Loading lead bullets in 30-30 ????

hopefully the 308 m-die will work on the 30-30 either way I load a lot of 308 so it wil be used regardless .
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Just to be clear, the LYMAN M Die I am talking about is a "universal" die body. It never touches the case, all it does is hold the expander plug assy.

And that's where it gets specific, by caliber. Not cartridge. What you need is "any" M die body, and the .30 caliber expander assy for .30-30, or any other .30 caliber cartridge.

The M die is the middle die in Lyman's 3 die pistol sets, and if new is out of stock, a die body can often be obtained by buying an old Lyman 3 die set. Even a trashed/rusted "Unusable" die set will usually provide a serviceable M die body. (for cheap).

The key is getting the proper LYMAN expander assy. IF those are out of stock, then you're out of luck short of the classified among reloaders to find someone who has one and will part with it. Alternately, you might be able to get a larger expander and have it turned down to the diameter you need for .30.

Good Luck!
 
"I went ahead and bought them both . I like the idea of having a universal expander on hand and hopefully the 308 m-die will work on the 30-30 either way I load a lot of 308 so it wil be used regardless ."

I have the Lyman M die for .30 caliber. I use it for .30-30, .308 Win. and 30-06. You just have to readjust the tool for the cartridge. :D:cool:
Paul B.
 
Oh good , so now I’ll have an “M-die” and all I need to use it on all other cartridges are the proper inserts ?
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Yep. I have "M" dies that came with my Lyman 38/357 dies. 44spl/Mag dies, & .45acp dies (from the 70s) from both standard and carbide sets, the M die bodies are all the same. The only difference is the different size expanders in them. You can use the same die body for any cartridge with the right size expander assy. All you need to do is adjust for case length and amount of size/flare you want to do.

Do trim your brass to a uniform length, THEN adjust expander depth, to set the flare.
 
mehavey said:
Uncle Nick, that was the version I actually got from this board (some years ago now)
Is there a sticky w/ a new version ?
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Yes, it has changed a bit over time to cover more bases. It used to be directed only at hot loads but now is for all un-published load sources. It is in a sticky at the top of this forum. The sticky post includes the tags to make it appear in bold, so you just copy the whole thing, tags and all, and past that into your post.
 
Having used cast lead bullets in both the .30-30 and the .32 Winchester Special (M94's) and taking at least one deer with the .32, the appear to be naturals for cast lead bullets and in the "old days" (sixties or so), gun writers would often opine that there was little to be gained by using jacketed bullets in those two.
 
lol Amazon

So I got my Lee universal expanding die , um no wait :confused: correction I got an empty black Lee die case haha . As soon as I picked up the delivered package off my step , it was so light I knew there was not a die in there .

k9Mqxo.jpg
 
a) die was stolen unlikely, but not impossible
b) shipping dept screwed up and shipped an empty die box more likely than stolen,
c) mistake in ordering, either you placing the order or the clerk filling the order, either way, their paperwork will say "ordered die box". very possible.

What were you CHARGED for???
If they only charged you for the die box, the order was screwed up.
if you paid for die (and the box it comes in) and didn't get the die, you got ripped off.

What does the paperwork say they shipped???
 
No it was supposed to be the die . The die holder had the universal expander die paperwork clamped inside . Amazon has made a few big shiiping mistakes lately . A delivery was confirmed last week and I did get a package addressed to me but it was not what I ordered , not even remotely close to what I ordered . Item delivered had a worth much greater then the item that was supposed to be delivered. For a second I thought about just keeping it but returned it in the end .
 
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Metal god, you could try 9.0gr Unique with that bullet. Straight out of the Lyman #4 cast bullet loading manual. Works very well in my Mod 94 Win/20" barrel. Std LRP.
 
Yeah , I'll likely try a couple pistol powders . I finally have all the dies I need and likely will reload this cartridge on my Lee CTP . I already have all my 30-30 brass FL sized and trimmed so my thinking is setting it up like this on the 4 hole tool head .
1) powder drop
2) M-die
3) seat bullet
4) crimp with FCD ( collet style )

I figure powder drop first so the M-die in the second station can clean up any neck issues the powder through die causes . I've loaded some 223 on the CTP and the rifle powder through die can ding up the neck a little sometimes . IDK I'll have to test all this out , 99% of the time I load rifle cartridge's on a single stage so loading rifle cartridge's on the CTP although not new to me , it's not something I have a lot of experience with .
 
I don't think Lee specifies what any of there FCD's are . I do know there FCD's are what they are supposed to be for the cartridge . Meaning if the cartridge you are loading requires a roll crimp . The Lee FCD in that cartridge is a roll crimp die same with taper etc.

This is a pic of the three different ( collet , taper , roll ) Lee FCD inserts or die it self , sorry I forget for which cartridge each is for but these are all from Lee FCD's . I took and posted this pic several years ago in a thread talking about this same general subject
hkDsW6.jpg


From left to right 223 , 308 , 30-30 FCD's

zHrmFf.jpg

61jFuj.jpg
 
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Interesting distinction that the difference is the carbide ring which to me seems to be a bad way of describing the difference . To me adding the carbide into the title does not in any way describe the actual difference in the crimps ( lame ) So I should have said the carbide FCD's are the proper crimp for the cartridge and can be either taper or roll crimps depending on the intended cartridge ?
 
Strongly recommend you not use any crimp that even hints at swaging the neck.
Rather I suggest (strongly of course) that instead you utilize standard roll crimp w/ the 30WCF
 
I crimp my .30-30 ammo (all loads) with the Lyman seater die from the Lyman .30-30 die set that I have been using since 1972. Works just fine for me.

I don't see why one needs to make it difficult...
 
I don't see why one needs to make it difficult...
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Not sure what you mean by difficult ? I've only been reloading about 10 years or so and never have I used my seating die to crimp any bullet . Maybe what I need to do is make it easier haha , seeing how I've always did it the more difficult way lol . If you ask me ? ... the "more difficult" aspect to this cartridge and bullet is the addition of the M-die . I've never needed one before but I've been brow beaten :D so darn much on this "M-DIE" being our lord and savior , I figured might as well get one and try it out before I'm banished to eternal damnation . Oh man I'm really cracking my self up now :p

If referring to me sizing all the cases first ? That's just something I do with all my rifle cartridges . I literally have thousands of cases FL sized in multiple calibers ( many already primed as well ) just sitting around ready to load . This means I had already prepped out several hundred 30-30 cases going on a couple years ago now well before I got these new lead bullets . So really I'm just filling all 4 stations in the tool head since I don't need the sizing die in there . Thinking If I have to pull the handle to advance the head anyways , It might as well be doing something while I do so .

Strongly recommend you not use any crimp that even hints at swaging the neck.
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No worries , The rifle FCD - DO NOT have the swaging ring like the ones do for pistol calibers . They are a straight forward collet style crimp die with NO swaging whats so ever :) FWIW I do know why you say that . It's because If the neck were to be swaged with a lead bullet seated the brass can spring back while leaving the lead swaged down resulting in less bullet hold ???
 
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...were to be swaged with a lead bullet seated the brass can spring back
while leaving the lead swaged down resulting in less bullet hold ???
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Brass won't spring back, so much as the bullet will be swaged down past your intended diameter (groove + 0.001/2)

If whatever you use avoids that neck swage, go ahead w/ what you have best calibrated.

.
 
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