30-30 lead info

[red neckerson]

i'm casting boolits and sizing to.310, when seating i shave some lead or bend neck lip. im using a rcbs die set, do i need a larger or special expander ball?

[Baja_Traveler]

You need to bell the case neck when loading cast. The RCBS dies you (and I) have are intended for jacketed. Get a Lyman M die or an RCBS case neck expander. I have both - Lyman M die in 6.5 for my 6.5 x 55 and 6.5 x 54 and an RCBS 308 case neck expander that I use for the 30-30 and 30-06.

The RCBS Cowboy dies come ready made for loading cast boolits for future reference.

[MT Gianni]

IN the meantime you can use a leatherman tool or needle nose pliers for a quick twist to slightly bell the cases. I would not recommend Lee's tool but go with a Lyman. The buttons are interchangeable for different diameters.

[reloader28]

I use the Lee universal neck expander and dont have any problems. I think its $15.
Works on 22-45 cal.

[WyrTwister]

You need to bell the case neck when loading cast. The RCBS dies you (and I) have are intended for jacketed. Get a Lee M die or an RCBS case neck expander. I have both - Lee M die in 6.5 for my 6.5 x 55 and 6.5 x 54 and an RCBS 308 case neck expander that I use for the 30-30 and 30-06.

The RCBS Cowboy dies come ready made for loading cast boolits for future reference.


I think Lyman makes the " M " die ? I have one for .45-70 .

Lee makes a universal expander die to expand / bell ( like the expander on handgun dies ) the mouth of the brass . I have used it , experimenting with cast bullets in .223 .

Both achieve the same outcome .

God bless
Wyr

[northmn]

I have had excellent results with the Lee tool and its universal. Even use it at times instead of the the belling die included in a three die set. I have also used a variety of tools to bell the end of the case before I bought the Lee die. Bullet head arrow points were one example.

DP

[Larry Gibson]

Get the .31 Lyman M die for use with your .310 sized bullets. I use it with all my .30s with .310/.311 sized bullets. You get better neck tension and less seating effort. This will give more concentric loads and less nose deformation with softer cast bullets.

Larry Gibson

[woody1]

and remember, it doesn't take much. Just enough that the boolit will start inside the cast mouth w/o shaving lead. Regards, Woody

[MT Gianni]

My problem with the Lee tool is in the smaller calibers, There is so little control a 1/4 turn of the die allows a .244 boolit to either not enter the 243 case without shaving lead or falling through to the bottom. It might be workable in the 30 cal and up but if you shoot a lot of cartridges it isn't as handy as advertised.

[cbrick]

red neckerson, welcome to Castboolits,

I don't know anything about a LEE "M" die but I do have many Lyman M dies, one set up for each caliber with several extra plug dia to swap & trade for proper tension.

ALL cast bullets must have the case mouth flared and the Lyman M die will do this for you along with proper flaring in one easy step.

Rick

[Baja_Traveler]

Yes - of course its the Lyman M die, Not Lee as I stated in my first post. Corrected the error.

[izzyjoe]

i jumped the same hurdles as you when i first started loading cast in 30-30, a friend suggested that i make my own flaring tool. so i did and it worked , and still works, but i got a M die to save time. i took a .243 case and filled it ww lead, and i just turn it up side down and insert it inside a 30-30 case and tap it with a hammer. the shoulder of the .243 case flares it real nice, but a .257 rob. or a 7mm case may work also, but i just used what i had. and another thing you need to watch for is if your die is seated to deep you may be trying to crimp as your seating your boolit. just check it to make sure on that. back your die out, and seat the boolit, and your better off if you use a lee factory crimp die for crimping. i've never had any luck trying to crimp with the seating die.:-P

[Nobade]

And if you guys haven't tried them, the RCBS cowboy dies for 30-30 are REALLY nice. It's a 3 die set, first sizes and decaps but doesn't size the neck too much like most dies. Second works like an 'M' die, and third seats and roll crimps if you want. Since I tried these dies I won't go back to any others. They work that well. BTW, if you're not switching cases between guns the Lee .308 collet die works well on 30-30 for neck sizing.

[pls1911]

While I agree belling would be proper and beneficial, I load a couple of hundred rounds at a setting on a Dillon 550b.
I get around belling by a heavy chamfer on the cases before tumble polishing, use gas checked bullets cast soft but heat treated to 28-30 bhn. The gas check opens the neck enough to carefully start the base in the chamfer -- STRAIGHT-- then seat.
With practice the extra careful process is still pretty efficient, as a 200 round session still takes less than an hour whan properly staged.

[John Boy]

My problem with the Lee tool is in the smaller calibers, There is so little control a 1/4 turn of the die ...
I'm using the Lee Universal to bell primed empty 22LR cases for my black powder reloading project. Works perfectly, the heels seat exactly and haven't crunched a case yet

[Ed in North Texas]

I don't know anything about a LEE "M" die but I do have many Lyman M dies, one set up for each caliber with several extra plug dia to swap & trade for proper tension.

Rick

Where do you get your extra plugs? Make them yourself, have a machine shop make them, or what? Thanks for your answer.

[cbrick]

A machinist friend turned down some larger plugs for me. Gives me options in expanding various makes of brass. I think Lyman sells extra plugs but I don't think they make a custom diameter.

Options are good. :coffeecom

Rick

[nanuk]

would the expander die for a 32S&W or H&R work for expanding/belling the cast mouth?

you could put it in a drill press and use emery cloth to fine tune the size for YOUR gun and load.

anyone think that might be an option?

[geargnasher]

And if you guys haven't tried them, the RCBS cowboy dies for 30-30 are REALLY nice. It's a 3 die set, first sizes and decaps but doesn't size the neck too much like most dies. Second works like an 'M' die, and third seats and roll crimps if you want. Since I tried these dies I won't go back to any others. They work that well. BTW, if you're not switching cases between guns the Lee .308 collet die works well on 30-30 for neck sizing.

A Lee .30-30 Collet sizing die works pretty well for .30-30 also.

:kidding:

Or, you can buy an RGB set of Lee dies in .303 British, steal the .310" EZexpander/decapper rod and put it in your Lee .30-30 FL size die after you hone the neck part of the Lee FL die to fit your gun, brass neck thickness, and the size of boolit you're using. If .310 isn't big enough, get a .32 Winchester Special set and use the rod from it, turned down to the size you need.

Back on topic, regardless of what you use, some method of bellmouthing the case will be necessary, even after expanding to the proper diameter. I have three or four Lee Universal belling tools, ("expander" isn't a good term there, John Lee), and use them extensively for cast, but only in instances where the necks have already been expanded properly with a different tool, or just bushing or collet neck-sized to the correct ID.

Gear

[Bret4207]

Red, that is one AWESOME handle!!! Spit coffee out my nose when I saw it!

[timkelley]

I like and use the Lee Die, color me 'cheap'. The tool is inexpensive and works well for me.

[stana]

I have numerous dies to expand and bell. I prefer the Leatherman for rifle cases.