Federal "reinvents" the .30 luger cartridge

[DonVoigt]

Just received my copy of march Guns & Ammo magazine.

Federal has announced the "development" of a "new" cartridge to be better than 380 acp and not as "big" as 9mm luger.
They call it the ".30 Super Carry".

Bullet weight and velocity are almost exactly the same as the "old" .30 luger with 100 and 110g bullets available. The FMJ bullet is even a truncated cone. The new and improved projectiles would really be nice for reloading the old .30 luger.

The "new" part is a straight side case, no bottleneck.

The new cartridge of course requires new made barrels, mags, and modification to pistols.

Biggest "advantages" are higher round count in mags vs. the 9mm, and less recoil; and improved penetration vs. the .380 acp.

I'm not so sure about the less recoil, but maybe marginally.

Wonder why they didn't just use the "old" .30 luger - all it would require is a barrel change in all the modern small 9mm pistols available today. Could be a real good cartridge again!

With small 9mms holding 12 or 15 rounds of 9mm today an increase of a couple rounds doesn't seem that important to me.

I guess there really is "Nothing new under the sun"- just recycled good ideas.

[ithacaartist]

This new round's case also sounds like a stretched out .32 ACP?

[gunbugs]

30 carbine "special".

[mrerick]

Round count in a small compact carry handgun is their marketing point. They would not have achieved that with the larger body of the .30 Luger bottleneck cartridge.

Sounds like a slightly scaled down 9mm Luger.

https://gununiversity.com/30-super-carry/

Touted for fitting "12 cartridges into a magazine that would only hold 10 9mm Luger cartridges" it is also criticized for "less energy and expansion"...

The 9mm Luger is a very good self defense cartridge. The .30 Luger was an acceptable self defense cartridge. This new one is questionable.

[Edward Tinker]

Could a 30 luger barrel be reamed out to this new 30 and thus use same barrel?

[lugerholsterrepair]

Barrel is one thing..magazine is a whole different issue. I can only imagine the feeding problems!

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by Edward Tinker

Could a 30 luger barrel be reamed out to this new 30 and thus use same barrel?

Hi,

No.

Sieger

[Sieger]

Hi All,

I think Don is right again!!

Perhaps, the only good thing about this "new" cartridge will be the availability of new .312 bullets for reloading 7.65 Parabellum.

The 9mm Luger cartridge is the most widely used pistol cartridge in the world for a good reason; it works well!!!

Question:

How does this "new" case compare to the 7.65 (.30) French Long case?

Prediction:

This "new cartridge" will, most likely, join the ever-growing list of "new developments" to quickly fade away, due to redundance or down right uselessness


Respectfully.


Sieger

[tomaustin]

I am ok with them inventing a new round..BUT, we can't even find a ready supply of all the other rounds in "so-called" production...!!!

[Mac Cat]

I'm puzzled, too - usually new ammo is introduced along with some kind of new weapon.
Making a gun to use a new round seems awkward and backasswards, to me.

But, thanks for sharing the news, Don.

The article (https://gununiversity.com/30-super-carry/) was a good read!

[Heinz]

I believe it is strictly a marketing ploy targeting the "shoot and hope" crowd of folks who want to believe that after you have missed 12 times, two more rounds will make a difference.

[tomaustin]

just so we are clear here....we are not shooting the messenger here,..... i appreciate the article, just don't see the need in an ammo market of today....

[lugerholsterrepair]

Heinz, ONE hit is worth more than a hundred misses!

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by Edward Tinker

Could a 30 luger barrel be reamed out to this new 30 and thus use same barrel?

no
The chamber area is too large in diameter.
A "new" barrel could be made, but then as the holster man says- you would have the issue of the magazine.

Perhaps the lips could be re-formed, but then that is a lot of work to down grade your luger! JMHO

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

no
The chamber area is too large in diameter.
A "new" barrel could be made, but then as the holster man says- you would have the issue of the magazine.

Perhaps the lips could be re-formed, but then that is a lot of work to down grade your luger! JMHO

Erma's KGP series uses identical mags for 7.65 Browning and 9mm Kurz. This setup works with both case diameters, so a modified mag may not be necessary.

Dang, I just last year gave away a box of .32 French long that was part of an auction lot I won!

[DonVoigt]

"Erma's KGP series uses identical mags for 7.65 Browning and 9mm Kurz. This setup works with both case diameters, so a modified mag may not be necessary."


Correct, but what Ed asked about was a .30 LUGER vs the new .30 round.
The case size of the luger rounds are quite a bit different in diameter than the .32 acp or .380 rounds you mention in their European nomenclature. They will pop right out of a luger magazine!

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by DonVoigt

...what Ed asked about was a .30 LUGER vs the new .30 round.

The case size of the luger rounds are quite a bit different in diameter than the .32 acp or .380 rounds you mention in their European nomenclature. They will pop right out of a luger magazine!

Yes, I realize that. My thinking is that since the rim dimensions of the .30 Luger, 9mm Luger, and .380 are close enough to be feasible in mags with the same distance between the feed lips, a Luger mag would also work double duty like an Erma's for the smaller .32 case, as well as the longer--and slightly bigger D-- "new" round.

My Erma example holds true for the Luger, as well. Try it and you'll see. If you disregard OAL that causes feeding problems if more than 4 rounds of .32 ACP are loaded. the rim of the cartridge cannot escape the feed lips of a Luger mag.

Although it is true that the main body of the .32 ACP case, since it's just a hair smaller D than the rim, is a bit sketchy about being held in/down, the rounds don't literally squirt out of the mag unbidden. A vintage Luger mag made by Erma works perfectly, whereas older, original mags don't hold the nose down. New MecGar mags are in the middle.

Otherwise, I think a .30 Luger barrel could be used if an insert were installed in the chamber, although maybe more trouble than it's worth.

[lugerholsterrepair]

I was in sales for many years..still am to some extent. The main effort was KNOW your product so that you could explain it and the KISS principle. An acronym for keep it simple stupid. We ALL want simple. Engineers are different but simple is good. Simple is good, easy and familiar. I am good with easy and familiar.

[Mister Sunshine]

Sounds like the cartridge the Russians developed to use in their Army pistol. More powerful than the .380 but slightly less so than the 9mm Luger and didn't require a locked beach pistol.

[Sieger]

Originally Posted by Mister Sunshine

Sounds like the cartridge the Russians developed to use in their Army pistol. More powerful than the .380 but slightly so than the 9mm Luger and didn't require a locked beach pistol.

Yes!

The 9x18 Makarov is the perfect answer to this "problem" and there are millions of high-quality surplus pistols cheaply and readily available!

Federal has "invented a problem" that has already been solved!


Sieger