Can 303 Br be formed into

victorj19

March 31, 2013 16:06

30/40. A friend wants me to load up some 30/40. He has to buy the brass but is balking at the price and doesn't see it come up for auction.

I did a little research and found that RCBS sells, or used to sell, a form die to turn 303 Br into 30/40. I don't recall seing this form die over on the auction side in the past 2 or 3 years.

Would a standard 30/40 die work? Would the brass also need to be fire formed after running it through the die? Any neck turning or inside reaming needed?

Thanks,

Jim

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  charliemeyer007

  March 31, 2013 18:34

  I think the 30-40 can be made into 303. The 303 is a shorter case.
  
  Considering how hard it is to find ammo and or components these days I would let them look elsewhere rather than fool with cheapskate. My time is worth may more than that to me.

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  rhope

  April 01, 2013 05:29

  Have you tried Buffalo Arms Co. ?
  
  I have their catalog (from a few years ago) and they list 30-40 Krag brass at $28/100. Doesn't seem too unreasonable to me. Of course the price may have gone up some by now.
  
  Their website is www.buffaloarms.com.
  
  
  I also think you would probably be OK using reformed 303 British cases. The 303 cases are only slightly more than .1" shorter than 30/40. Since the 30/40 has a relatively long neck I don't think this would be a serious problem.
  
  I have a 40 2 ? " Remington. Eventually I got some 40/70 Sharps Straight cases which just needed a little trimming to make good 40 2 ? " cases. But what I used before that were, coincidentally, 30/40 Krag cases. At that time factory 30/40 Krag ammo was still available. I simply bought loaded 30/40 and fired them in my 40 2 ? " (not sure if this was a really good idea but the result was fire formed cases that I could reload). And they were considerably more than .1" shorter than original 40 2 ?" cases. So a little more of the bullet was showing when loaded. But they worked fine.
  
  Hope this may be of some help.

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  Ambrose

  April 01, 2013 05:58

  Auction #334116299, #334247258, etc. Why not try with the outfit that pays for this forum?

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  CapnMidnight

  April 01, 2013 09:54

  I have bought alot of 30-40 brass off the auction side.
  If your friend has lots of 303 brass, clean it up and sell it on the auction side, that should pay for his 30-40 brass.
  W.D.

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  victorj19

  April 01, 2013 19:58

  Thanks all. I'll present my friend with your options and see what he wants to do.
  Jim

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  jonk

  April 04, 2013 13:30

  Yes, but it will be a tad short (1mm if memory serves) after reforming. Nothing to worry about.

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