forming 375 Win. cases

[Contenderman]

Anybody forming 375 Winchester cases from 30/30 brass, What is the process,

[garandsrus]

Lots of people. A search should turn up the process.

[Randy Bohannon]

Most people who are shooting cast bullets in their .375 Win.'s are using the Starline 38-55 Win. brass until they can obtain some proper brass. If I did,'t have any other choice but to reform 30-30 or buy 38-55 brass I would use the 38-55 Win. I use 38-55 Win. load data in my 94 BB and cast boolits with excellent accuracy.

[EDG]

I formed .375 cases using once fired R-P brass.
I used Bullseye without any filler or bullet by putting a charged case in the rifle with the muzzle pointed into the air.
I had to start low to work up a fire forming charge.
The charge got higher than I was comfortable with yet some cases did not fire form well.
I would suggest you plug the case with wax or a .31 caliber lead ball to insure the shoulder and neck blow out completely.

Rather than use the thin wall Starline .38-55 brass I would prefer the thicker WW .38-55 brass if you can find it.

[Contenderman]

How about a light charge of TightGroup to be determined during the testing with a filler of Cream of Wheat or some such thing with a tissue paper wad to seal the case mouth. Tissue to just be stuffed in and only enough as necessary. Think that would work

[CA Dude]

I form 400 Whelen cases of 30-06 brass, which is almost a straight bodied case like the 375 Win. I do it by using 14 grs of Red Dot powder. A 40 S&W case full of grit on top of the powder change. A wad of tissue paper pushed in on top of the grit. And I seal it with a crayon pushed onto the neck of the case. I hold the rifle muzzle up and pull the trigger. The tissue falls like snow, the crayon doesn't leave the yard and my brass turns out great.

CA Dude

[Contenderman]

Now thanks That was good info, Just what I was looking for. I will reduce the charge on the fast powder and increase until I get a decent fireform. Now that I know how to make the cases I will buy the rifle

[Drm50]

I made up 100 out of Federal 30/30 brass. Loaded 7 grs Bullseye and filled case with cornmeal
muffin mix. Still a Muzzel up proposition. Used a TC 375W and all 100 blew out nicely. These come
out just a tad short of speck. Only loaded these at 38/55 levels with cast boolits. Have used them
in TC, Marlin lever and Ruger #3s. Don't trust them for hot jacketed loads but some guys are doing it and haven't herd of case separation yet.

I have no experience with Starline 38/55 all my 38/55 brass is Win. The mention of Starline being
lighter/ thinner that Win reminds me of a question I have. The Starline 375Win, is it the same case
as the 38/55, just shortened & head stamped? If this is the case I would just blow out 30/30s. I
don't have that worry anymore I've got plenty of new Win brass and 1x fired, not to mention a
large stash of 2x-5x brass, all Win.

[EDG]

Originally a .375 case was heavier than .30 -30 brass.
Some .30-30 cases I have checked are just as thick as .375s.

[Reverend Al]

I've been fire-forming .30-30 cases into "shooter" (short) .38-55 and .32-40 cases for years. You'll have a better success rate if you anneal your cases first (about 1/2 way down the body) as it will help to prevent splits, especially if the brass you are forming has been fired several times before as .30-30. I prime the cases (usually with live primers I have saved from pulled down ammunition so that I'm not wasting new, fresh primers) then charge them with 5 to 8 grains of whatever fast burning shotgun or pistol powder I have on hand. (Lately it's been Nitro 100 Trap powder since I have quite a bit of it right now.) Using a wooden dowel I press 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue down onto the powder charge and then fill the case to just short of the mouth with bulk yellow cornmeal. I top that off with another 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue seated with the wooden dowel. Head to the range, chamber a round, point the muzzle of the rifle straight up into the air (the cases form straight and not lopsided that way) and fire-form. You'll get a light rain of cornmeal drifting back down onto your shooting position so wear a hat ...

