.30 Carbine Ruger Revolver Loads

[Big Boomer]

Came by a new Ruger .30 Carbine revolver a few years ago. Tried out some W820 (I have been told that there were different lots of this powder made so mine may differ from that of others) that I acquired from Pat McDonald in Massillon, Ohio, several years ago. 10.5 grains produced a nice, small round group at 25 yards. Wondering if anyone else has any interest in this round in a revolver and what more up-to-date powders might be a favorite someone is using. I'm using a Lee 120 grain cast boolit with an aluminum gas check. Do not have a chronograph so I'm running by guess work there. Too, does anyone have any hard data on how the .30 Carbine compare with the .32 H&R magnum and Ruger's .327 magnum? Big Boomer

[Nobade]

It's almost the same thing as the 327. Usually the carbine uses a slower twist barrel and can't handle bullets as heavy, but case capacity is about the same. When I had one of those revolvers I learned to use 32-20 load data with faster pistol powders, to keep the noise down. I found it quite unpleasant to shoot with full pressure loads. The 820 works well, as does AA#9 that is the same thing. So does H110, 296, Lil' Gun, IMR4227, and who knows what modern new powders for full loads. I liked Unique myself.

[Larry Gibson]

As noted the full bore 30 carbine loads intended for M1 Carbines are pretty much equal to the 327 performance but are also quite obnoxiously loud. I found a 98 - 115 PB'd cast bullet sized .309 loaded over 4.5 - 5.5 gr of Unique worked very well and was much more pleasant to shoot. With a GC'd 311316 over 6.5 gr Unique gave excellent "magnum" level performance at 1350 fps without the obnoxious muzzle blast of 30 Carbine "normal" 2400, 4227 or H110 loads.

Lyman's CBH #3 has a lot of cast bullet load data for the 30 carbine in the Ruger BH.

[djryan13]

What primers are you all using? Mine won’t light off the Remington 7 1/2s. It does a good (not perfect) job with CCI 400s.

I just tried to switch to 400s recently. Now the primers are flat as hell (and almost popping out of a couple) with 15 gr of IMR 4227 with 100gr short jacket. 16 gr is max according to Hodgdon. Going to run 14-14.5 next to see how they run.

If I can get some Federal SR primers, I may try those.

I am seating a tad below flush.

[smithnframe]

I like shooting mil-surp ammo at dusk...........extremely flashy and loud!

[Outpost75]

This data from The Fouling Shot:

Firing a .30 carbine Blackhawk with “full charge” loads is unpleasant without adequate ear protection. The velocity of WW2-era Lake City 1944 Ball ammo was 1586 fps from my 7-1/2” Blackhawk, versus 1981 fps from a WW2-era Inland US Carbine. The most accurate commercial 110-grain soft-point ammo from Norma gave 1490 fps from the Ruger and 1901 fps from the GI carbine. The carbine’s 18” barrel, compared to the 7-1/2” Ruger, produced a velocity gain of about 500 fps, summing results from chronograph tests of two lots of WW2 service and four batches of commercial soft points.

Cast bullet loads in the Ruger, using minimum charges which reliably cycled the Carbine, gave 1300-1500 fps. Fired from the M1 carbine they approximate full charge .32-20 loads suitable for the Winchester 1892, giving 1600-1700 fps. Commercial .30 Carbine soft points and cast bullet hand loads fired from the Ruger compare closely in velocity to the 7.62x25 Tokarev or .327 Federal cartridges, flat-shooting and effective on varmints and medium game.

The same powder charges and bullets used successfully in the 7.62x25 Tokarev performed well in the Ruger. A charge of 7.4 grains of Olin Auto Comp, measured with the RCBS Little Dandy Rotor #9 tames muzzle blast to moderate levels, functions the carbine reliably, gives excellent accuracy, and drops the empty brass from the carbine at your feet. AutoComp cast loads from the revolver approached factory jacketed velocity, whereas in the M1 carbine they approximated .32-20 Winchester ’92 levels.

Plainbased cast bullets of 15 BHN give good accuracy up to 1500 fps in the revolver without leading. It’s easy to ring a 12” gong shooting at 100 yards with the Ruger revolver firing from a standing 2-handed position. The best cast loads from the Inland carbine produced ten-shot sandbagged groups at 100 yards of 3-4 inches with military iron sights, versus 5-6 inches for WCC44 and LC44 Ball ammo. Only Norma soft points shot were as accurate as the better cast loads.

Accuracy of cast bullet loads was better than FMJ or commercial soft points, except for Norma. The best accurate cast bullet loads in the Ruger used Accurate 31-100T, cast 15 BHN, sized .311” with Lee Liquid Alox and 7.4 grains of Olin AutoComp, metered with the RCBS Little Dandy Powder Measure Rotor #9. A satisfactory full-charge load with 31-100T is 14 grains of IMR4227, measured with RCBS Little Dandy Rotor #18. This approached the velocity of factory ammunition, shot to the same point of impact as factory loads and didn’t lead, but was not the most accurate load in either gun. Velocity data for factory and hand loads are summarized in the tables.

