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Thread: Lee 30 M1 carbine powder through expanding die

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy braddock's Avatar
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    Lee 30 M1 carbine powder through expanding die

    Does anyone load for 30 M1 and, if you do, do you use the lee powder through expanding die. If so please help an old boy out and advise how far up in the die in mm does the case go before the operation is completed.
    I want to insert cast bullets into a bottleneck case (30/30 ) I load for and am wondering if I could possibly use this die for neck prep as I use it on my all straight cased loading and think it's an excellent product. FWIW the case neck length on the case in question is 12mm.
    Currently I gently tap a tapered punch into the case neck to slightly bellmouth it.
    Many thanks in anticipation.

  2. #2
    Boolit Buddy braddock's Avatar
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    Oops

  3. #3
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    Well you made me put my shoes on to go check "MY" dies the case belling bushing is adjustable up and down by turning the aluminum knob .

    The dies are here but are really my sons I load .30 carbine for him and he loads his own also. I have not used the powder though dies on anything except .45 acp in a RCBS 4X4 progressive press and it does work well I had to make and adaptor to fit a RCBS powder measure to it . That allowed me to move die to second station (priming the case first) seating bullet on third station then using fourth station for factory crimp die.

    The Part that bells the case mouth on the .30 carbine die is only .18" in length it should work well for dropping powder in the case . I found it best to degrease it first so fine powders do no stick! I was loading Red Dot in .45 acp but have recently switched to WW-572 ball powder that tend to stick more.

    The load I worked up in my son's .30 Carbine uses a Lee 90 grain .32 cast bullet that is powder coated and sized to .310 . I use the same bullet in 30-30 for pests . I use Lil Gun under this bullet 14.5 grains but verify that load it was for 100 grain short jacket bullet. The load functions the gun well and shoots okay giving 2000 f/s .
    When I think back on all the **** I learned in high school it's a wonder I can think at all ! And then my lack of education hasn't hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall.

  4. #4
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    You would probably need a .32ACP PTE die to flare a 30-30 case neck.
    I’ve loaded cast in the 30-30 Winchester for decades and I don’t flare the necks.
    I do chamfer them with a L.E. Wilson/RCBS deburring tool, though.


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  5. #5
    Boolit Master

    firefly1957's Avatar
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    I must have been confused when I read original post or maybe it was trip tp workshop to check things . All my case neck belling is done with a Lee universal neck belling die , you could tap in the bushing from the 30 carbine die .
    I originally bought the Lee belling die to load sabots from E Arthur co. recently I bought more and found the new ones have a beveled base not needing case mouth belling . The new ones also work well in the 30-30 case the old ones (grey color) would not always leave the bullet before upsetting flight. I have not tried the new ones in 30-06 yet . Rather then try to guess with their data I use data from a 100 grain short jacket bullet and select the fastest powder that gives high velocity with 100 grain bullet.
    When I think back on all the **** I learned in high school it's a wonder I can think at all ! And then my lack of education hasn't hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall.

  6. #6
    Boolit Buddy braddock's Avatar
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    Thanks for the input, I'm loading PC boolits and want to try to avoid shaving the sides of the PC upon insertion, Lee only sell the 30 M1 with an expanding powder through feature, that was why I asked. There is another reason, the 30/30 case doesn't appear to be as robust as later designs of brass and I don't want to stretch the case mouths too much or too often.
    It works extremely well with the 357mag and the ordinary powder through with no neck expansion work fine with my 223 and 30/30, 308 etc.

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy braddock's Avatar
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    Just a heads up, emailed Lee on 7/4/23 got a reply 7/5/23 yes the 30 m1 will expand the 30/30 case neck mouth very slightly which is exactly what I want. Die is on order.
    Don't get me wrong, lee universal expander is excellent and I also use a tapered punch to pull the same stunt.
    With regard to the neck deburring, I bought a tapered reamer from Amazon, don't need to use it too vigorously as it takes healthy cuts. I have to angle grind a bit off the end to allow it to work on 38/357 cases. Should be an image hereabouts. Got my new, used mold which will go into production when I've used up my stache of shop bought boolits. I'd been looking for a tumble lub swc mold for quite some time.


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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
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