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Old June 8, 2007, 04:40 PM   #1
John10
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30Cal Herrett from 30-30 cartridge. How ??

Still gathering info on the .30Cal Herrett before I dive into it, etc… Having never cut down or reformed a factory shouldered cartridge I am open to suggestions, including suggestions on which ‘reloading handbook’ to order, since it is obvious I will need a new one… What devise or method is used to accurately cut the 30-30 case down ? And, what is used to reform and reposition the necessary lower shoulder of the 30Cal Herrett cartridge. I have acquired a set (?) of Thompson/Center .30Cal Herrett durachrome dies (no.751) apparently made by Pacific …but no instructions !! The set consists of … 30Cal Herrett “FL Sizer F,” die with decaping device, which must also resize the inside neck as it is withdrawn (?) and a “Seater F,” die. I can’t imagine that either die by itself will actually reform the 30-30 brass to include the new shoulder without distorting or damaging the brass.. to say noting of possibly breaking the loading press. I have attempted to check various forums and web sites but have come up short. Any information and suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks, John
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Old June 8, 2007, 05:31 PM   #2
Scorch
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Having done a bunch of Herrett cases, both 357 and 30 herrett, I can tell you how easy it is. You buy form/trim dies (mine were from RCBS, but others make them as well) and loading dies. For 30 Herrett, you just run the 30-30 cae into the form/trim die. The die has a VERY hard body. It forms the case and shoulder, and the excess length sticks out the top of the die. Cut it off with a hacksaw, then file flush. Remove the case, chamfer and deburr. Done!

For 357 Herrett, do as above, but start with 38-55 cases. If you use 30-30 cases, you will split the necks on about 10-15% of the cases.

Reloading is just like any other case. Resize, prime, charge, seat to length. Be careful during reloading to neck size only, do not move the shoulder back, or your cases will only last a few loadings.
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Old June 8, 2007, 06:39 PM   #3
cheygriz
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Scorch,

Do you anneal when forming? I always do when forming shorter cases, and so far, I've had pretty good luck. Never tried .30 Herret though.

Also, just from looking at case dimentions, wouldn't .30-30 brass work well if you "fireformed" the cases after forming in the form/trim die?? Just curious.
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Old June 9, 2007, 12:47 AM   #4
Scorch
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cheygriz-
I never got into annealing. Did it one time, didn't notice a lot of difference, so I never tried it again. And yes, you have to fireform the cases, but fireform it with full loads, not reduced loads. I learned to always use new brass, otherwise you only get one reload out of the brass.

When forming 30 Herrett, you just lube up the cases and run them into the die. 30 Herrett is 1.6" long, 30-30 is 2.04", so you have to actually cut off the excess. Either Herrett (30 or 357) case is easier to make from 38-55, because it's a pretty straight case, and the 30-30 has a lot of taper. That taper causes the shoulder to not form properly, so it must be blown out. If you have to blow it out too much, you can get pinholes in the shoulder area. Now that I think of it, annealing might have made that easier.
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Old June 9, 2007, 05:22 PM   #5
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Thanks for the reply. Like I said, I've never done .30 Herrett, but .30-30 brass is so much more plentiful, especially if you have two .30-30s like I do, that I would think annealing might be something to try.

But I completely agree that .38-55 brass should be a whole bunch easier.

I've formed hundreds of military surplus .30-06 into 7.65X53 Argentine. Not hard to do, but if you don't anneal, they're good for one or two reloads only, and then the neck/shoulder area splits.

I use the "dip 'em in a pot of molten lead" method for these, and anneal twice. If I do it right, I can get 5-7 loads out of a case.
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