Case Length win. 30 30

jer31822

June 05, 2009 05:17

I have a Hornady, Nosler and Lyman manual and all three list the length of the Win. 30 30 case at a different length (Hornady 1.976, Nosler 2.040 and Lyman 2.039). I measured an unfired factory case length and it measured 2.0285. Can someone help me understand what the real case length should when reloading?

Thanks,
JER

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  20gabob

  June 05, 2009 05:50

  Most of my information books give max overall length as 2.039 and a trim to length of 2.029 so it looks like the case you measured is just about perfect. I have no idea where the one book came up with a length of under 2" but i sure wouldn't use that info.

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  Rocky Raab

  June 05, 2009 06:16

  Provided you trim all your cases to the same length, it shouldn't matter a whit. The determining factor is uniformity of crimp, which is critical. The .30-30 has very thin neck and walls, and if your die is adjusted for a shorter case, a long one will almost certainly buckle when it hits the crimp shoulder. You might not even be able to see the bulge at the shoulder, but that round will not chamber. In a lever gun, it will tie things up to a faretheewell.

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  20gabob

  June 05, 2009 09:21

  What rocky says is true to a point, however if you trim too short and shoot enough you will rough up your chamber where factory loads either won't chamber or will ruin cases. While this would take a fair amount of shooting, i wouldn't do it to one of my guns.

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  Rocky Raab

  June 05, 2009 11:25

  I should have said "within reason." If you have one or two extra-short cases, toss them or use them as seating depth dummies with a spare bullet.
  
  Trim all the rest to whatever the shortest case is within the accepted range.

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  jer31822

  June 06, 2009 04:32

  Thanks for your prompt help. My Hornady manual is about 35 years old but don't see that should make the difference of being less than two inches in case length.
  Thanks again for your help and advice.
  JER

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  nononsense

  June 06, 2009 05:25

  jer31822,
  
  I realize that's what brought this up but two things to consider here with this situation are that it makes a very solid case for having more than one reference in order to double (or triple) check your data and information. You had a two to one agreement with your three manuals and it still makes us wonder why one is so different. Second and a real possibility is that the number in the Hornady manual is a typographical error which can occur in any printed matter. It's great to have other manuals around to check a number that is an aberration and doesn't appear to be correct.
  
  Best.

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