reloading 30-30's

[jatbrats]

I have been reloading 30-06 , 357 , 38 specials and 40 cal for over 20 years , This is my first time reloading for my 30-30 marlin . I am having trouble with the crimping . It is either to loose or I smash the case . What am I doing wrong ????

[docone31]

Well, with cast, I wouldn't crimp. It changes the final diameter of the casting.
Get a Factory Crimp Die.
The Thutty thutty was my first reload cartridge way back when. Make sure you do use lube on sizeing the case. I had to get a few out of the dies back then.
A comfortable cartrideg to reload.

[MT Gianni]

Try turning your die in no more tha 1/4 turn adjustments. In a tubular magazine you need a crimp to resist bullet movement but no more. It is difficult to correct without watching you .

[bradh]

I fought this exact problem years ago. With the 30-30 you need to crimp due to the tubular magazine. Trim all your cases to
an equal length. Seat bullet and crimp separately...two steps. After trimming it's a cake walk!

[GabbyM]

Assumig your die is in spec.
To loose ?bullet loose in neck? means you've overcrimped and pushed the neck down. Ballooning the walls out. Smashed means you have gone way far past over crimp. Use just enough crimp to remove any flare plus about .005" in outside diameter. As soon as you can tell the edge of your case mouth is smaller than the case neck walls you've enough crimp. If you've crimped the case mouth flush with your bullet you've over crimped. Yes I kow many will disagree but there you have it.

Also:
Always crimp in a separate operation from bullet seating.
Lee factory crimp dies are nice as are tapper crimp dies. But the standard roll crimp step in your seater die will work fine if your cases are trimmed to uniform length.

[TNsailorman]

Case need to be trimmed to same length. Then seat the bullet in one operation and crimp in a second operation. I do this all thin cases such as .44-40, 30-30, etc. I have found out not to usse the Lee factory crimp die on lead bullets, jacketed only. The Lee FCD sizes the lead bullet smaller (slightly). There may be a way around this but I don't know how if there is. my way, your mileage may vary. james

[Larry Gibson]

As mentioned trim casesto same length or get a Lee Factory Crimp die. With the Lee die the cases don't need to be the same OAL but they still need to be close. If you don't have a trimmer and don't want to invest in a full size one the Lee case trimmer works fine and is inexpensive.

If your bullets do not have a large crimp groove and you want to use your current seater then seat the bullets and crimp in seperate operations. ADjust the die out so it does not crimp and seat the bullets. Then back off the seating stem and screw the die in so it just crimps. If the crimp groove is large enough and your cases are trimmed to the same OAL then the seater can be carefully adjusted to do both seat and crimp at the same time. Easier to just get the Lee FCD though and crimp seperately with it.

Larry Gibson

[rintinglen]

A big "plus one" on the Lee Factory Crimp die. At one point I was casting, and loading over 400 rounds a month of 30-30 silhouette ammo for 3 different rifles and many different lots of brass. Case trimming became a chore, big-time. The Lee FCD was a life saver.
I was also plagued by excessive variation in chambers. My winchester rifle had a shoulder much further out than my Daughter's Carbine, leading to head separations in my rifle when I FL sized to fit her gun. Once I started separating brass by gun and neck sizing only, my case separation problem all but disappeared.

[jh45gun]

I agree with the factory crimp die Lee makes. I have never had a problem loading 30/0 using Lee dies.

[MT Gianni]

I have eliminated triming the 30-30 by going to the RCBS X die. Cases all comeout the same length.