[Sevens]

Let's talk a bit about reloading the .30 Carbine. Most folks who go through the bother are loading for milsurp carbines, especially with the recent popularity of the DCM program and all the carbines that folks are getting a hold of.

I'm not loading for a carbine, but rather for a Ruger Blackhawk.

But that shouldn't make a big difference-- I'd like to talk about both powders and bullets for this caliber and I'd LOVE to hear anyone's/everyone's input.

The common bullets are the 100 grain Plinker and Short Jacket rounds, and then the 110 grain FMJ and SP's.

Common powders are IMR-4227, H110, 2400 and AA#9. At my bench, I have had great luck with 8.0 grains of Blue Dot pushing either 100 or 110 grain pills. I've also done quite well with IMR-4227 at 13.0-14.0 grain charges.

Here's what I'd like some input and ideas on:

1) Other powders. I get good groups with a decent blast and no trouble with sticky brass when I use Blue Dot. So, I'd like to try some AA#7 which also works well in other calibers that work well with Blue Dot. I'd also be interested in trying some light charges of Titegroup. Power Pistol? I've never seen any data ANYWHERE to support these powders. Other powders? I've seen data for H4198, but with 14-grain charges, that doesn't interest me a whole lot.

2) Sources for bullets. Where do you guys buy these pills in bulk? I'm seeing them for $13-$20 per hundred, and that's too expensive for my tastes. I'm not shooting matches with this stuff, so I'd be thrilled to find some pulldowns from old milsurp. Anyone have some sources?

3) Cast bullets-- anyone go this route in .30 Carbine? I know you can find info on casting these on the cast boolit sites, but I'm not interested in casting just yet. What I'd like is a source for cast bullets in this caliber, and they'd likely need to be good and hard to be driven at the speeds the .30 Carbine toys with, 1500+ fps. Penn Bullets list them as a product, but he's got all the non-standard stuff listed as UNAVAILABLE as he's struggling to fill overdue orders. Who else offers hard cast .30 Carb pills from 100 to 120 grains, and does anyone handload 'em?

I've run the searches on this forum, I've seen the canned data from some of the popular handload sites. That's fine, but I'd like to hear what real folks are rolling at their bench.

So let's talk some .30 Carb!