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forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano? (no, false alarm)

Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:30 am
by TRX
Every place I've contacted so far hasn't actually had any .30 Remington brass in stock, despite what their web site says.

So, looking through my "Cartridges of the World" book, I see the 7.35 Carcano is very close to the Remington; same case head size, .020" shorter overall. Theoretically, one might run a Carcano case into the Remington die, expand the mouth from .300" to .308", and fireform.

I'm assuming someone else has already tried this. Any speed bumps to watch out for?

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2013 7:24 am
by Sarge756
Welcome to the forum. If your measurements are true then you may have something here. 7.35 Carcano is not all that plentiful but do see it listed from time to time.Current listing on GB for 100 Norma boxer primed http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIt ... =362920548 appears to be at or above 30 Rem brass in price. Only thing I can think of is don`t buy any military stuff as it is Berdan primed and not suitable for reloading. Only experience I have with Carcano brass was with a friend that formed 6.5 Carcano for his Mannlicher Schoenauer. If you give it a try would like to hear the results. You just may start a run on the Carcano brass that is out there. Should I come across any more 30 Rem brass I`ll let you know.
Joe

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 9:10 am
by imfuncity
You seem to have the wherewithal to make things happen... you might look at 30-30 brass. Not that I'm a reloader (Shhhhh, Joe.) but a lot of folks have found them readily available and fairly easy to convert to 25Rem, 30Rem or 32Rem.

For what it's worth, couple times a year I do see old correct headstamped 30Rem (and 32Rem) but they are rare. I do follow the classifieds on several forums and my wife says, I don't not have a life! (Virtual-life ain't no life? :shock: )

Oh, by the way, welcome to the 8/81 craziness.

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:03 pm
by TRX
Thanks guys. I just got off the phone with the last potential source a few moments ago. As far as I can tell there's no new .30 Remington brass to be had in the USA.

Someone here is probably hoarding... <grin>

I'm going to double-check the Carcano dimensions from printed sources, since I don't have any on hand to measure. If it looks close enough I'll try it.

I've read the thread about modifying .30-30 Winchester, and if it comes down to it I can do it. I used to turn the rims off .38 Special and made a form tool to cut extractor grooves, to make 9mm Largo. The form tool is still in the lathe toolbox, last I looked. If the Carcano brass doesn't work out, I guess I'll have to do it.

My new "Cartridges of the World" (and how did I get along without that book all these years?) shows a lot of cartridges with the same base diameter as the .30, but they're either rimmed or too short to use for .30 Remington.

And a pox on whatever publicist named the ".30 Remington AR"! It pollutes the search results, and many sites just call it ".30 Remington" when listing die sets.

Dies also appear to be out of stock in most places. Interestingly, price seems to have jumped about 30% since early this year. A few sites still show them at $43 and "out of stock"; in-stock seem to be $63 to $75.

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:35 pm
by TRX
Hmm... Apparently I transposed "base" and "shoulder" diameters on the Carcano. The Carcano is too fat, too. Rats.

Looks like I'll have to order some .30-30 brass...

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:20 pm
by Sarge756
You seem to have some experience with this and am sorry the Carcano idea is nixed. The 30 Rem brass does show up from time to time and like Mitch (Imfuncity) the RELUCTANT RELOADER, I keep an eye out on several forums for it to be listed. I was in search of 351 WSL ammo or brass this past weekend and posted a WTB and viola' a fella in Mo. came up with two boxes for me. Also scored a ten round mag for the 1907 Winny from same want ad. I`m gonna put one out there for 30 Rem brass or ammo and see what happens.I need a little more to convert to 32 Rem for a Model 8 I just acquired. If I get a lead on extra brass or ammo I will PM you and give you the contact info. 30-30 brass is pretty easy to come by. If you can`t find it reasonable let me know and I can get you started with 50-75 once fired. Can`t remember if they are deprimed and cleaned but think they are. As far as dies for the 30 Rem I use 30-30 dies and they work just fine.
Joe

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:13 am
by TRX
Thanks, Sarge!

Jamison's web site claims .25 and .32 brass is in stock. They want a pretty penny for it, though.

I found some once-fired .30-30 online at a decent price; I think I'll just order some. If I don't use them, I have friends who can.

Does anyone have a dimensioned case or chamber drawing for the .30 Remington? For some reason I'm coming up with zip on web searches.

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:54 am
by sighthound
This seems odd but I have an older Lyman reloading handbook #42, copyright1960 that pictures both 30-30 WCF and 30 Rem together with same data and measurements for both. However we all know 30-30 is a rimed case and 30 Rem is not.Looking at side by side pictures of both it appears the shoulder of 30 Remington is longer and sharper angle than 30-30 which is shorter and more tarpered. If these cases are indeed so similar it seems one could turn rim to case size and cut extractor groove, fire form and be in business. Although I have reloaded for both 30-30 and 30 Rem it was in the good old days and cases were available. Am sure many know all this but thought would add my 2 cents worth. I have a few 30 Rem cases and would be happy to send one to use for pattern to anyone. Jerry

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:53 pm
by TRX
I have some Cerrosafe to check the chamber shape with. I'll have to check the disassembly instructions, though.

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:50 pm
by Sarge756
Jerry,
Our friend Dwalt, covered converting 30-30 brass about 3 years ago here;

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1229

TRX,
This thread also has the drawings of the 30 Rem case you are looking for.
Joe

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 4:30 am
by TRX
Thanks!

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:12 am
by sighthound
Thanks Sarge your post says it all, I recall seeing that now but with lapsed 3 years and CRS it was not readily available. Jerry

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 2:30 pm
by DWalt
Back at the time I wrote that post, I made up about 20 .30 Rem cases from .30-30 brass, more as a determination of feasibility than anything else. Those cases worked fine and still do. In fact, last weekend I fired several of them, as they are mixed in with all my other brass. Since that time I have come into enough original factory brass that I didn't need to make up any more. However, if the scarcity of .30 Rem brass is as severe as described, then modifying .30-30 brass may become the only viable solution to securing a supply. The good news is I don't think .30-30 brass will ever become obsolete.

I still use .30-30 reloading dies to load .30 Rem cases with no problems, essentially by neck sizing fired cases. Just leave a little daylight between the shell holder and the base of the resizing die to preserve the proper case shoulder angle. Cases so reloaded function fine in both my Model 81 and Model 8 rifles interchangeably.

Re: forming .30 Rem from 7.35 Carcano?

Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 10:30 am
by TRX
I tried ordering some new .30-30 brass. All the Usual Sources (Grafs, Midway, Mid South, etc.) were either showing out of stock on the display page or said so when I tried to place the order. So I decided some once-fired brass would work... seems a whole lot of people think range pick-up brass is worth 1.5x the brice of new brass now. And I won't even talk about postage...

The best deal I could find, that actually had brass in stock, to my door, came out at 79 cents per case; same as I paid for .50 Beowulf not long ago...

I found the lathe bit with the extractor groove profile; somehow it has resided in the toolbox without being "repurposed" since the mid-1980s. But the lathe itself isn't accessible at the moment; the transmission to my wife's car is spread out over a door across some sawhorses, right in the way.

I found the bullet mould I bought for my P-17 Enfield, which is the only ".30 caliber" rifle I own that's not actually .312" instead of .308. I've been telling people the Enfield is chambered in an exotic wildcat called ".30 Whelen."