Recipe for 30 carbine?

[echo884]

Anyone know a good recipe for 30 carbine?

I plan on using Remington cases (from CMP, after I've 'emptied' them) with CCI #41 primers and Berry's 110 gr plated bullets for a nice, light plinking load on my new (to me) Universal M1 carbine (still in jail). It would be great to be able to use Unique which I have tons of, but open to suggestions. It would be awesome to get this thing out to 100 yrs or so.

Thanks calgunners!

[toyotaguy]

I'm currently using lake city brass with 110g fmj and 13-14g of h110, this is very close to gi spec ammo. I can't speak to any others as this is all I've really used.

[Noonanda]

IMR-4227 13.4 Gr with 110Gr bullets Im getting 1763 FPS avg MV. at least I've never seen a unique load for it until Gunboat posted the load below

[gunboat]

Lyman 41 gives a loading for unique with 110gr jacketed --
suggested 6.5g max 7.5gr
There are other Unique loads for the 110gr and 130gr cast boolits.

[Noonanda]

wow i wish you had posted this earlier, I've looked into unique before and because i couldnt find anything online or in the loadbooks I gave up

[16in50calNavalRifle]

Like toyotaguy, I'm sticking as close to the original GI spec as I can: 110 grain jacketed round-nose bullet, 13-15 grains of H110. I believe the gun was literally designed around this loading, as the whole system was made to order for the US Army to fill a specific small-arms need.

Just passing on the wisdom/advice of more experienced reloaders, and not endorsing or questioning it, but a few points on 30 carbine reloading:

* "don't hotdog this round" - as in, don't experiment aggressively as you might with certain handgun ammo with wide safety margins in the stronger revolvers; be aware that if you depart from standard load data, you need to take into account the semi-auto action, spring strength, etc.

* case length may matter, and you may want to trim to keep cases standard; seems a majority of veteran 30 carbine reloaders writing online do measure and trim their 30 carbine brass as needed, while a handful say they load light-standard loads and never have to trim. Be aware that given the design of the 30 carbine cartridge, the fact that the rifle headspaces on the case mouth, and that's it's a semi-auto, case length may have a large impact on function and performance.

Some of these considerations may not apply if you are reloading for the Blackhawk 30 carbine revolver.

[Noonanda]

I bought a pound of IMR 4227 just for .30 Carbine, my Underwood only gets fed the best. I have a load that al but matches the Milspec loading, will look it up on my other computer and post it

[gunboat]

Tough to get old! reread the OP -- 110 gr berrys plated boolit --
the lyman 311359 plain base 113gr should be close enough.
Cast bullet handbook -- Unique = starting 5.5g and max 6.5g
velocity 1390 to 1550, pressure (cup) 27,600 to 38,600 --
Small jump in velocity, big jump in pressure -- a little dab 'ill do ya --

[echo884]

I'll have to try that. Hopefully, unique will do it and cycle the gun properly. And I won't have to get a whole new different powder! Thanks all.

[BJames]

How much are you guys spending while reloading for 30 Carbine per load? I'm thinking about getting into reloading and this is one of the rounds that is driving that interest.

Thanks

[gunboat]

Mr bjames -- you just opened a big can of worms --
Let the blue vs green vs red war begin --

For me it is fairly inexpensive, single stage set up, mould, lead, powder and primers.

[gottarollwithit]

How much are you guys spending while reloading for 30 Carbine per load? I'm thinking about getting into reloading and this is one of the rounds that is driving that interest.

Thanks

Your biggest cost will be brass. Obviously, buying loaded ammo is pretty pricey. Finding cheap brass will be a pretty big obstacle. Start searching now! Bullets, primers, and powder are easy.


As for the OP, you're using plated bullets. Dunno where exactly you stand on this, but it's my understanding that ya can't push them as fast as FMJ. Maybe someone else can elaborate on the plated bullet limitations with regard to this caliber? Gunboat's cast bullet data might be a decent place to start.

Also... bear in mind, this is a gas gun. Maybe others have more experience here, but will a load using Unique produce enough gas to cycle the action and drive the gas piston?

[ap1040]

I bought Unique for my 30 Carbine, but even at max load 6.5gr, it would not cycle the action in my gun and it felt more like a 22 then anything else. I switched to H110 and using a mid range load it works better for me.

So try Unique and if it works for your gun, great and if not, then you can use it in your pistol reloads. I would recommend H110 for the carbine, but do experiment to find the powder that works best with your system.

[ap1040]

Cost of bullet, primer and powder for the carbine is $0.12 a round. the last batch of brass I purchased was $0.10 per shell.

[kurac]

I have been loading for the .30 Carbine for at least 5 years. It headspaces off the case mouth so trimming to length keeps it reliable. If you keep the loads about a grain below maximim, the cases don't stretch much and you can go 2-3 loadings before trimming again. I only use H110 and W296. For plinking loads 13-14 grains works best with the 110gr FMJ. For hotter loads to match the milspec I load 14.5 grains with a magnum primer in once fired or pull down brass.

I have purchased over the last few years a bunch of pull down Lake City brass from Polygunbag.com. I have been getting at least 5 reloads per case before I lose them or toss them and I think some may go up to ten. I have not seen any splits yet but most of them have only been loaded to 14gr of H110/W296

Its a fun cartridge to shoot any easy to reload for but I don't think you are goint to gain much by trying to load it light since it there is not much recoil to begin with. My advise would be to stick to the original powders and projectiles it was designed to work with for best results. Polygunbag currently has pull down brass for sale an occasionaly they have pulldown 110gr FMJ's for sale as well, otherwise you can buy them new commercial from Midwayusa. The Berry's are plates and I believe they advise not to push them faster than 1,500 fps othewise the plating will come off.