30 Carbine

[jumbeaux]

I have been given a few hundred 30 Carbine reloads. The gentleman that reloaded them has been dead over 20 years. I did find a note stating that he used WW296 which I believe is the correct powder. Most have some "gunk" on the brass. I have been thinking about letting them "swim" in a vibratory case cleaner or I have considered pulling the bullets and reloading from scratch. What is the best method to safely pull the bullet ?? They are either FMJ or jacketed RN Lead softpoints (some of each). I am considering reloading with cast if I go that route.

Thanks to all,

rick

[nwellons]

I would seriously consider pulling the bullets and reloading. A press type bullet puller is much less work than an impact puller. I use both, depending on the situation and amount to be pulled.

[Gtek]

If you live by "THE RULE" that all unknowns are components only, you or something you love or care about will never be harmed by them. Is saving a couple bucks worth an eye, hand, your favorite firearm, or worse? I have to admit I have been a bad boy torching off unknown powder in some creative ways, but I can only be so good. Gtek

[jumbeaux]

Good advice gentlemen.....I am a novice reloader and use Lee handloaders only. After I pull the bullet and dump the powder is it safe to tumble with the primers in place or should I "snap" them, remove then tumble ?? Right now I handclean my spent brass......I appreciate the advice....

rick

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Suffering the consequences of a mistake that you make is bad enough, but to take the count for a mistake that someone else makes is a mega-bummer. Pull all of the rounds down and reuse the components; you'll be sure and secure of what you do and you won't have any second thoughts. Good luck with your work. LLS

[Larry Gibson]

Collet bullet puller for use in the press is the easiest and best. I use an RCBS.

Larry Gibson

[3006guns]

By all means invest in a collet style bullet puller. Just the .30 collet will do several different calibers and it sure reduces the effort.

Never tumble live ammo. I know there are some that do it, but I won't take the chance. If the bullets and powder are removed I see no harm in tumbling the primed cases however, since there's no real weight or inertia to "bang" one case into another.

Those primers are probably fine.

[Ed in North Texas]

By all means invest in a collet style bullet puller. Just the .30 collet will do several different calibers and it sure reduces the effort.

Never tumble live ammo. I know there are some that do it, but I won't take the chance. If the bullets and powder are removed I see no harm in tumbling the primed cases however, since there's no real weight or inertia to "bang" one case into another.

Those primers are probably fine.

Not to mention the (admittedly slight - depending on the period of tumbling) chance of changing the powder through the vibration. You might wear off the inhibiting coating on the granules, or actually break many granules, resulting in the potential for faster burning than the original powder design.

Ed

[dale2242]

If it were me, Iwould pull the bullets, punch the primers (very gently in a press), and clean the cases.
Start all over with known loads.
BTW, I have pushed many live, unfired primers with a Universal deprimer die.
If you want to be extra safe, neutralize the primer in a solvent before removing them.
H100/296 is my go to powder in the M1 carbine...dale

[Gtek]

If your nervous about pushing hot primers, after tear down soak in water for a day or so. I have pushed hot ones but a little spooky to me. Please remember eye protection during reloading proccess. Gtek

[flounderman]

maybe I live more dangerous but I would pull a couple of each apart and check the load, wipe the cases with a little steel wool if they need it to chamber and if the weight of the powder seems right for the bullet, I would shoot one or two and examine the cases and probably shoot the rest if everything looks right. pulling with a collet puller tends to distort the bullet and the carbine probably doesn't have a straight side for the puller to grab so it will slide up the bullet. vibrating the powder can change the powder by removing the coating and making the granules smaller. don't do it. it isn't necessary to have a mirror finish on a case. if it chambers and fires in the carbine, thats all it will do if it is polished. the way the carbine throws brass you will probably lose it anyway.

