7-30 waters ??Improved??

[Varminter]

Like the title says is there anyway i can do this? Could i take 30-30 AI brass and neck it down to 7mm? Got an idea cookin in my head and i wanna know if its possible.

[Reed1911]

I think this has been done, but I cannot remember the name that it was given. I think the eaisest thing to do will be to have the die made and just use .375 Win brass to form it. We use the .375 brass to make 7-30 Waters rather than fireforming the .30-30. IT takes less time, less cost and you en up with thicker necks that don't crush in loading. Dependin on what you want to do with it, I think you could fully blow out the body, run the shoulder at about 35deg, and shorten up the neck. It would certainly be a good project. I'll dig through my stuff and see if I cannot find the name.

[Varminter]

Thanks for the help. I have a handi rifle barrel that won't shoot worth a **** so this might be a good project for it.

[Reed1911]

What is the deal with your NEF? I take it it's chambered in 7-30W?
What is it doing and what all have you tried ammunition wise? Scoped?

[Varminter]

No actually it's a 223. And iahave no clue as of yet what has happened to it.
I don't really feel like typing the whole thing out again but if you want to check it out here ya go

http://www.graybeardoutdoors.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=65494

[Gavinator]

Bullberry or Gary Reeder, pick your flavor.

[Reed1911]

Okay, I read through your posts, what was ever the determination of the scope? From all the events given, I would think it might be the culprit. Also I would go ahead and try a few different loads in .223 to see if they will shoot any better.
 You are planning to start with a new 7mm barrel right? (for the project)
As for the 7-30I, as Gavinator said, Bullberry and Gary Reeder both have them available and would be great to help on a project like this.

[Varminter]

No, i was just gonna use the 223 as a donar barrel. There is a gunsmith in Oregon that does great work. The only drawback is that the barrel work is gonna cost more than the gun did. As for the scope i haven't had a chnace to experiment with it yet. So if the scope isn't the problem it's goin for a trip. :grin:

[Prince of Wales]

I can remember reading in Reloader when Ken Waters addressed the issue of improving the 7/30. He stated that anyone would be very hard pressed to squeeze as much as 5% from his cartrige. The guy certainly knew his stuff (especially that one).
 I think if you really wanted to use an Improved cartrige that gives big returns you would do well to look into the 25/35 AI. Of all the AI wildcats the 25/35 AI gives the greatest improvement (24.8%). Some give as little as 8% and average seems to be about 16-17%.
 Or if you didn`t want to mess with wildcats and having to handload formed brass just chamber for 7mm/08. It has everything you could want from a 7/30 Waters and much more. Cheers. POW

[riddleofsteel]

IMHO the main thing you can do to improve the 7-30 Waters is to take some of the taper out of the case and end up with thicker necks and shoulders as Reed1911 recommended. When I was loading for the 7-30 in two Contender pistols and a Contender carbine I had to constantly trim the cases. Under near full power loads they grew like weeds. Soon a wise man gets paranoid that the brass is getting thinner with each trimming. I cut a couple of older shells in two with a band saw and promptly threw away a large bag of old shells. Later I imposed a limit on the number of times I trimmed shells before discarding.
Except for the rimmed feature of this 30-30 based cartridge and the fact it is operating at 30-30 pressures I see no real value in it. Most modern firearms will take the 7-08 or 7mm Mauser just as easy and you get better performance and longer brass life. The 7-30 was originally designed to give new life to old lever guns made to operate at 30-30 pressures and it does that VERY well. Beyond that it just a relic.

IMHO YMMV