7-30 Waters

[richhodg66]

So getting ready to start shooting a single shot in 7-30 Waters. In prep for that, I bought a lot of 50 brand new unfired Starline .30-30 brass. I lubed and ran one through the full length sizer, took almost no effort and it looked to me like it didn't even do anything but size down the first half of the neck, but it chambered easily, so I primed it, a light load of 700X and a plain based cast bullet, shot it and it seemed to have perfectly formed a 7-30 Waters case.

So I went through and ran the rest of the brass through the sizer, but haven't primed or anything yet. Should I anneal these before fireforming them or is it a waste of time?Like I said, the brass is unfired. Sure seemed easy on that first one, too easy in fact. I sure don't want to have a bunch of split necks or something with the rest of them.

I have a Redding neck sizer die and will only neck size after forming.

Should I anneal or wait until it's all been shot a few times? I don't plan to load this very hot, 100 yard cast bullet target shooting is the goal.

[recumbent]

I shoot 7x30 waters too, on new brass I would not anneal first. This caliber is very accurate in my Contender.

[richhodg66]

Thanks. I'll probably load them all up with fire forming loads and shoot them this weekend.

Do you shoot cast in yours?

[garandsrus]

I really like forming 7-30 Waters brass. It’s cool to see what goes into the chamber and what comes out! I have never had a neck split. You should not need to anneal new brass.

I set the false shoulder so the pistol closed with a very slight interference fit so that the round would headspace on the newly formed shoulder.

I shoot cast in my Contender pistol and it is very accurate. The fire forming loads are very accurate also.

[Wayne Smith]

One possible exception is Starline, if they make 30-30. Rule of thumb, the harder it is to form the sooner you will need to anneal.

[ShooterAZ]

Starline bottleneck rifle brass is already annealed. They polish the annealing marks off before packaging the new brass. See post #27 of the linked thread below.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?389532-Starline-hope&p=4747813&highlight=#post4747813

[Kylongrifle32]

I'm still on the first 50 pieces of brass that I fire formed in 1985. This was new Remington brass and has been reloaded 8 X's over the years. I only use my Contender pistol in 7-30 Waters for deer hunting so depending on how many shoots I take pre season to check the scope zero a box of 50 rounds last me for several years. I haven't annealed this brass at all.

Rich I shoot many different wildcats that need the cases to be fire formed. The 30-30 brass is thin so you might be alright with light loads of fast powders to do your fire forming but too light of a charge may not allow the case to fully expand and form to the chamber in one firing.

[Wayne Smith]

All I know is that it wasn't in my 32-20 years ago.

[marshall623]

I load the Waters in a T/C as well , pretty easy to form . One thing I learned early on was don’t trim to min length until you fire form , they shorten up a little with all that going on around the necks . Very accurate with cast and will take down full size rams easily with 160 Lymans or 150 NOE Hunter .

[Texas by God]

Wasn’t Federal the only company that sold that cartridge? Is the Federal brass good for several leadings? I’m curious.
Rich, is your single shot a carbine or pistol? I shot a Contender 7-30 long ago- a river hermit friend used one for many deer. A neat cartridge that Marlin could have adopted, dang it.

[richhodg66]

Federal and Hornady seem to be the only brass around. Pricey too. Cheaper to do the .30-30 brass.

The rifle is a heavy target rifle on a Martini action. Scope rings didn't come in the mail today, looking forward to getting it zeroed and shooting it.

[725]

I'd be surprised if Winchester didn't sell the cartridge. I seem to remember it was developed to improve performance over the .30-30 in the '94. Hornady made flat nosed bullets for it, specifically. I could be off base. It was a long time ago.

[eastbank]

my 7-30 w is a TC rifle with a 21" barrel, shoots 120 nosler bt bullets very well.

[444ttd]

Wasn’t Federal the only company that sold that cartridge? Is the Federal brass good for several leadings? I’m curious.
Rich, is your single shot a carbine or pistol? I shot a Contender 7-30 long ago- a river hermit friend used one for many deer. A neat cartridge that Marlin could have adopted, dang it.

my dad has a tc 'tender with a 14" barrel in 7x30 that was bought in the early '90s. he bought 500 federal cases and i think he has only 3 or 4 splits to this day.