Blown primers on .30 Carbine reloads

[Clyde]

I recently reloaded a few .30 carbine rounds only to have the primers blown out of the case on 4 out of 5 of them. I reloaded these with 11.9 grains of Accurate Reloader no. 9, CCI no. 41 primers and 110 grain RN Berry's preferred plated bullets. According to my Lymans manual this should have been well below the maximum pressure for this cartridge. The brass was CBC from once fired Magtech rounds. The rifle was an NPM recently purchased from the CMP, so the headspacing shouldn't have been an issue. I am looking for ideas on how to correct this problem so I can get back to shooting this beauty. Let me know what you think!

[1911rocks]

The 30 cal Carbine is a bit of a go/no go thing. The small volumeis just a bit tricky. I use, 14.7gr IMR-4227 and a 110grSP. The Carbine is an absolute joy to shoot and handy as a pocket. I use to own a farm and my little 30 Carbine went everywhere with me. More than a 22lr, less than a 223. Light, handy, rugged.
But back to the OP, I use to use Alliant 2400 at 12gr. I tried 14gr of Win. 296. But, I seemed to keep going back to 4227. The frustrating part of the 30Carbine is bullet choice.

[firewrench044]

try a slower powder

my carbines operate best with
13.7gr to 14.0gr of Win296 or H110
with 110gr FMJ

have been useing stanard primers
one of my carbines does not fire magnum
primers ( CCI # 41 is a magnum primer )

never could get the plated bullets to
operate the action correctly and have good
accuracy

[Sevens]

I've never loaded the Berry's plated bullet for a carbine -- all my .30 Carb loads launch from a 7.5-inch barreled Ruger Blackhawk. My go-to load is 12.5gr of Alliant 2400 and the Berry's 110gr plated bullet with small rifle non-mag primers. I'm currently using 20+ year old Federal primers.

Brass trim length is critical.

try a slower powder

Accurate #9 and W296/H110 are quite similar in burning rate.
The 2400 that I use burns a little quicker.

[Clyde]

I didnt think that CCI 41's were magnum primer. They are supposed to be the mil-spec primers with harder cups, thats what the box says anyhoo. I'll look into that one further. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Clark500]

never could get the plated bullets to
operate the action correctly and have good
accuracy

How did the plated bullets impede the function of your rifle? Were you not able to load them hot enough? Did they not chamber correctly? I am asking because I just orderd some Berry's carbine bullets. Now you've got me worried!

[Smokey Joe]

Clyde--The CMP has quite a bit on the care and feeding of the .30 M1 Carbine, on their website. One section is on reloading. Suggest you go there and download that info.

FWIW, IIRC, they want Win 296 to duplicate the original load for the Carbine. It works fine in mine.

[Clark500]

Clyde,

I reloaded these with 11.9 grains of Accurate Reloader no. 9

According to my Lymans manual this should have been well below the maximum pressure

I don't have a Lyman's, but Hornady's 7th lists 12.1 grains of AA #9 as the max load with a 110 grain Hornady bullet. 11.9 grains would put you very close to max in the Hornady manual. Could there be that much difference between manuals?

[dewcrew8]

mine loves the 2400 powder ,just loaded around 3,000 rds with berrys ,speer and it works the action with no problems. the loads are in the middle range. the only thing that is different is the brass. I use good old gi brass that my dad got when he was a range master.

[ScottRiqui]

I didnt think that CCI 41's were magnum primer. They are supposed to be the mil-spec primers with harder cups, thats what the box says anyhoo. I'll look into that one further. Thanks for the suggestions!

They do have the harder cups, but CCI's datasheet also says that the #41 primers have "magnum primer compound". I don't know if that means that they have the same energy as their small rifle magnum primers, but I think they have more energy than the CCI regular small rifle primers.

Did your brass require decrimping? I've had primers pop out of my .223 brass when I swaged the primer pocket a little too much.

[firewrench044]

CLARK--
when working up loads for accuracy, the plated bullets
were accurate with a powder charge below the level needed to
operate the action correctly, when the amount of powder was
inceased to the point that the action operated correctly they were not accurate

Berrys was one of the plated bullets that I tested

they cambered fine in both carbines
Winchester-- original barrel
Inland-- new barrel & bolt

tested at 50, 100, and 200 yards

[w748]

Make sure you check case leangth after sizeing. Mine seem to need triming after every use , CMP also recomends trim after every resize. CCI .mil spec primers are mag primers. Std primers are all you need and you'll get lower extreem spreads too.
Never used plated bullets , what dia. are they?

[Clyde]

Clark 500

Quote:

I don't have a Lyman's, but Hornady's 7th lists 12.1 grains of AA #9 as the max load with a 110 grain Hornady bullet. 11.9 grains would put you very close to max in the Hornady manual. Could there be that much difference between manuals?

I dont have a Hornady manual, but I'll bet the differences lie in the OAL that the manual suggests you load it to. Lyman's 49th lists starting loads with AA#9 at 11.7 and max loads at 13.0 for 110gr. RN's. They also suggest an OAL of 1.680", while some other manuals suggest a shorter OAL.

[Clyde]

ScottRiqui,

They do have the harder cups, but CCI's datasheet also says that the #41 primers have "magnum primer compound". I don't know if that means that they have the same energy as their small rifle magnum primers, but I think they have more energy than the CCI regular small rifle primers.

Did your brass require decrimping? I've had primers pop out of my .223 brass when I swaged the primer pocket a little too much.

Yeap good heads up on the magnum primer mix. I read that earlier today! My brass is commercial, made by CBC, so no crimping was present. I do think the primer pockets may have been a little oversized though.

[HiBC]

How did the primer feel seating?I am going to suggest that if your primer seated with reasonable tension,you fired your loads.and your primers fall out,it is time to step back ,and please don't shoot any more till you figure things out.
If you are indeed loosening the primer pockets,it is a very reliable sign of high pressure for even the strongest of bolt guns safe at over 60,000 psi.

Your carbine is not as strong as a bolt gun.It works at 40,000 cup.

I do not have a Lyman book.Are they specifying a Berry's plated bullet?

If so,do they specify a dia?I think some of these get plated up to .311 for 7.62x 39.
My preference would be a jacketed bullet.You wil lapproach 2000 fps in a carbine.Don't forget you have a gas port.
I used to have fun with .308 dia 93 gr .30 Luger bullets.Normas.Zippy,and they opened up!!
One other caution,if you are getting any gas leakage past the primer,it will soon cut a ring in your bolt face..I hate it when that happens!!

[Clark500]

Firewrench044,

Thanks for the clarification. I am loading the plated bullets for “popcan” ammo, so pinpoint accuracy is not an issue for me. I should be fine as long as they were not wildly inaccurate at 100 yards.

Clyde,

Hornady also calls for an OAL of 1.68 as well. The starting load for AA #9 in my manual is 10.7 grains. I would start there and see what happens.

[Clyde]

Clark 500,

Wow! Thats a full grain difference between min loads! What pimers does Hornady suggest then?

HiBC,
I had a buddy measure the primer pockets on some unfired CBC brass and it was out of tolerance. Too big.
They dont have a specified load for plated bullets, so our intent was to use a midrange load for them (keeping them under 1950 FPS). They measured at .308 pretty reliably.

[Clark500]

Clyde,

Hornady calls for WSR.