MidSouth Shooters SupplyLoad DataTitan ReloadingRepackbox
Reloading EverythingLee PrecisionRotoMetals2Inline Fabrication
Wideners Snyders Jerky
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 32

Thread: Straight-Walled. 308 Rimmed Cartridge

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    Daekar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    614

    Straight-Walled. 308 Rimmed Cartridge

    As in the thread title: Does such a thing exist? There are so many good 0.308 boolits out there, it's surprising to me that there isn't some spiritual cousin to the 357Max somewhere, like a rimmed and lengthened 30 Carbine or something.

    Anybody seen one?
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Alberta, Canada
    Posts
    158
    32-20 in a 30 Carbine barrel AKA 30-20 is popular. Just run the 32-20 in Carbine dies and good to go.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
    dtknowles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Southeast Louisiana
    Posts
    4,907
    .327 Mag. would could be used if 30-20 is too tapered for you taste. Pick a barrel anywhere from .308 to .311 in groove and cast to match.

    Tim
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  4. #4
    Boolit Master


    Burnt Fingers's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Tejas
    Posts
    1,938
    Quote Originally Posted by dtknowles View Post
    .327 Mag. would could be used if 30-20 is too tapered for you taste. Pick a barrel anywhere from .308 to .311 in groove and cast to match.

    Tim
    Yep, 327 Federal Mag comes to mind....till you realize it's slightly less powerful than the 30 carbine with the same boolit weight.
    NRA Benefactor.

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    over the hill, out in the woods and far away
    Posts
    10,172
    What's the objective?

    If it's for an Ohio-legal deer gun isn't a small .30 cal. a bit weak?

    Unless you could find a longer case which would hold about 20 grains of powder?
    The ENEMY is listening.
    HE wants to know what YOU know.
    Keep it to yourself.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Superstition Mountains
    Posts
    208

    Cool

    I along with many others have used heavy .308” bullets at subsonic speeds to kill thousands of deer. For example, my .32-20 Contender (1:10” twist) shoots 220-grain RN bullets well, and they kill very well. They are stable enough to be accurate at reasonable ranges yet they tumble on impact creating very effective wounds. I’ve fired very similar loads in a .30 Carbine case but haven’t used that load on game. I imagine that the .327 case would work just fine too.

    I’ve never tried this load supersonic but it should be able to reach at least 1200 fps safely in the right rifle. And this highlights the main downside, the loa is much longer than SAAMI specs at 2.08” so feeding could be a challenge.



    .

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Daekar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    614
    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    What's the objective?

    If it's for an Ohio-legal deer gun isn't a small .30 cal. a bit weak?

    Unless you could find a longer case which would hold about 20 grains of powder?
    In a single shot rifle, which is all I seem to be interested in lately, there is a great deal of flexibility in loading and boolit shape or weight. Might as well ask what the point of a 357mag rifle is, though...

    Deer haven't gotten more durable in the last century, but marketing has changed our expectations. The old 32/20 was once thought to be sufficient for deer and a very well rounded cartridge...
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Quilcene, Washington
    Posts
    3,675
    I also have a T/C 10" barrel in 32-20 that has a standard 308 bore. Some years ago I did a terminal ballistics test with a 120 gr RFGC boolit at 40 yards. The MV was 1300 fps and that load remains my go to favorite. The results convinced me that the penetration and expansion of that CB was adequate for deer out to 70 yards if the deer was under 150# live weight (normal size of the blacktail in my neighborhood). I never hunted deer with that pistol but any coyote that stayed still long enough for my old eyes to get a sight picture did not survive. I tried the jacketed hollow points for similar size and they did not perform nearly as well in the terminal ballistics test even if they are slightly more accurate.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
    dtknowles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Southeast Louisiana
    Posts
    4,907
    Quote Originally Posted by Burnt Fingers View Post
    Yep, 327 Federal Mag comes to mind....till you realize it's slightly less powerful than the 30 carbine with the same boolit weight.
    Me I would/did choose 30-20 but 327 factory loads out perform 32-20 factory loads. I have a .308 barrel in my Dan Wesson with a 32-20 cylinder and I shoot bullets sized .312. I have not hot rodded my loads but I would not be afraid to shoot loads hotter than .327 Mag. I have a lot of load data somewhere for hot 32-20 ammo.

    Tim
    Words are weapons sharper than knives - INXS

    The pen is mightier than the sword - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The tongue is mightier than the blade - Euripides

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Superstition Mountains
    Posts
    208

    Cool

    Yep, 327 Federal Mag comes to mind....till you realize it's slightly less powerful than the 30 carbine with the same boolit weight.
    Maybe not. Speer #13 lists maximum .30 Carbine loads with the their 110-grain bullet at 1418 fps in a 10” Contender barrel. Speer #15 lists a maximum .32-20 load with the 110-grain bullet as 1813 fps in a 10” Contender barrel. The same manual lists a maximum .327 Federal velocity of 1547 fps with their 100-grain bullet in a 5” unvented barrel. It appears that the .30 Carbine (one of my favorites in the 10” Contender BTW) is the loser here......