[fatelk]

In the past I have done stuff like shoot old ammo reloaded my unknown persons, but I wouldn't even consider it now. Too many mistakes can be made, and I've heard too many horror stories and seen photos of too many blown up guns. Odds are they're fine, but you never know what they might have done. Where they distracted that day, maybe ran out of 296 and grabbed a can of 231 by mistake? Scary thought.

I know the issue of tumbling live ammo has been debated to death, so I'll just say that I have tumbled plenty of live ammo over the years with no problems at all and believe the safety concerns of doing so are vastly overrated. A lot of folks have spent a lot of time debating and experimenting and I have yet to see any evidence that it's dangerous if one is careful. To each their own though.

I have also tumbled brass with live primers, though I wouldn't recommend it due to the likelihood of media plugging the flash hole. I shot some once with tumbling media in the flash hole just to see if I would get misfires. No misfires in the ones I tried, but it sure couldn't be very good for consistent ignition. I've deprimed many hundreds of live primers and the only time I've ever had one pop was with heavily crimped military primers, even then no big deal. Just be careful and wear eye protection. Definitely don't have flammable stuff like gunpowder around if you do.

[Kestrel4k]

Not to mention the (admittedly slight - depending on the period of tumbling) chance of changing the powder through the vibration. You might wear off the inhibiting coating on the granules, or actually break many granules, resulting in the potential for faster burning than the original powder design.
I have actually had this happen with Re22, although I can't prove it. I developed a safe load one year, then hunted in a small riverboat (w/ outboard motor) for a week. Next year the ammo tested 'warm' at the same ambient temps. Took the same trip. The next year the ammo tested 'hot', again at the same ambient temps. I then retired that ammo.

[Multigunner]

I have read of a case where a .44 Magnum pistol shattered on firiing factory loads, and they traced the cause to the owner having left a box of ammo in the glove box of an off road truck for many months.
Heat from the truck's heater ducts and engine vibration, coupled with a lot of bouncing around when driving in rough country broke down the powder grains.

I've also been told that at some point (possibly WW2 or the 50's) armored vehicle desert patrols were told to turn in ammo carried un-used in ammo cans for more than two weeks, switching out for fresh ammo. I suppose the now suspect ammo would be relegated to practice firing or at least stored under less stressful conditions and held in reserve.

[fatelk]

The "tumbling live ammo" debate has been done to death many times. Some folks have even gone to the point of tumbling ammo for days on end, pulling a round every so often and checking the powder under a magnifying glass to check for deterioration, firing a round and checking pressure, etc.. With a quick search I could probably find 20 threads on 10 different internet gun forums.

I've read page after page of heated debates and arguments on the issue. I have yet to see anything that leads me to believe the breaking down of the powder thing is anything other than a persistent myth, but that's just my opinion from what I've seen. Deterioration from heat or other factors is a different story and I don't know about that, but personally I will continue to take my life into my own hands and tumble live ammo when it suits me. Big ammo manufacturers do it all the time.

Added: sorry, didn't mean to come across like a jerk there. I suppose it's entirely possible that some powders could be damaged where others wouldn't so it is better safe than sorry if you're going to tumble very long.

[LabGuy]

If it were me I would, tumble the live ammo, pull the bullets, toss the powder and reassemble with known powder and quantity.

[jcwit]

Pull the bullets, you may have to use a kentic puller depending what the shape of the bullet is, sorta hard for a collet puller to get a grip in a round nose bullet to pull it. Plus being as you are a reloader anyway you need to purchase a kentic puller, suggest you buy the RCBS brand, they're guaranteed forever against breakage.

Dump the recovered powder, if the cases have much green heavy tarnish on them toss also, they're weakened by now otherwise tumble, reflare, charge and reload and shoot. Might even want to salvage the bullets themselves.

Primers can also be salvaged if you press them out. Remember, they detonate from shock as in impact not from being pressed out.

Hope this helps, I've been reloading/casting for 50 plus years now, and yes I cast and reload for 2 U.S. Carbines.