30 Herrett and 32 Win. Spec.

[dragonrider]

Went to the range today with a new to me 30 Herrett 10" contender with a 30 MM red dot sight. disappointing to say the least, My Speer load manual says this caliber should headspace on the shoulder "a sharp snap should be needed to close the action". I spent a couple of hours making new cases just as they said. Loaded 21.5 grains of IMR 4227 under a Lee group buy 125 grain GC SP. Could barely keep them on the 8.5"x11" target at 50 yards. Come to find out the OAL was somewhat long. Was really jamming the bullet into the rifleing. No high pressure signs that I could see. And oust of 25 rounds has 4 failures to fire. Back at home I pulle the failures, remove the primers and inspected them thouroughly.Set them back into the same case put them back in the gun and the primers worked. Think I got to pay more attention to the primers.

On the the Marlin 32 Winchester Special purchased last Sept. or Oct.
This one was bit better than the Herrett. Again newly formed cases with 13 grains of Red Dot undeer a Lee 180/185 Lee GB GC. sized to .323". Kept this inside of 3", not good enough but better than the Herrett and no FTF's

[HeavyMetal]

Now that those case's have been fire formed they should load and work much beter.

Contender barrels seem to be all over the place when it come to how much "throat" a given caliber has.

What I've done with my Contender is size just a bit of the neck then seat a boolit long and manually push it in until the rim is flush with the end of the barrel. No powder or primer of course!

By working the ejector with my thumb I can usually get the "loaded" oujt of the barrel and measure it for OAL. I like to load about .030 to .040 off the Rifling and just neck size the case enough to fit the chamber.

I've really come to like the Lee collet rifle dies for Contender barrels!

[30hrrtt]

If you applied too much preassure with the Herrett to close, that was the reason for the failure to fire - not a primer problem.

This will come from too long a case, adjust the die down just a bit. Or in your case, probably from the bullet seating out long pushing the case rearward.

I started reloading with a custom 30 Herrett with a tight chamber. IT WAS A NIGHTMARE. But I learned more than I could have imagined and now it is my favorite round.

One more thing that doesn't have to do with misfires but does have to do with accuracy. Measure the neck diameter with a loaded bullet in it. Measure the neck after firing. The fired case should be a couple thousandth bigger. If it is not, preassure will be all over the place and accuracy too. Cast bullets are usually fatter than jacketed and the problem could be worse. I ended up having to neck turn my brass even for jacketed.

[felix]

Well chambered barrels make accurate guns. I wish everyone had at least one gun like that. ... felix

[Rocky Raab]

What 30hrrt says is spot on (as we might expect with that screen name!)

Factory Contender barrels do seem to be inconsistent in their chambering and/or throat lengths. So each one has to be load-developed as a unique entity. My own 30 Herrett barrel is very forgiving of both headspace and seating length, so I suppose I'm lucky. But mine doesn't much care for most cast bullets, either. A wash, maybe.