30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Centerfires, rimfires, pistol cartridges and everything in between.
Post Reply
shootmore
A Poster
A Poster
Posts: 152
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:29 am

30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by shootmore »

Oh seasoned and wise ones should I crimp or not crimp my 30-30's.

Currently holding ~2.5" at 100 yards without crimp with the Win 94 Legacy tapered Octagon 26" 1980's.

F-Class says low standard deviation (FPS) reduces group size and this can be achieved, among other things, with consistent neck tension. I've seen that to be true.

I found that the lot of Starline brass purchased was +-.0005 so I did not neck turn.
I do neck size the cases with a Redding neck die and when necessary body size first.
Last stage of case prep is bell mouthing the case with a Lyman Neck Expanding "M-Inch"die 30-30
Last edited by shootmore on Tue May 12, 2020 9:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
DonM
AA Poster
AA Poster
Posts: 275
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2016 7:40 pm
Location: Ft. Laramie

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by DonM »

It's going to depend a lot on whether or not the bullets will stay at their seating depth when you load the magazine.
Just a touch of crimp doesn't seem to hurt much as far as hurting accuracy.
cedestech
Distinguished Master Poster w/Palms
Distinguished Master Poster w/Palms
Posts: 2324
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 3:06 pm

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by cedestech »

Assume you are a experienced loader...

If your trim length isn't consistent then your crimp isn't going to be consistent...

Inconsistent crimp will raise your SD...

If you are single loading, try both and see which you get better numbers with...

If you are loading 5 at a time, crimp.

+/- 2MOA with iron sights... about all you are going to get or really need.

;)
Emmett Dibble, Houston, Texas. Where's my buddy Jason? Keeper of electronic records and banisher of little pieces of paper?
User avatar
Another Dang 9
Master Poster
Master Poster
Posts: 1333
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:24 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by Another Dang 9 »

What Emmett said.

But to put it quickly. Always, always always crimp 30/30. I use a Lee factory crimp die and I've never had a brass failure because of the crimp. It always splits down the neck or primer pockets stretch long before of a crimp fails. JMO
Its a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milk bone underwear.
NRA Endowment Member
shootmore
A Poster
A Poster
Posts: 152
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:29 am

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by shootmore »

thanks!
Trimming with Trim IT system- good there.
User avatar
cslcAl
Master Poster
Master Poster
Posts: 1029
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:15 pm
Location: Montoursville, Pa.
Contact:

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by cslcAl »

If you crimp you will gain on average 50 fps in velocity. Comes in handy for those pesky rams

Al Foust
Team Sierra Member
User avatar
Another Dang 9
Master Poster
Master Poster
Posts: 1333
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:24 pm
Location: The Peoples Republic of Massachusetts

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by Another Dang 9 »

The idea of not crimping is ok in bolt guns as you can get the bullet az close to the lands as you want. A 30/30 has way to much freebore as you must load to a lenth that will feed from the mag.
And what Al said. :-bd
Its a dog eat dog world and I'm wearing milk bone underwear.
NRA Endowment Member
shootmore
A Poster
A Poster
Posts: 152
Joined: Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:29 am

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by shootmore »

thanks all.
600 cases to load for Jr. and I
Really happy with Adam's Autotrickler system. Drops a precise load of powder every 10 seconds +-0.02 grain accuracy
Get one at https://www.autotrickler.com/autotrickler.html
Autotrickler2020-05.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
CamP
A Poster
A Poster
Posts: 145
Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2015 7:48 pm
Location: Fort Worth

Re: 30-30 to crimp or not to crimp

Post by CamP »

I found crimping to be unnecessary and hard on the brass.

Proper neck tension and a great tip for an unconventional powder cut my groups in half and resulted in sub-moa groups. Velocities across the chronograph are SD of 8 and ES of less than 20 in multiple guns.
Post Reply