Issues loading 30-30 for a Winchester 94AE for the first time

[VariableRecall]

I don't think the powder charges you mentioned will create this situation ( secondary ignition- a pop & than a loud bang ), but how did the round sound when you fired it ?

I don't remember the reloaded round sounding "off" to me, but the recoil felt a bit more stiff than it should. When I loaded up these cartridges, I used a powder scoop followed by a powder trickler to trickle up to the powder charges I indicated. Normally, I use a Lee Auto Drum. My powder scale has always been accurate.

[VariableRecall]

It's an odd question, but by any chance did the ammo in question ever get tumbled to "make it pretty". Old brass, tarnish marks, dull colorization, etc. will have some thinking about making it look better. A trip to the tumbler might brighten up the brass, but it also may agitate the powder within and cause powder grains to get reduced in size by the vibrations. Not the bouncing in the back of the pick-up vibrations, rather the kind of constant movement we use to polish the brass. Significantly reduce the grain size and burn pressures change. Just a thought.

The brass, not the whole cartridges, was tumbled before I had received it. I also don't have a try tumbler, and my wet tumbler is a mason jar. I did not wash or treat the brass in any way after I had received it. This included no trimming the brass to length.

[Rapier]

If you read the posters comments carefully, he told exactly what happened "the bullets shaved lead". I have seen several guns blown because the reloader used cast like they were jacketed and never expanded the neck, shaved lead, it shaved lead jammed the cartridge case and bullet in the chamber mouth. Gun fired slightly in battery, Boom.

[VariableRecall]

If you read the posters comments carefully, he told exactly what happened "the bullets shaved lead". I have seen several guns blown because the reloader used cast like they were jacketed and never expanded the neck, shaved lead, it shaved lead jammed the cartridge case and bullet in the chamber mouth. Gun fired slightly in battery, Boom.

I cleaned up all bits of lead off of the outside of the cartridge case after I had loaded them. I had properly expanded the neck, but there was still some lead shaved on the outside of the case which I pulled off. The neck had expanded far enough to start the projectile comfortably in the brass.

[truckjohn]

Classic overpressure signs. Don't shoot any more of them. Pull down the loads you have and check charge weights. If the weights are ok, toss the pulldown powder. Could be the wrong one or maybe it somehow got mixed with another by mistake.

In your reloading procedure, do you charge then seat bullets one round at a time, or do you charge a batch of cases, then load the bullets?

[John Taylor]

Great to hear from you again John!
This is my first foray into lever action loading, so I'm very thankful to have people with lots of experience to give me some advice.
I'll be certain to try and trim the brass. I assume that should be done after sizing the brass?
I have a Lee Quick Trim tool for .223, but not one for .30-30. I've got a feeling that I will be making use of the trimmer a lot more for 30-30 than the .223 brass.
The Factory ammunition that I had been gifted was Remington Core-Lockt 150gn Jacketed Soft-Point.

Would it be bad to make a trial load that reduces the powder charge to 16gn of IMR 4198, about 2 grains less than the recommended load? I've got a feeling that it would still clear the barrel but would be drastically under-pressure. better safe than sorry.

Also, what's your favorite powder for 30-30?

Do not. Do not use a load that is below the low listing in a book. There is something called detonation that can happen from too light a load with slow burning powder. My brother blew up a trapdoor with a light load of RX 7. There are a few pistol powders that will work with light loads like bullseye or unique but the slower burning rifle powders can cause all kinds of problems if there is too much air space. It's been a while sense I have loaded 30-30, I used 3031 powder but I don't remember the load. Book shows 21.6 - 27 for the 170 grain bullet.

[Texas by God]

Use the factory once fired brass that you shot first. Check everything again as far as powder charge and crimp. That will tell you something. I’ve loaded for the 30-30 for 50 years, using powders from Bullseye to 4831 depending on use or mood. 3031 is a top choice.

[smkummer]

Classic overpressure signs. Don't shoot any more of them. Pull down the loads you have and check charge weights. If the weights are ok, toss the pulldown powder. Could be the wrong one or maybe it somehow got mixed with another by mistake.

In your reloading procedure, do you charge then seat bullets one round at a time, or do you charge a batch of cases, then load the bullets?

Yep, classic signs of over pressure. Not sure how it happened but it did.

[VariableRecall]

Do not. Do not use a load that is below the low listing in a book. There is something called detonation that can happen from too light a load with slow burning powder. My brother blew up a trapdoor with a light load of RX 7. There are a few pistol powders that will work with light loads like bullseye or unique but the slower burning rifle powders can cause all kinds of problems if there is too much air space. It's been a while sense I have loaded 30-30, I used 3031 powder but I don't remember the load. Book shows 21.6 - 27 for the 170 grain bullet.

Thank you for the warning. I remember when I had pretty severely under-loaded .38 Special. Powder burn rate was super inconsistent. some were stiff, others wimpy. I may give 19gn a try just in case 18 was too low, and load with the fresh factory brass just to be safe. I'll take a closer look at that brass I had picked up earlier as it's likely too long, or even just too worn out for use.

[VariableRecall]

I would like to let you all know that adding a bit more powder and some other small tweaks seemed to have fixed my issue. I used the factory brass I made available from my last session, and I had split the difference between the recommended minimum and maximum powder loads with 20gn of IMR 4198. I also re-sized my boolit pal's projectiles from .310 to .309, as well as reduced the strength of the crimp on the crimp groove from revolver tight to about as much crimp as I put on my .223 Rem cartridges.

The resulting load was noticeably lighter than factory, and extracted easily from the chamber. I had also tried two pieces of mystery brass I had purchased and both performed well. I'm thinking that the rest of the brass should perform just fine, but I should carefully inspect any brass that seems off and reject any that look suspicious.

Thank you very much for the advice! I've now got a load that works and I suppose I can only make it better!

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Keep an eye on your brass length, of all the variables you had going, over length brass is the one I considered the culprit. Lee makes a very inexpensive case trimmer that works well and sets case length without needing adjustment. For seating bullets without 'shaving lead' - expanding AND 'belling/flaring' the case neck with a neck expanding 'M' die or a 'flaring/expanding' die like the Lee Universal expander or an RCBS expanding die helps. Only a very slight flare or step is needed, the 'M' type expander (Lyman or NOE) seems to allow straighter seating of the bullet. The straighter the cartridge - the more accurate the shooting.