CCH 30-30 First Outing

[ESquared]

I guess all the usual caveats/excuses/rationalizations apply: brand new rifle, new scope, never fired this caliber before, PLUS I mounted and zeroed in my own scope this time around (I know, not a big deal, but…).

Bottom line is I think it’s getting there, with these two targets representing 50 rounds fired, spread over 6 different brands of 30-30.

The first target was 20 rounds of Fiocchi 150 gr JSP that I used to get the scope zeroed in. So much for my end-of-the-barrel, magnetized bore sighter. Thought I had the scope all adjusted to where the bore sighter said I should be, and ended up low/right (Group 1). Over-compensated (see "3 and 4", but kept adjusting and tweaking, getting closer over the course of 6 ea. 3-shot groups (see "5 and 6"). The last two shots are so marked ("Finish-Last 2 Rounds'), about 1" high, which was my goal.

The second target started with the scope set at where Target #1 left off, beginning in the upper-left corner, using 160 gr Hornady LeverRevolution. First shot was so far off it blew off the binder clip that held the target to the cardboard backer. The next 2 weren’t that much better. So much for a zeroed in scope...

The ammo used on Target #2 is marked, and the progression is clockwise, starting at the upper left, moving to upper/right, then to lower/right, then to lower/left, finally ending up with the fifth ammo brand in the middle. All ammo brands were given 2 ea. 3-shot groups. There were lots of little niggles along the way on the scope, but I saved what will likely (?) be my hunting round for last – the Winchester 150 gr SilverTip. Each 3-shot group is marked “1” and “2” for each ammo brand (hope that makes sense).

Once I'd run the gamut, I went back to the upper left to shoot one more 3 shot group of the LeveRevolution (since it only got 1 3-round group to start with) just to see how all the scope fiddling might have affected the results of that original dismal display. Better, but still not stellar.

Overall, I’d say the best group is marked “2” in the lower right (the 2nd 3-shot group), which is the Federal Power Shok, a round that I believe Mags had noted was doing very well in his Brass 30-30 (right, Mags?).

Even with all the reloading after each 3 shot group, marking the target after each group, etc., the barrel still got pretty warm, but I don’t know whether that made things get better or worse (or didn’t matter at all). All in all, lots of variables and tweaking of the scope, but my two “finalists,” based on today are the Win Silvertip and the Federal PowerShok. Seemed like almost every 3-shot group had a flyer, but that’s just operator error, not the rifle or the ammo (believe me!).

Functionally, there were absolutely no mis-feeds or ejection issues. Ejection, in fact, is very consistent and purposeful. It ate and spit out everything, in other words. There were a couple of instances where some wiggling of the mag tube was necessary to get it fully inserted, but I attribute that to me just never having loaded up rounds of a caliber this large via the tube magazine. Quite a bit different than .357!

So, there you go. From un-boxing to scope mounted to zeroed in to determining an ammo (or two) of choice in under 48 hours, and the CCH looks even better with a little oil rubbed into it!

[North Country Gal]

Exactly right to try all the various brands of ammo with a new gun like that. You're getting, there, so keep at it. Another factory 30-30 factory load that has been very good in my Marlins and Winchesters has been the Hornady American Whitetail 150 grain Interlock ammo. Very competitively priced, unlike the Leverevolutioin stuff, and that Interlock bullet has a long track record for good performance.

[ESquared]

Thanks, NCG, will give the Hornady Am Whitetail a spin! More to come!

[North Country Gal]

You're welcome. Hey, don't forget the good old 30-30 Remington green and yellow Core-lokt factory loads. Not always the best in my guns, but always a solid performer. Some folks, up here, refuse to use anything else in their 30-30s.

[ESquared]

You're welcome. Hey, don't forget the good old 30-30 Remington green and yellow Core-lokt factory loads. Not always the best in my guns, but always a solid performer. Some folks, up here, refuse to use anything else in their 30-30s.

Sure, worth a try! Can pick up a box locally before stocking up online.

[ESquared]

Seeing how all these different rounds perform so differently (not a surprise), it makes me want to investigate loading my own, but I just don't know if this old dog is up to those new tricks. My space is limited; I've got a decent cleaning/repair bench, but not exactly a "production area/room."
Reeling in this wandering thought...

[Mistered]

I've got a decent cleaning/repair bench, but not exactly a "production area/room."

