Author Topic: What Am I Doing Wrong Here? (Read 349 times)

papajohn428 · « **on:** November 08, 2005, 11:46:05 AM »

Hey Loaders, got a strange one here. I've been reloading for 20+ years, mostly pistol, but also rifle loads for the 7.7 Jap, thousands of .223's, 7X57, etc. But I recently started loading for the 30-30, and it's giving me fits. I'm using a Lee Collet Die, plus the standard seater/crimping die, also by Lee. The problem is, when I'm seating bullets, in this case the Hornady 170 FP, they have to be pushed into the neck carefully to start them, but as they begin to slide into the neck, there is too little tension, and they just fall into the case. The mandrel inside the die mikes out at .3065", and there's good neck tension to start with, so what's the problem? Should I screw the die in farther, or is there a better fix? I could probably figure this out by trial and error, but I'm frustrated and don't feel like screwing around, I need to get this ammo loaded and tested, winter is coming fast!

Papajohn

Iowegan · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2005, 12:11:11 PM »

30-30s can be the most frustrating rifle round to load. They have thin brass in the necks and don't hold tension well. They also like to collapse at the shoulder if neck tension is too much. Seems to be a delicate balance. Annealing the cases helps a lot. The softer neck will expand enough to allow a bullet to seat and will spring back to hold the bullet. You can try turning your expander ball down a thousandth too.

papajohn428 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2005, 12:34:40 PM »

I thought of a way to cheat, simply by crimping the lower end of the case neck with a pair of pliers just enough to keep the bullet from slipping past that point. It might ruin the concentricity of the neck, but once the bullet is seated, it should fill it back out evenly. Seems unnecessary though, but it might work as a stopgap measure until I can think of something better!

Papajohn

BruceP · « **Reply #3 on:** November 08, 2005, 03:22:14 PM »

While I have the Lee Collet Dies for my .22 Hornet I have not loaded a lot with them yet. I think if you screw the die in a little it will let the collet size the case neck down more. It looks like the mandrel is not oversized so I would think it is just not set to size enough.
BruceP