Reloading the 30 super carry

[cocojo]

I started reloading the 30 super carry and experimenting with different powders. Tried wsf, BE-86, long shot with berry’s 100 grain plated fmj. The super carry has been challenging. Got my 550b running but had to mix match and design some parts to work. Dillon does not make a conversion for this caliber. I have to say I do like this caliber quite a bit. Bought a s&w ez and then bought another ez. Shooter really should give the 30sc a try, this caliber is a great cartridge. I have to say without much reloading data, small pistol primers v small rifle primers, no brass available and bullets choices are limited it is challenging but fun trying.

[Unclenick]

At 52,000 psi max, I would expect standard small rifle primers to be a reasonable starting point.

[cocojo]

I have been using small pistol but I'm not looking to make hp’s for carry . Im using 100 grain berry’s bullets. I want 1200 ft per second for training and range. I reached that with a few powders. The only one i had low velocity with is cfe pistol but wsf, be-86 and long shot meets this velocity. Long shot is slow burning but wsf and be-86 work great. Thanks for responding, not many shooters are interested in the 30sc. I like the caliber a lot.

[Nathan]

Hodgdon says Federal 205 primers. For primers, likely any SR would be fine. They also recommend Longshot and others in that burn rate. CFEPISTOL might be good too since it is so available.

[Jim Watson]

They are not selling well, the guns can be bought cheap but ammo is expensive. I was not interested enough to tool up to load for it, boring old 9mm for me.

[cocojo]

I tried cfe pistol velocity was low. Im using berry’s bullets 100 grain for the super carry. Be-86 is giving me 1200 at five grains and thats with small pistol. Primers look fine. I also tried wsf at about 4.6 about the same speed. Im using small pistol without issue but im not loading full max either. If i do then small rifle with a harder primer will work better. At the price of the guns its a no brainer. New ammo i bought was $16.99 for 50 from sportsman's warehouse. Gun was only $265.00 thats a steal in my book. I always was a 9mm guy but its fun to experiment with other calibers.

[Shadow9mm]

It is fun to try stuff. But I don't buy guns I cant reload for, and I couldn't justify buying dies for a range toy that i might not be able to brass for in the future.

Really want to try BE-86 in 9mm and 45, but I refuse to buy more/new handgun powders until I use up what I have on hand, and that may take me a few years.

Personally I prefer to stay subsonic, load 124g 9mm currently, will be switching to 147 when I run out. I like my hearing and shooting subsonic helps me keep it. in the 30sc you need all the velocity you can get to make it a viable self defense loading.

Good luck, keep us updated, interesting stuff.

[cocojo]

I bought 8lbs of BE-86 at a super price I think it was Graf and son. Im switching over from cfe pistol because of cost. I will use cfe pistol loading my 40. I also like the way be-86 fills the case more than most. I understand most people don't want to jump on 30sc, but i have to say I do like it. I still like my 9mm’s but I own too many of them. The 30 sc is a nice change. I was shooting 9mm since the early 70’s, when everyone shot 45 and 1911’s. Then everyone thought the 9 was a whoosie caliber. I didn't care I carried my s&w 39 and 59’s.

[Unclenick]

In the 70's the 45 was better. It's HPs would penetrate about 30% further into ballistic gelatin than 9 mm back then, which, had they been shooting it, would have changed the outcome of the FBI Miami shootout, assuming same shot placement.

In the 1990s, the 40 became a popular compromise that would match 45 penetration closely, and give more magazine capacity and a bit less recoil and muzzle jump in some gun designs. Since then, bullet engineering has overcome the 9mm gelatin penetration disadvantage, and it's greater magazine capacity and even lower recoil won the LE crowd back.

All that said, if I had to choose between hitting a life-threatening human assailant once or twice in the same places with a 45 or a 9mm of the same bullet design, I'd still choose the 45 because its larger permanent wound channel would more quickly shut down the BG by blood loss and lung flooding if the heart or CNS hadn't been hit and the temporary cavity shock hadn't got his attention.