Loading to shoot 'low capacity' guns doesn't necessarily need a lot of room and doesn't require 'high production'
I shoot more than most people I know and do well and easily keep up with two single stage presses - but only use one about 80% of the time.
Heck a guy can load a lot of ammo with a JR RCBS press and just the basics.
Heck in over 40 + years of reloading I don't have a lot of 'new' stuff. Yea I adapted to a few different things over the years but I am still loading fairly 'traditionally' and 'old school'

[ESquared]

YouTube is a great thing, and I have to admit, this guy makes it look pretty easy and it doesn't seem to take a factory floor to do it (to your point). The only step he skips is the first one, as he says he's starting out with tumbled casings, but he doesn't cover that part of the process. He's using a Lee press for just about all of it, but, as I'm starting from absolute ZERO, I don't know whether that's a good piece of hardware or not.
Well, don't want to highjack my own thread, but I'll keep researching and hope some of you guys don't mind if I reach out for guidance, if it comes to that...

[RanchRoper]

Good job, nothing wrong with those targets.

[ESquared]

Good job, nothing wrong with those targets.

Thank you, sir, I'm getting there! Really like this round and this rifle.

So far, the answer to "What's your favorite Henry?" has been, "The last one I got!"

[Mistered]

YouTube is a great thing, and I have to admit, this guy makes it look pretty easy

You said 'this guy' like you were referring to a video link you posted but I don't see one.
If you were going to post it please do as I would like to see it.
Reason is I have seen some reloading 'how to' vids and they have been pretty bad - some bordering on giving out dangerous information so take any vid about reloading with a 'grain of salt'

[GFK]

Seems like a good day.

[ESquared]

YouTube is a great thing, and I have to admit, this guy makes it look pretty easy

You said 'this guy' like you were referring to a video link you posted but I don't see one.
If you were going to post it please do as I would like to see it.
Reason is I have seen some reloading 'how to' vids and they have been pretty bad - some bordering on giving out dangerous information so take any vid about reloading with a 'grain of salt'

So sorry. Here's the link, and, Yes, I'd be very interested in your take on how he's doing what he's doing. I was watching and thinking "What would Mistered think about this...?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtsWllI1MfI

[Mistered]

A better than average reloading 'how to' video but he left out a couple important things and did some that are unnecessary.
First he mentioned nothing about case prep - specifically cleaning and trimming.
To start with case cleaning has about as many different opinions as ANY part of reloading but something does need to be done prior to resizing.
At a minimum cases can be put in a plastic jug with some dawn, lemon juice and hot water, shaken a bit and left for a while to let the lemon juice do its trick. It will clean any powder residue off and if the cases aren't bad to start with they can come out not too bad. rinse well when done in a plastic colander, shake off the water, dump on a towel, pick up the corners, roll them around and lay in a cooking pan in the sun to dry. Bottom line is something needs to be done to clean them prior to resizing.
He also showed using a 'primer pocket cleaner' to clean the prime pockets. Not necessary if cases are given some kind of cleaning prior to resizing.
CASE LUBING - his method will work but kind of slow and messy. I do this - I set my cases in a 'loading block' which is nothing more than a tray with many shallow holes in it to hold cases for various jobs. They can be as simple as home made to using the plastic ammo trays in factory ammo boxes. These work well such as .45 ACP trays accommodate 30-30 brass nicely as well as 38/357 brass. There are also plastic trays that are molded with universal recesses to accommodate nearly any diameter of brass, are cheap, last forever and can be thrown in the dishwasher (Ill get to why in a minute)
OK - back to LUBING. With you brass up-ended in a loading block/tray get a can of spray lube, set your tray outside on something and 'spritz' one side of the cases with lube LIGHTLY, flip the tray around and do the other and leave outside for the lube to dry for a while. The new spray lubes 'dry' off and leave a dry residue on the brass. When you are done RESIZING your cases throw your loading block/tray in the dishwasher. The new spray lubes are water soluble and what little remains washes off in the dishwasher.
OK - He covered RESIZING but AFTER resizing nearly ALL bottleneck cases need to be trimmed & deburred. Most hate this step worst of ALL reloading. I use the simple Lee case trimmer and with the cutter portion of it in a drill driver and this can go pretty fast. After trimming the case mouths need to be chamfered and deburred. Look up Lee case trimmer and RCBS deburring tool for explanation on these processes.
OK - HE showed how to prime with a basic hand priming tool which is about the least expensive, but very practical way to do it. Look up Lee Hand Primer for a 'primer' on this!
Ok last thing he showed was measuring the bullet seating with a caliper. In some cases this may be necessary but when loading bullets with the cannelure (that is the grooved ring around the bullet) you simply extend your seating punch in the die to about a 1/2" farther down and put a bullet in the case and start pressing the bullet down with the press, a little at a time (retracting the case to check it) and when the cannelure is close to the rim of the case just a light touch on the press handle to get the rim approximately in the middle of the cannelure (yea we ALL have over done it and had to pull the bullet up!) Anyway when this first 'test' round bullet is seated to the cannelure unscrew the seating punch up to the top to clear the bullet, run the round up into the seating die till it stops on th ebottom of the die then screw the seating punch down till it stops on the bullet, give it a LIGHT turn to make sure it is snugly on the bullet, tighten the locknut and you are adjusted! There is no need to adjust the calipers and keep pulling it out and measuring it when the CANNELURE basically establishes your bullet seat depth.
OK - sorry for being so long winded but I tried to clear up some of his missed processes or shortcomings in his tutorial.
NOW - in reality everyone has a different system for the basic processes and no TWO people reload the same. What works for me may not work for, or be practical for YOU depending on your circumstances.

