ive always been told to use a reduced load , but Ive always just put whatever load I planned on using in the case and have never had a problem. I could never understand why a reduced load would be called for if its gonna blow the case out to the chamber shape same as a full charge would.

 

[patocazador]

I reduce it by 10-15%. The case before improving has less volume. If you use a max load, pressures could get too high.

 

[gemihur]

patocazador, the pressures will actually be reduced by the fire-forming process. The pressures needed to force the shoulder forward and the case walls straighter will alleviate some of the backthrust that would be pushing against the breechface.  It is recommended to reduce loads for fire-forming but if you want a fully formed, sharp shouldered case, use a standard load and a heavier bullet than you planned on... say 140 gr.
note: more people have been brought to the contender witnessing what the 7-30 Waters can do than any other chambering.
Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[BigAl52]

Never owned the 309 JDJ but I have owned the 6.5 JDJ and shot some deer with it. I dont have one anymore but a friend of mine still has his. We bought them together. I still load for his and forming the brass out of the 225 Winchester cases was fairly simple. He has taken an elk with his. I like the round ok but JD made some claims about the round I never found to be true. Both my friend and myself tested it several times and could not get the bullet drop he claimed at 200 yards.

 

[McClura]

I load for my two 7-30 Waters and never could see the need to waste bullets and powder when fireforming. I take my 30-30 brass, run through the 7-30 sizer, load regular loads that I hunt with and shoot silhouette with and use them. I have killed more deer with fire forming loads than not and they shoot just as good, ever on the steel shoots that I never wanted to waste good bullets and powder.
The 7-30 Waters was the first Contender I got in 1992. It was the Contender Hunter package, 12" barrel with factory break, TC scope and zippered pouch, all in one package. Been shooting it all of these years and never had any problems with it. Taken deer, hogs, coyotes and a couple of porcupines in TX when hog hunting.
Great round and fun to load.

Mike

 

[Sparkitoff1]

I have a 35-30. Shoot a 30-30, then run the case through the 35-30 die. I found it less expensive to get 30 caliber balls or even wax "bullets" just to get the case to fire form.

 

[exMember]

I hope Bob is ok. I've sent emails a month or so ago with zero response. I know hes on other forums and have not seen anything.

 

[bronko220002]

I fire formed 30-30 brass years ago for my 7-30 Waters for my Contender.  Great little cartridge and took a couple deer with it.  But as usual, due to a brain cramp, I went and traded it in on something. Don't remember what.  I just got the urge to take up handgun hunting again and got me an Encore in .243 Win.

 

[drax05]

An outdoor writer/biologist (Wayne Fears) who is a great proponent of this cartridge, and I work with/for some, introduced me to the 7x30 some years back. Two of my grandkids have TC carbines (from grandpaw) and hunt with them. They even load for them. I only had a few boxes of factory cases, and having a lot of 30-30 cases, re-formed them, loaded a slightly milder load with 140gn. 7mm Nosler that I had a lot of, and let them practice shooting with those loads and then we re-loaded them. Between 75-100 yds, which is the average shot distance on our hunting property, there was little to no difference in shot group with the milder loads with either of their rifles. For some reason all my grandkids from my oldest son were born left handed, I sold the Mauser barreled actions I was going to build into hunting rifles for them, and hence the TC's. BUT, they both shoot right handed now. The 7x30 does the job well, and when kids, they knew they had something "special" in a hunting rifle that none of the other kids around here had. As their dad has and uses a 30-30, they have their own 100 rd distinctive blue cartridge cases which they keep locked in their "action packers" with the rest of their individual hunting gear- knives, gloves, belts, etc.

 

[Dennis Olson]

An outdoor writer/biologist (Wayne Fears) who is a great proponent of this cartridge, and I work with/for some, introduced me to the 7x30 some years back. Two of my grandkids have TC carbines (from grandpaw) and hunt with them. They even load for them. I only had a few boxes of factory cases, and having a lot of 30-30 cases, re-formed them, loaded a slightly milder load with 140gn. 7mm Nosler that I had a lot of, and let them practice shooting with those loads and then we re-loaded them. Between 75-100 yds, which is the average shot distance on our hunting property, there was little to no difference in shot group with the milder loads with either of their rifles. For some reason all my grandkids from my oldest son were born left handed, I sold the Mauser barreled actions I was going to build into hunting rifles for them, and hence the TC's. BUT, they both shoot right handed now. The 7x30 does the job well, and when kids, they knew they had something "special" in a hunting rifle that none of the other kids around here had. As their dad has and uses a 30-30, they have their own 100 rd distinctive blue cartridge cases which they keep locked in their "action packers" with the rest of their individual hunting gear- knives, gloves, belts, etc.

Wih a good bullet and powder you can get .30-30 to near .308 ballistics at 200 yards

 

[drax05]

Wih a good bullet and powder you can get .30-30 to near .308 ballistics at 200 yards

With most of our hunting in/around thick evergreen low to mid story, range is limited unless in one of the high houses near the food plots or power line, so quest for a "hotter" load wasn't paramount. Would like to find out what powder Hornady is rumored using as I backed down .5 with Win 748 (2600's MV) when I got flattened primers in our TC contenders. However i'm currently satisfied with the 7x30's performance with the grandkids rifles. On another note, I load down for my TC 14" 35 Rem. when shooting from my "old man" climber due to average shot being in the 50 yd range. Yeah I know some of you guys would just throw rocks that far......yeah...