New to handgun hunting and reloading

[THunter1]

I recently aquired a T/C Super 14" in 7-30 Waters. I am new to handgun hunting and from the research I have done it looks like I will be doing some reloading soon. I have seen several post where people speak of "fire forming" 30-30 brass to create 7-30 Waters Brass. Could some please explain this to me.

Like I said I am new to this. I am sure I will have many more questions.

[Dezynco]

You must have a set of reloading dies first.  You neck down the 30-30 brass, load them with a mild charge and shoot them.  I usually load a few grains of Bullseye or Red Dot with a cast lead 7mm bullet.  Use them for plinking.  That will blow the shoulder forward, making them ready for full-house handloads.  You can also load a few grains of Bullseye (2 or 3 grains) and stuff them with tissue paper, or plug the case mouth with parafin.  Anything like that will build just enough pressure to move the shoulder forward.

You can also find 7x30 waters brass around if you look, no fire forming necessary.  Sizing and fire forming is no big deal, just takes a step or two.

[THunter1]

Thanks for the info. The gun I bought is gently used. I came with a set of dies. All I need now is a press and a few other things and I will be in business. If I understand things correctly the brass tends to grow after being shot. I quess a trimming device is pretty improtant as well.

[Dezynco]

Certainly wouldn't hurt to get a trimmer.  My favorite is the Lee setup.  You purchase the pilot and shellholder as a set (around $6.00).  You'll need a pilot/shellholder set for each caliber that you want to trim.  The cutter and lock stud are sold as a set and work for nearly all calibers. Get the cutter with the wooden ball if you can find it!  If not, you can epoxy some sort of grip onto the cutter, a block of wood will do.

You just screw the shellholder onto the lock stud, then tighten the case into the shellholder.  You screw the trim pilot onto the cutter.  Use a cordless drill to spin the case against the trimmer/pilot until it stops cutting.  Deburr the mouth of the case and your done!

The pilot/shellholder sets come in the caliber that you need to trim (7x30, 30-30, 45-70, etc).  Don't forget the deburring tool.  The whole setup will cost you $20.00 or so!

[Dezynco]

You might want to check out the handloading forum a bit further down.  Lots of good information for you there.

[flipajig]

another thought is read the book THE ABC TO RELOADING. it has alot of great info in it.
some loading manuals for your data the lyman 49th or any manual Hornady,searra,speer, or the vol 1 and 2 for the TC contender one thing that alot of people do is use more than one manual to crossreference the data. The 7-30 is a great round I have one a Bullberry 15'' and when i do my part it is a great shooter. there is several powders that will work for the 7-30 im useing IMR-3031 and RL15 in mine
as for bullets ive found better accuracy out of a 140 grn nosler BT and the rem coreloc then a 120 grn hornady vmax or sp. Another thing is pratice pratice and do some more praticeing and when you think that your good enough pratice some more. shooting a pistol is alot different than shooting a rifle and when you put a scope on it that is a different world all together. It took me quite awhile to beable to shoot a good groop at 100yds. and what my gole was 1'' at 100 yds and cince then ive got 5 tgts at 1/2'' 3 and 5 shot groops
I have taken 2 deer with a pistol and what a rush one with a SPH in 44mag at about 18 yds and one at 40 with the 7-30 both were one shot kills.  and i will offer one more pice of advice if you can pick up a 22LR barrel it will give you alot of cheep trigger time and try to set it up like your 7-30 barrel. welcom to the world of pistol hunting and shooting have fun and if i can help you somemore let me know.
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