[ESquared]

Thanks for that, Ed, I knew you'd have a point of view on his tutorial. He briefly mentions tumbling the casings early on, but it's so quick and dismissive that he makes it seem like it's not that big a deal, which even I knew not to be true. There's another pretty entertaining vid of a guy doing a wet tumbling process with Dawn some "Lemin" powder of some sort, which seems to work fine.
He also soars right over the trimming process, which you point out. Will dive deeper.
I just need to do the math and figure out if I shoot enough to have this make sense (or, put another way, if I could EVER shoot enough to have it make sense).
Glad to hear, also, that there's no single ONE WAY to do this, but I had a hunch that was the case as well.
Thanks again for your feedback!

[Mistered]

I just need to do the math and figure out if I shoot enough

Well, like I have responded many times before on similar threads reloading should not be undertaken purely as a cost cutting measure but as an extension of your interest in shooting and desire to improve accuracy or tailor loads for a specific purpose. While reloading will no doubt save money 'on paper' there is the initial investment of even basic equipment and i get that but this can be economized on as well depending on the brand or in finding good used equipment which there is no shortage of right now.
With regard to loads one of my favorites is a reduced 30-30 load i can load for about .20 per round and this is one of the main advantages of reloading is the ability to 'tone down' loads for economy and ease of shooting. You simply cannot go buy 'reduced' loads for most guns. About the only example of this would be buying say .38 Special to shoot out of a .357 magnum but on a per box basis the .38 is only slightly less retail than .357.
On the other hand if shooting is only a 'novelty' for you and not a large part of why you own guns in the first place, you put a few rounds on paper once in a while then reloading may NOT be for you.
Reloading needs to be an integral part of your interest in guns and shooting and be an enjoyable 'hobby' - nearly as much as shooting is and not just a money saving chore.
Reloading is also procedural and repetitive and requires dedication and research and that part is what kills it for a lot of people - or prevents them from ever starting in the first place. Quite simply reloading is not for everyone.

[Mistered]

pretty entertaining vid of a guy doing a wet tumbling process with Dawn some "Lemin" powder

That would be Lemi-Shine' and works pretty good but in my 'frugalness' a dollar bottle of lemon juice works well also.
Case prep can become almost a sub-process of reloading depending on how one goes about it.
Some perform a basic cleaning then resize and wipe cases off, trim, prime and load with nothing else and thats OK but I eventually took it to a higher level.
I perform a basic clean, rinse & dry to begin with. When ready I do BULK case prep so i have them pre-prepped - sometimes by the hundreds.
I start by resizing and trimming and THEN I wet tumble. After the wet tumble I rinse, dry and put these cases into clear plastic jugs with screw on caps to keep them clean. Then when I want to load I have a supply of new-looking brass (with bright and shiny interiors and primer pockets) at the ready.
Been sick at home since yesterday with some stomach issue so I have time to be long-winded in my posts!

[ESquared]

Right on, Ed, I'm tracking with you completely. It wouldn't, for me, be driven by the economics of it all, but just might be evolving as an extension of my interest in Henrys, shooting in general, hunting, etc.
Hobbyist pursuit, as you alluded to.

[Mistered]

E - just for you - I sized, trimmed & deburred and tumbled 50 .223 cases today!

IMG_1239[1].JPG (135.41 KiB) Viewed 2507 times

[ESquared]

That's a beautiful thing! Do you do 30-30s as well? Or 308? Or 357 Mag?

I might change my tune, but I'm drawn to the reloading concept because of rifles, not handguns. And, it takes a lot of reloading to keep a really active handgun enthusiast stocked, I would guess.

There's something more scientific and exploratory about figuring out different configurations for rifles, at least in my head.

Those are some fine looking cases!