Forming 7-30 Waters brass?

[jason280]

Just picked up a T/C Contender in 7-30 Waters, and need to start forming brass. I have a decent amount of .30-30 and .375 Win brass, and may be able to snag a bit of 38-55. Any suggestions on which brass to use, and how to proceed? Thanks!

[725]

It was made to be formed from .30-30 brass. Light lube will help. Easy as it gets.

[fryboy]

in essence it was designed from the 30-30 and it forms pretty easy , good lube and going slow helps , make sure the vent hole in the die is open and not plugged up also helps , it'll look funny but usually fireforms wonderfully ! i used to use a bunch of heavy surplus 175 grainers for fireforming

the 375 win brass does it in one pass and makes a pretty strong case , however those whom own 375 winchesters wont be happy with you as the brass is kind of rare , good lube required and go slow , it wont have to be blown out as much as the 30-30 brass will , 38-55 is much the same but may or may not be as strong of a case and may need trimmed depending upon which length of it you have , i've never had to turn the necks but you should check the thickness before cranking out a whole lot of loads

[leadman]

Use the 30-30 brass. In a Contender you will want to headspace off the shoulder and forget about the rim. Don't know your level of experience you have with the Contender and similar guns but you need to add in any space between the standing breech and the end of the chamber.
Mike Bellm's website has very good info on how to size the brass to get the best life and accuracy out of the Contender or Encore. He used a dial indicator with a special fixture originally to set the sizing die. I have one of these I bought from him but it is not neccesary as an automotive feeler gauge is all that is needed. Mike has also switched to the feeler gauge method IIRC. Send me a PM if you need more info.

[jason280]

Thanks for the information, looks like I need to do a little more research. Most of my rimmed cartridge reloading has been very limited (outside of pistol and straight walled stuff), and I have never tried setting the die/cartridge up to headspace off the shoulder instead of the rim. Would a neck die be sufficient, at least after cases have been fireformed to the chamber? I have a decent amount of 175gr PTSP bullets, and plenty of powder, just a little lacking in the proper case/die set up department. ;)

To be honest, I have seriously considered getting rid of the 7-30 barrel all together and going with a .30-30...it would get rid of the issue of finding/forming brass, would give me easier access to factory loads, and I don't think I would see any real difference in performance out to 75-100 yards on deer.

Decisions, decisions....

[fryboy]

in a lever action the 7-30 didnt go as far as many thought it would but handgun hunters ...well they just love it ! i did a deal that put me into a third barrel and later let a friend talk me out of it as i already had that set of twins , maybe it's not saying much but it quickly became his fav, if you do go for a 30-30 get the 14" bull . there may not be much difference out to 100 yards but after that the 7 has a slight edge from the blown out case , powder/caliber ratio . in a 'tender using spire points bullets in either is possible but one never sees factory 30-30 ammo in anything but round or flat nosed

[BK7saum]

Setting up the sizing die to headspace the case on the shoulder is easy. Just start with your die backed out a bit and size the case. It shouldn't chamber. Turn the die in slightly and size again (the same case if you want), and try to chamber again. Continue until the contender will just close on a sized case and you're there. Not hard to do at all. There will be a gap between the breech end of the barrel and the standing breech of the frame. You do not really want the case to be all the way flush or even recessed into the barrel.

Brad

[reed1911]

Check your rim cut before using .38-55, my two 7-30's (one factory one custom) both had too small a rim to fit the 38-55 case.

[Rick Hodges]

I have a TC Contender Carbine with Bullberry 7x30 waters barrel. I just use 30-30 cases. They come out about .050" shorter than the Federal Factory brass (only comes nickel plated). It is a cinch to form...lube run in a FL sizing die and then fire form. I use bulk 140 grain J-words for the purpose. That rifle is a deer killing machine with either 130 gr. Speers or 120 gr. Nosler BT's.
30-30 brass is plentiful and cheap.

[MarkP]

I try to index mine off of the headstamp when inserting in the chamber and sizing die; Name at 12 O'clock position.

[Shawlerbrook]

Imperial Sizing Wax makes this process much easier. The Waters is definitely worth the work.

[Kraschenbirn]

Not a problem using 30-30...one pass through a full-length sizer, fireform, and neck-size thereafter. I shot a TC Contender in 7mm Waters for IHMSA, off and on, for a couple of years and threw in something like 250 of my original 300 cases when I sold the barrel and dies.

Bill

[leadman]

Don't be afraid of keeping the 7 Waters as sizing the brass to fit the gun is pretty easy. As BK7saum said it is easy once you do it. 30-30 brass is available in many places for just picking it up off the ground so you should be able to keep enough stock loaded so you don't run out and have to buy factory ammo.
I liked the 7 Waters but got the bug for something else so sold it.
I do shoot a 30-30 in a 21" tapered barrel and it is a very good set-up. I also have a cut down Super 14 with a muzzle brake to bring it back to 14" in 30-30AI. Velocity of both barrels is about the same.

[JSH]

I will also chime in on sizing. It is not just a FL size and shoot for making brass. You do need a crush fit on the shoulder. As mentioned it may be proud of the face of the barrel.
What you are after is to keep the brass up against the frame of the gun. This will cause the brass to expand and grow at the shoulder.

If you just fl size and headspace off the rim, you may loose some bras after a firing or two because of seperations at the web.

Other than that it is a good round in the TC. Mine is boring.

[Hickok]

Setting up the sizing die to headspace the case on the shoulder is easy. Just start with your die backed out a bit and size the case. It shouldn't chamber. Turn the die in slightly and size again (the same case if you want), and try to chamber again. Continue until the contender will just close on a sized case and you're there. Not hard to do at all. There will be a gap between the breech end of the barrel and the standing breech of the frame. You do not really want the case to be all the way flush or even recessed into the barrel.

BradSpot on! I would also just stick with 30/30 brass. A little trick that can help sizing down cases to a smaller case is too use the bullet seating die as a sizing die. Then run the case through the sizing die. But this was never needed when I had a 7x30 barrel.

Very accurate and good cartridge.

[GooseGestapo]

I first annealed my fired .30/30 brass. Sized them to where they would just allow action to close. Fire formed them using 130 gr Lee rngc w/o gaschecks over 7.5gr of Unique. (Tumble lubed and sized to .285"). Surprisingly accurate.

my favorite load is 36.0gr of Rl15 under 115gr Speer JHP. Followed by 35.0gr Rl15 w/120gr Nosler B.T.
But, 10.0gr of Unique with gaschecked 130 will probably do anything I'd ever do with the Contender. Mine has 21" bbl.