[Contenderman]

Great info guys keep um coming Thanks John N

[Skipper]

I've been fire-forming .30-30 cases into "shooter" (short) .38-55 and .32-40 cases for years. You'll have a better success rate if you anneal your cases first (about 1/2 way down the body) as it will help to prevent splits, especially if the brass you are forming has been fired several times before as .30-30. I prime the cases (usually with live primers I have saved from pulled down ammunition so that I'm not wasting new, fresh primers) then charge them with 5 to 8 grains of whatever fast burning shotgun or pistol powder I have on hand. (Lately it's been Nitro 100 Trap powder since I have quite a bit of it right now.) Using a wooden dowel I press 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue down onto the powder charge and then fill the case to just short of the mouth with bulk yellow cornmeal. I top that off with another 1/4 sheet of toilet tissue seated with the wooden dowel. Head to the range, chamber a round, point the muzzle of the rifle straight up into the air (the cases form straight and not lopsided that way) and fire-form. You'll get a light rain of cornmeal drifting back down onto your shooting position so wear a hat ...

+1 It also removes any residual leading from your barrel, too! :D

[Reverend Al]

... and it smells great!

:lol:

[dogmower]

i bought the tapered expander from lee. just lightly anneal the 30-30 and run them into the sizer die with the tapered expander.

[wrench man]

I turned down an OLD RCBS 30 Carbine decapping die stem to the correct O.D. on the lathe, NEW Remington 30-30 cases were dipped into the ISDW and in a simple working of the press handle I had 375/38-55 short brass, no loss out of the 100 cases.

[EDG]

I have usually found Remington brass to have a good neck anneal so they tend to form both up and down with few problems.

[shootmore]

http://www.gunstop.com/products/reloading-dies/die-parts/expander-balls/tapered-exapnder-button-375-caliber-30-to-375

I thought Lyman made one of these also but could not find it. I have used 30-30 brass in my 375 contender and never had a problem.

[toot]

so simple a cave man can do it!

[toot]

corn meal shot at the range makes the shooters ask who is baking cookies? same with rice crispies.

[toot]

REVERAND AL, when you make 32/40 out of 30/30 do you have to trim them be for or after fire forming?

[Reverend Al]

REVERAND AL, when you make 32/40 out of 30/30 do you have to trim them be for or after fire forming?

.30-30 cases come up short on length for actual .32-40 cases, so any trimming that you do is just to square up the mouths of the cases after fire-forming. If you want to make full length cases from .30-30 brass then you need to buy a Kal Max case stretcher and lengthen them to full length .32-40 or .38-55 ...

http://kal.castpics.net/CaseStretcher.html

[Skipper]

Or, buy some 3 1/4" 30-30 basic from Buffalo Arms
https://www.buffaloarms.com/30-30-basic-3-1-4-cases-bertram-box-of-20-ber3030314

By the way, Bertram makes 375 Winchester brass
https://bertrambrass.com/product/375-winchester-unprimed-brass-100-count/

[toot]

REVEREND AL & SKIPPER, thanks guys for the great help. i have never heard of a case stretcher and i am over 74 yrs. and have been playing with ammo for over 65 yrs. this is a great site and bunch of guys.

[garandsrus]

Here’s a good article on case stretching: http://www.texas-mac.com/Stretching_Short_Brass_To_Fit_Your_BPCR_Chamber.ht ml

[indian joe]

Anybody forming 375 Winchester cases from 30/30 brass, What is the process,

took a look through my loading dies , found a rcbs 44/40 size die with a 3/8 nf thread in the head , took a 3 inch long x 3/8 nf high tensile bolt, cut the head off , spin it in the lathe and put a nice taper on it , polish it with 1000grit paper , theres your expander die !! (would probably be better to do it in two passes using two dies)
Twas a year or two ago - I processed PMC 30/30 brass to 375BB in one pass dont recall loosing many .