30 s. S. P. Development

[68 couper]

6 months ago I started looking for a hyper velocity 30 cal for the Contender pistol. I took into consideration Don Bower's 30 Alaskan, the 309 JDJ and Mikes 308 Bellm. Each had something to offer with the 30 Alaskan and 308 Bellm standing out above the rest. The 308 Bellm would allow for proper seating of a cast boolet. Mike Bellm was kind and willing to work with me so I choose to develop something a little different incorporating the assets I came to admire in other cartridges.
First, the cartridge had to use readily and currently available cases. No point in chasing the unobtainable. 444 Marlin from Starline had just been released. Bingo.
Second, the cartridge had to have enough neck to accept a 30 cal cast at 150 grains. I remembered some history that was taught to me as a lad working at a gun store by Ray Altman. He was a fellow employee and a distinguished gentlemen . Ray owned a business reloading for NW Indiana police departments for years and casting boolets as well, Ray was a wealth of knowledge. He hunted all forms of game on all continents. I remember, the 30-06 was developed for the 150 grain bullet and checked the specs vs what cast would need. Yep, it would do nicely. I remember when Ray and I hunted Elk in Colorado, he wielded a 30-06 AI. Could have been done by PO Ackley, I wasn't wise enough to inquire. So, the AI neck proved to be .425 and was on the money. Now I get the 40* sholder as a bonus with cutting down a 30-06 AI die set.
Third, I was coached by Mr Bellm to work with the brass some and get a feel how it acts. This might (and did) alter my case body dimensions. So, on paper, I wanted 2.225 case OAL. While working the Starline brass, I found it did not elongate as the Remington had for others. It's pretty soft and more so after annealed. After discovering my new small base 308 dies had a tweaked expander arbor, things went fine. A call to RCBS had 2 new arbors on the way for free. The shortest of my reshaped to 308 brass measured 2.203 and the longest was 2.218. I settled on a max case OAL of 2.2 -.010 . Everything was per- d after trimming.
Plugging the neck into the case length gave a 1.765 neck-sholder junction. This is a wee bit longer case body than the 30 Alaskan and 308 Bellum. It is shorter than the 309 JDJ made by SSK, but that is a poor design IMHO for cast and for Contenders.


So I boxed up the factory TC 6 groove SS 30-30 barrel, AI size die and sized to 308-444 cases and off to Mr. Bellm it went. His magic is greatly appreciated in advance. While there for the rechamber, the crown will be precisely be recut and a 6 hole picatinny rail installed.
Looking forward to the next steps of forming cases to the Improved chamber and checking long distance accuracy. The starting powder will be Varget. I will set up for case resizing at cam over on the press. More to come if there's an interest.

Destination Elk- GB
Couper
30 Single Shot Pistol
This is NOT a PROPRIETARY cartridge.
It's BETTER.

[modified5]

Just what I need, another temptation barrel for my contender!!
I already have a 7mm L&L, and a 375 JDJ which are both based upon a .444 marlin.
I look forward to seeing how this one comes together.

[MT Gianni]

How does it differ from the 307 Winchester?

[BK7saum]

How does it differ from the 307 Winchester?

Good questions. Sounds pretty close with a longer neck and slightly longer case length. Less body taper, too.

Need to watch pressures in a contender and not overload it.

[68 couper]

The 30 SSP has a neck that is .125 longer than the 307. This keeps the gas check in the neck where the 307's significantly shorter. The 30 has the 40* sholder as well as larger case capacity. Actual powder payloads should be similar but less pressure in the 30 because of the longer body. I'll get you a water capacity of the case as I get some formed.
For my situation, the 2.2 case length also allows a new chamber and throat to be cut in a 30-30 barrel.

Couper

[Texas by God]

The terms hypervelocity, 30 caliber, and Contender do not go together. I can't see it being better for cast bullets than the 30 30 that it is replacing, but it's your toy so go ahead and have fun!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk

[68 couper]

I'm sure many people over the last 122 years have found the 30-30 excellent for cast boolits. I do not fault the cartridge at all. Thanks for the compliment tho. It does lack in the velocity for my intended use. Don Bower drove 150 grain 30 cal at 2660 fps using the 307 improved sholder with ridiculous accuracy. My hope is to run cast at 300 meters sub moa at 2500 fps + making it lethal on elk at that range. Which very well may be more than I'm good for.
Here's a comparison of the 30-30, 307 and the 30 S S P


This is before fire forming the case.
A careful study of SAMMI chambers shows where the ol' 30-30 is behind the power curve. This is the chamber TC uses via chamber cast. It has a great big cone in front of the case and no throat. This is not conducive to accuracy.
This will be cut away and become a most excellent leade in the hands of Mr. Bellm. The chamber will also be much closer in tolerance to the cartridge as it's not but a single shot pistol. This all adds up to the stuff we all like to see on paper and the table.
Couper

[68 couper]

Started working on the projectile today. I looked at the designs Ranch dog bullets did in 300 Savage and 308. I see the virtues and like the velocity he was able to attain at lower pressures. I'm not seeing much else that half way fit the mold... So, I took a 165 grain Interlock I had on the shelf and filed the tip to .200 frontal dia. This gave me a 155 grain bullet. The base to crimp groove is .435 which is optimum for the neck of the 30 S.S.P. Forward of the crimp is a good amout of bearing surface for the throat to pre-align the boolet. The full length of all bearing surfaces is about .575. What I'm thinking at this point is gas check it, shallow lube groove it and go. Any of your thoughts on the boolet are welcome. I hope to try some powder coated and lubed for comparison. The alloy at first should be WDWW. I do have some lino around. I am very interested in expansion tests using the WDWW both streight water dropped and softening the tip with a torch in water.
Pictured behind the bullet is the Burris 3-12 for the picatinny rail being installed. Rings will be Burris XTR.

I sure would like a guesstimate on BC if someone has the technology.
Couper

Note- I did contact NOE about a variance of the 309-169-FN. It would do better with a wider FP and no top lube groove.
m
I hope...Lol

[68 couper]

Update- I spoke with Al from NOE today about modifying the 309-169-fn design. He was receptive to the thoughts of making it a .200 fn and eliminating the top lube groove. This will create an excellent hunting boolet for the 30 SSP and any other cartridges such as the 30-06.
Couper

[OlDeuce]

WoW you've got a nice project !!! Getting my 44 worked out and it's also based on the 444 ! mine is 2.020 in length !!! Cool stuff

Ol Deuce

[68 couper]

Ol Deuce- Thanks bud.

Here's the proposed changes-20170729032155471.pdf
My compliments to the fellas that worked on the 30xcb and shared their findings on the NOE and this site.
Couper

Here's the pretty version Al drew up. I am thrilled with a BC of .3522 in a hunting boolet.