[cocojo]

I agree with you on the hp’s back in the 70’s. The department of justice at that time told LE that they should have explosive 8 inch penetration. Big mistake!!! If the 9mm was ball ammo in Jerry Doves gun he would have put a hole through his heart regardless if its a 45 or 9mm. We have come a long way since the 70’s in bullet technology. Penetration and shot placement with modern bullet technology is key. unclenick i met the surviving agents in that shootout in the early 90’s. One of the agents who had a 5 shot 38 stated that when he fired his gun empty he said it was like someone pulled a cork out of his foot and let his blood out.Lets say we learned a lot from this incident regarding tactics and bullet technology. I have found the 30sc expands well and penetrates deep 16 to 17 inches consistently. Just my 2 cents.

[armprairie]

I've taken the plunge, couldn't resist the bargains available on the 30 Super Carry EZ, so bought 500 cases from MidwayUSA and will be firing my first reloads today, a midrange load of Autocomp behind an 85 grain XTP. This does seem to be a perfectly balanced cartridge in design and performance.
I first reloaded the 32-20 in 1974 for a friend whose dad was issued a Colt revolver in that caliber during the Illinois mine wars. It was thought to be more powerful than 38 Special.
The 30 Super Carry beats the 32-20 in a handgun and the EZ will give me more rounds with less recoil than a 9mm and more penetration than the Glock 42 I shoot. With the arthritis getting worse, these are important factors.
At my age, I'm not too concerned how this cartridge will be doing in 15 years.

[cocojo]

Armprairie, berry’s is making a 100 grain for the super carry, I bought two thousand. I haven't tried auto comp. Cfe pistol didn't give me what I was looking for. WSF and BE-86 did. Longshot did also, but it is a bit slower burning. Im saving it for my 28 gauge reloads. I have 8 lbs of BE-86. I converted my 550b dillon with a 22 hornet base plate, which I had to modify and a powder funnel. The 32 acp powder funnel doesn’t work. I bought the 32 funnel for the wadcutter and ground it down to where it worked with hornady 100 to cannelure. Polished and bevelled and it looks like factory and works super. Don't know if dillon will make a conversion kit for the 30sc in the future. Im also older and the s&w ez and the 30sc is a lot better than the 380. I do still like my 9’s but I like the efficiency and design of the 30sc.

[armprairie]

Cocojo, I saw that Berry's offering of 100 grain FP bullets, and I'm going to have to jump on that tomorrow! My first results with the 85 gr. XTPs were not successful, slide would not function, but I was only using 4.4 grains. I'm pondering what to do next. I have a wide array of powders, but no BE-86, so I may do a little research to see what I have that is as close to that powder as possible. Also I will switch to the 100 grain XTP bullets.
This is one sweet little pistol, and I'm excited what adventures I'll have in working up loads for it. Thanks for your input!

[cocojo]

The Berry’s bullet looks exactly like factory. I have been setting them to 1.145 it seems to work for me. Factory is setting them at 1.155 or 1.150. Try different powders see what works for you. CFE Pistol and Auto Comp burn rate is close. Im having fun trying to build an accurate range load. I chrony everything!

[armprairie]

Nothing like spending your morning with an inertial bullet puller! I think I'm going to be less enthusiastic with my next experimental batch.
Looking at some of my possible powders, Accurate #5 is very close to BE-86 in burn rate. It is about the densest of the pistol powders in that range also, so plenty of room in the case. Loading data is available, so that will probably be one of my tries.

[Unclenick]

Note that Accurate #5 and HS-6 have been consolidated into one powder by Hodgdon, and are now interchangeable in the new lots.

[armprairie]

That is good information to know. Thanks!

[cocojo]

Good luck with that powder. The 30sc is all trial and testing to see what works and what doesn't. Just don't make too many at one time. Go slow and be patient. Let us know how it went. If you have a chrony use it to see where you are going. I found some powders jump up real fast to higher velocities with small increments, especially the faster ones.

