opinions wanted!!

[rmcc]

Hello all. Have been having hell's own time with my new project. Being the cheap (and unemployed right now) S.O.B. that I am, I have tried to convert one cartridge ,30/30 Win to Herters 401 Power mag using what I have on hand. Justin, after knee surgery, and I have been conversing on this one and he suggested putting in open forum to see what I am doing wrong, if there is another way, or just save my money and buy the dies and brass. Here is the email I sent to Justin:

Originally Posted by rmcc
Justin,

I think you are right!! Here is what I did, see if you find a problem with my method.


1) chucked cases in lathe turned down rims to proper dim.
2) set up lathe and cut 30/30 brass close to 1.285"
3) trimmed cases to 1,285" on Lyman Universal trimmer
4) flared case mouth witht the Herters 401 Expander
5) primed and charged cases
6) seat bullet (extremely hard/deforms bullets) with 41 Mag seat die
7) run finished round through 41 mag size die
8) run finished round through 10mm die ( usually pulls the bullet out of the case)

About 1 in 5 work that you could shoot, definitely will not be accurate or practical. There is no way to roll crimp qith 41 mag die, this is part of the problem. I can get dies and brass from Buffalo Arms, just too expensive right now.

Rich

You should post this in an open forum and see what kind responses you get. There may be a better way out there that we hadnt thought of.
Justin
__________________


Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a ton !!!

Rich

[Doc Highwall]

What diameter is the Herters 401 Expander and what diameter bullet are you trying to seat? Ideally the expander should be .001"-.002" smaller then your sized bullet.

[2 dogs]

How thick is your case? What you are trying to do might need inside reamed cases....

[stubshaft]

+1 - On the inside reaming. If you are trimming to 1.285" you are definitely into the thicker portion of the case.

[rmcc]

Never thought of the reaming, will look into that and see if it helps with seating.

[danski26]

For what it's worth, a friend of mine who has been making a living loading ammo for about the last 40 years told me that the 401 herters is not worth messing with. He went on to say that it is "almost" impossible to make it work without original stuff. I "think" he has some original stuff. $$$$$$$$ !!!!!!!!

[2 dogs]

Im quite sure one could make the proper ammunition for the thing. Im also quite sure it would certainly be a PIA. You need a tubing micrometer to properly measure your case thickness. No telling what other special tools you might need.

[rmcc]

Thanks to all!! One thing about it, it will give me something to do and no one ever accused me of being real bright!!!!

Rich

[rmcc]

You guys are GENIUSES!! I am such a dope!! I was not belling the case enough!! Was thinking about the replies here so I thought what the heck. Belled case to almost base of bullet when seated. Went through same steps, no deformed bullets and they all slide right into the cylinder!!

Thanks a ton guys for the help!!

Rich