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Posts
    510
    Is that with jacketed bullets in all 3 calibers, or jacketed in 30 carb but cast in 32-20 and 327?
    typically a jacketed bullet of a given weight will have a higher pressure for a given load
    than a cast boolit for the same load and bullet weight.

    Does the manuals list the pressure?
    What powders?

    That information is important if we truly are making an apples-to-apples comparison.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    332
    The cartridge has come and gone, commercially that is. It was/is called .32-30 Remington. It was not exactly straight-walled, rather a straight taper ala .32-40. Originally it was pretty weak and discontinued in 1912. I know of at least one schuetzen shooter competing with a rebarreled (.308 groove IIRC) rifle chambered for this ctg so at least one reamer exists.
    A modern version of .32-30 case would be made from .357 Max brass. The original case was 1.66" long so the Max case is a bit short at 1.60" (shorter neck?) but is much stronger than a .32-20 case.
    This is an intriguing idea for a single shot rifle.

  13. #13
    Moderator
    Texas by God's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    14,452
    Maybe the 28-30 Stevens can be necked out to .308"- if it's tapered to begin with......I'm just throwing that out there, I have no idea if it'll stick to the wall

    Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
    Daekar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    614
    Quote Originally Posted by Texas by God View Post
    Maybe the 28-30 Stevens can be necked out to .308"- if it's tapered to begin with......I'm just throwing that out there, I have no idea if it'll stick to the wall

    Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk
    It looks tapered to me, I bet your idea would work. It would have to be a 28-30+P, though, apparently that was a BP cartridge. Stick it in a strong action, blow it out to 308, and you've got a whole new ballgame.
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
    Daekar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    614
    Quote Originally Posted by PositiveCaster View Post
    Maybe not. Speer #13 lists maximum .30 Carbine loads with the their 110-grain bullet at 1418 fps in a 10” Contender barrel. Speer #15 lists a maximum .32-20 load with the 110-grain bullet as 1813 fps in a 10” Contender barrel. The same manual lists a maximum .327 Federal velocity of 1547 fps with their 100-grain bullet in a 5” unvented barrel. It appears that the .30 Carbine (one of my favorites in the 10” Contender BTW) is the loser here......
    I wonder if you could special order some 327 Max brass? Lengthen it by 0.250" or something, leave the pressure ceiling about the same place, and call it a day?
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy Brassmonkey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
    Location
    Danby VT
    Posts
    293
    Quote Originally Posted by Daekar View Post

    Deer haven't gotten more durable in the last century, but marketing has changed our expectations. The old 32/20 was once thought to be sufficient for deer and a very well rounded cartridge...
    Lot of wisdom there.

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    332
    Quote Originally Posted by Texas by God View Post
    Maybe the 28-30 Stevens can be necked out to .308"- if it's tapered to begin with......I'm just throwing that out there, I have no idea if it'll stick to the wall

    Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk
    The .28-30 Stevens is a pencil- like straight-walled case just big enough for a .28 caliber bullet. Nicking up would yield a reverse bottleneck.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master
    Daekar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    614
    Quote Originally Posted by DonHowe View Post
    The .28-30 Stevens is a pencil- like straight-walled case just big enough for a .28 caliber bullet. Nicking up would yield a reverse bottleneck.
    What if you fireformed it in a chamber designed to make it straightwalled?
    I'm a big fan of data-driven decisions. You want to make me smile, show me a spreadsheet! Extra points for graphs and best-fit predictive equations.

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    332
    the .28-30 case has a base diameter of .357", tapering to .309" at case mouth. I would say neck diameter but in reality the case has no actual neck. Case length is 2.5".
    https://www.cartridgecollector.net/28-30-120-stevens

    I had a lustful encounter with the .28-30 nearly 20 years ago. On the occasion of my first visit to a Schuetzen range/match I was granted the pleasure of firing a few rounds from a Pope-Stevens .28-30 rifle, breechseating bullets (cast in the mould cut by Harry Pope for that rifle) with the tool Harry made for that purpose. I will not forget that experience nor the gracious gentleman who made it possible.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Central VA
    Posts
    5,552
    First, are you planning on shooting this from a rifle or handgun? While the 30 Carbine round specs show higher velocities (slightly) they were achieved through a 16” barrel. The 327 runs at equal or greater maximum pressure and within 20% of the same velocity in a 4 or 6” barrel.

    The 327 FM, although it is a “pistol class” cartridge is modern made and strong. In a well matched rifle I would bet it would show the 30 Carbine round its dust. My fantasy is to build a Ruger #3 in 327 and I will, just as soon as that Nigerian Bank Officer sends my share of the money to my account number I sent them.

    Froggie

    PS Just as an additional thought, Henry Rifles makes a lever action 327... just sayin’!
    "It aint easy being green!"

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check