Cylinder throats of some Ruger .30 Carbine revolvers may be found as tight as .307-.308” diameter. Cast bullet diameter is limited by chamber and brass dimensions to no more than .310” when using .30 Carbine brass. Some users hone their cylinder throats to .312,” which enables using the same bullets as for the .32 H&R Magnum or .327 Federal. This requires use of Starline .32-20 brass, which is thinner walled to provide adequate neck release clearance for the larger bullet diameter. The New Model Blackhawk .30 Carbine cylinder does not have recessed case heads as did earlier guns. There is adequate head clearance for Starline .32-20 brass and this adaptation works very well for those users.

I find it appropriate to view the .30 Carbine Ruger as a “rimless .32-20.” I do not use .32-20 brass for assembling full-charge loads in my .30 Ruger because I own two older .32-20 revolvers. Therefore, I limit my loads in .32-20 brass to those which are also safe in the older revolvers. Doing so avoids the risk of putting a Hot “Ruger Load” in a nice old gun and either ruining it or injuring yourself.

My Ruger revolver dates from 1977 and came with .310 cylinder throats from the factory. Cast bullets which “fit” give excellent accuracy. While the .310 cylinder throats are not “optimum” for the .307-.308 jacketed bullets found in factory FMJ or soft point .30 carbine ammunition, my revolver still groups about as well at 100 yards as my WW2 Inland DCM carbine!

I found best grouping of jacketed bullets to be with the .309” diameter Hornady XTP, intended for the 7.62x25 Tokarev or .30 Mauser. The jacket thickness, skiving and cavity geometry of the XTP jacketed bullets enables them to perform well at the full range of velocities obtained from the .30 Carbine Ruger and the M1 carbine.

For "full charges” in .30 Carbine brass a case-capacity charge of Hodgdon or IMR4227 is satisfactory. I found that 4227 gave more uniform velocities in the Ruger revolver than either #2400 or H110. The load I use most is 7.4 grains of Olin AutoComp, using the same bullets and charges I load in the 7.62x25 Tokarev for my Cz52 and TT33. While AutoComp doesn’t give the highest velocity when fired in the M1 carbine barrel, it equals the velocity of full-charge loads, when fired from the Ruger revolver and does so with less muzzle flash and blast, and better accuracy using less powder.
 
JACKETED FACTORY .30 Caliber Carbine Ammunition In Revolver and Rifle
Ammunition__________Ruger 7-1/2”______________US M1 Carbine 18”
LC44 Ball M1__________1586 fps , 20 Sd, 46 ES_______1981 fps, 20 Sd, 56 ES
WCC44 Ball M1________1527, 21, 58_______________1960, 23, 89
PPU 110-gr.SP__________1321, 30, 84______________1903, 25, 84
Norma 110-gr. SP_______1490, 35, 96______________1960, 18, 59
W-W 110-gr. HSP_______1300, 29, 79______________1894, 18, 63
Federal 110-gr. SP______1414, 22, 54______________1959, 16, 56
Column Means________1439 fps Avg. REVOLVER_____1943 fps Avg. CARBINE

Velocity increase of carbine over revolver = +504 fps

Cast Bullet Loads in Ruger Blackhawk Revolver and US .30 Caliber M1 Carbine
Ammunition__________Ruger 7-1/2”________US M1 Carbine 18”

Accurate 31-100T
7.4 grs. AutoComp_____1527, 11, 29__________1692, 16, 54 Most accurate REVOLVER load, cycles carbine OK.
14.0 grs. IMR4227_____1524, 12, 35__________1858, 13, 33

 

[ddixie884]

Cool................

[Big Boomer]

Thanks for all the experience and information on the .30 Carbine revolver and carbine. I should have added initially that the first thing I did after receiving the revolver was to check the barrel dimensions. It slugged at .308 with a Starrett Vernier micrometer and had a slight barrel/frame constriction. Then I checked the chamber mouths and they were uniformly .308. I honed the chamber mouths out to .3095 and fire lapped the barrel to eliminate the slight constriction under the barrel/frame threads. When I insert a round with boolit sized .309 into the chambers I can feel the boolits slightly engaging the step-down of the chamber mouths with a gentle push. So far I think I got that part right since it shoots the one boolit I cast very well (sized in a Star sizer) over a small pistol primer, whatever I have on hand. You all are right. The .30 Carbine is really noisy in a revolver. I use both ear plugs and muffs to preserve what hearing I have left. Appreciate all the input. Big Boomer

[skeettx]

I wore EAR plugs and over the head muffs and mine was still LOUD
Mike

[DonHowe]

I had a .30 Carbine Blackhawk 30+ years ago. I found he muzzle blast from surplus ball rounds to unpleasant though the fireball in bright sunlight was entertaiigbe.
At this point I no longer recall load details but do remember that midrange .32-20 loads were accurate and pleasant to shoot.