[armprairie]

I should first of all mention that I am using small rifle primers. Don't know how much difference that makes yet.
I switched to the 100 grain XTP from the 85 grain. Powders tried were Accurate No. 5, Accurate No. 7, and CFE Pistol.
I like to use a load about in the middle of the range of recommended loads with any powder if I can get decent results.
Following that guide line, a midrange load was only giving an estimated 1050 ft./sec and would not cycle the slide all the way. I will try this powder later on 85 grain bullets, should be about perfect.
I then tried Accurate No.7 with a load at midrange, probably giving about 1175 ft./sec and the slide worked beautifully. I've got room to go higher (up to 1283 ft/sec) if I want, but we shall see if I really want to.
I then tried CFE pistol, and since Cocojo had warned about not enough oomph with this powder and Autocomp, I loaded it near the max. The slide worked beautifully.
Time to break out the chrony. I believe I am leaning towards Accurate No. 7 as my go to at this point.

[cocojo]

armprairie Accurate number 7 seems to be about right. A little slower burning powder and with the rifle primers should work great. My goal was 1200 velocity with 100 grain and small pistol primers. Some of the loading I tested were up in the mid 1300's. I am looking for a good accurate range load at about 1200, that won't beat my gun up when I want to shoot. What I found was that the 30 sc can really be pushed to much higher velocities with slower powders. Long Shot, Acc#7. I think a lot of shooters have underestimated this round and where it can go with ease. When you're working with a cartridge that is designed for 52,000 pressures it is giving a Shooter/Reloaded great loading ranges.

[cocojo]

Something that I have not seen is primer differences. I have seen slight variations between brands as one being just a little spicier than the next. Im not talking magnum primers here. I have been using Aquila small pistol primers for my 30 sc reloads. Same load charge then switched to winchester small rifle. I chronied both no difference they are both same variation. I believe the factories use small rifle primer is because the cups are a bit heavier. Checking both primers they look the same after shooting. Like I stated earlier on the 30sc this is a whole new testing ground. I did find cci small pistol primers a wee bit less spicy than Aquila. Just my observation.

[armprairie]

Looking at the box label, the 100 grain XTP bullets are rated up to 1500 feet per second. Hodgdon's reloading data shows some powders are rated up into the 13-1400 fps range, as Cocojo said.
I think Cocojo's preference to keep velocity down around the 1200-1250 range is more than adequate though. That is about the velocity the ammunition manufacturers use and the performance is all I could ever hope for.
At this point I'm waiting for the Berry's flat point bullets to arrive, as it will cut my bullet cost about in half. I hate to use XTP bullets just to punch through paper into berms.
In the meantime I will get a good supply of cases prepped and primed. The most difficult task I have is getting the cases primed. Lee recommends a #7 shellholder for their hand priming tool, but that is the shellholder for 32 auto, which we all know is a semi-rimmed case. The 30 super carry is not, which results in the case wanting to slip out as the priming operation is being performed.
The Lee die set came with a shellholder made expressly for 30 super carry, but of course that will not fit into the Hand Priming tool.
Have others run into this problem, and, if so, how did you solve it?

[cocojo]

Shell holder for 22 hornet might work. Im using a 22 hornet shell plate for my 550b. Berry’s bullets are rated for 1350. Their plating is .012 which is pretty decent. Im going to continue with small pistol primers. I got no different with my hand load at 1200. Both small pistol and small rifle gave same velocities.

[armprairie]

I believe I have solved the shellholder problem with the Lee Hand Priming Tool.
As it was, the case could tilt about 25 degrees sitting in the shellholder. Primers would be fully seated on one side and still several thousandths high on the other, and the case would simply pop out of the shellholder often.
I ground a chamfer or bevel on the end of a round punch, purposely mismatching the angle on the top of the slot in the shellholder.
Then I set the shellholder on the flat anvil of a vise, and using a ball pein hammer I used the punch to reduce the rim thickness slot by several thousandths. It was excessively wide prior to this.
This also had the desired effect of narrowing the area the case has to slide into.
Now the case can tilt much less and priming seems much more positive.

[armprairie]

I agree on the pistol primers, especially after your tests. At 1200 fps we are probably under 40,000 psi and they will take that.