Reloading help for the .30 cal.

[cliffdropover1]

Recently I repaired a friend's luger and started reloading for the .30 caliber after many years. ( I reload, but haven't for the .30 Luger in many years.) I can only find 90 grain jacketed hollow point bullets with the low end load being 3.5 grains of Bullseye and the top end being 4.0 grains. These didn't do well and I went off the charts, which I have never done before, and loaded a few at 4.5,4.8,. and 5.0 with no signs of excessive pressure. The 5.0 actually worked the best. But, I don't want to make a habit of this as it still might be unsafe. I do see that Hornady makes a suitable bullet at .86 grains, but they are unavailable at this time. If anyone has any advice at this point for reloading the .30 cal. it would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks,

[nukem556]

Bullseye is too fast for .30 Luger. The Lee loading manual shows 3.8 of Bullseye as max in .30 Mauser, so I'd be leery of your load.

[kurusu]

You should try VV n340.

[K.Wilhelm]

I've had good luck using HP-38 in my .30 Luger loads. Bullets are indeed hard to find! KW

[sheepherder]

I have found it odd that people coming to this forum say it is hard to find brass or bullets for the 7.65 Parabellum, or that loaded ammunition is more expensive...I have, in the past, converted .223 Remington cartridges to "30 Luger" (and "30 Mauser") but since Winchester makes readily available unprimed brass and Sierra makes nice bullets, I no longer bother...

Sierra #8005 85gr FMJ-RN
Winchester WSC30LU unprimed brass
Hercules Red Dot powder - 4.0gr
RCBS 25001 reloading dies

I prefer RCBS for all my reloading equipment. Over the years, RCBS has offered at least three different "30 Luger" reloading die sets; my present set is a two-die set of what looks like recent manufacture [eBay purchase].

There is an old Lyman "30 Luger" reloading table 'stickied' in this forum; I have found that old manual to be very reliable for all my calibers.

[rhuff]

If you have no qualms loading/shooting lead bullets, then Western Bullets sells a 92gr LRN bullet in the .310-.311in.(advertised as .309) diameter range cast specifically for the Luger. I have loaded and shot quite a number of these through my 30 luger handguns and find them a good product. I have also loaded the Hornady and Sierra 86gr JSP bullets that are .308in. dia. They can be used but you need to be very sure that you have adequate neck tension to avoid setback.

I feel that your load of Bullseye powder is far more than I would be comfortable with. Perhaps someone placed too strong of a mainspring in your Luger, and it does not want to function with normal loads. That might be worth checking/changing. These "old girls" don't do well with heavy +P+ loads very long before things start breaking.

Like Rick, I have moved away from the fast burning powders in the 30 luger brass, in favor of the medium burners. Unique is my choice of powder for this caliber. I have loaded a lot of 30 luger with Bullseye and Red Dot, I could get it to function, but not as consistently as the Unique powder. It is my main powder at this time for 30 luger and 9mm for my Lugers.

[cliffdropover1]

Thanks to all for the help. Reloading powder has been unobtainable in my area for over a year. I do have some Bullseye and some W231--some Power Pistol--some Clays I can get brass from Starline, but the bullets are not presently available. I was hoping for loads possibly using W231. I tried the "search" and cannot find anything. Perhaps I did something wrong there.
Rick W--I do not understand --A piece of tape can become helpful. I will do a search for the Western bullets.

[ithacaartist]

Mr. Dropover,

What Rick is referring to is the piece of tape one applies to the top rear of the frame in the area the heel of the rear toggle link touches at full recoil. Most Lugers have the marks resulting from this contact. You'd want to build your powder charge up until you get full, effective, and reliable cycling--but not so much powder as to cause the heel of the rear toggle to bite entirely through the tape. Staying below this level will ensure you're not bottoming out the action. Just examine the tape after every gradation of powder you try, and when the contact starts to become evident, go no further in load power.

[cliffdropover1]

Thanks ithacaartist for explaining the "tape trick." I will try that and I have found that Western Bullets has a 93 grain lead bullet for the .30 Luger. If anyone has a load for this using W231, it would be great. Thanks again for any help.

[sheepherder]

Just for S&G, I'll repeat a couple comments I've made in other threads on cartridge conversions...

- I form my 7.65 Parabellum cases (and 7.63 Mauser as well) from .223 Remington commercial [not 5.56 military] in the RCBS '30 Luger' sizing die, after roughly cutting to length. I then trim to length in a Forster case trimmer.

- Winchester brass is a softer alloy than Remington or others; it will form easier and more often.

- Military cases are a harder alloy and have thicker case walls. They can be formed but may require neck reaming and will crack sooner than commercial brass, after repeated reloadings. The circle primer crimp will also have to be reamed.

- Use lots of lube when forming. STP (at auto stores) is an acceptable substitute for case lube.

[rhuff]

One of the handloaders on this forum is planning on working up some 30 Luger loads with Power Pistol, but as last I heard, could not get his hands on any. It should be a good powder for 30 luger due to it's burn rate and stability. I have used a large quantity of it in loading 9mm brass. It meters well, burns clean when loaded in the mid to upper levels, and is quite accurate in my handguns.

[cliffdropover1]

Thanks again for all the help. I saw some Unique in my area a few weeks ago but didn't buy any as I have never used it and didn't realize I would have a use for it. I will keep looking for it. They did have 4 pounds of Bullseye and I bought it all. Sure wish I had bought at least one pound of Unique. I do have a fare amount of Power Pistol so I will be very interested in seeing how it works once your friend tries it. Note to ithacaartist--I am still not sure just where to apply the tape. If it would be possible to supply a picture of this application it would really help me.
Thanks again.

[rhuff]

If you hold your Luger in preparation to fire it, you would place the tape approx. midway between the serial numbers on the rear toggle link, and the lanyard loop. If you look closely, you will see marks made by the rear toggle link as it strikes the rear of the frame in full recoil.

Place an empty mag in your Luger and cycle the toggle train to lock the toggle train as if having fired the last cartridge. You will see the portion of the rear toggle link that contains the rear sight come in contact(or nearly so) with the rear frame. It is this area where one places the tape to determine how hard/soft the rear toggle link is striking the rear frame area.

Does any of this make sense to you?

[cliffdropover1]

Yes this makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. I will give it a try. Still no luck with reloading supplies. Both the powder and bullets are not currently available.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by cliffdropover1

Recently I repaired a friend's luger..,

Just out of curiosity, what was it that needed repairing???

I got my Speer bullets from Midway; I had a 'notify' in and ordered when they emailed me...I reload several calibers and even get bullets from GB...

[cliffdropover1]

A friend purchased a Luger that was made up of mismatched parts and aftermarket parts. The toggle would not lock back. The magazine is usually the problem here, but in this case it was the hold-open latch. It was dragging on the inside of the frame and needed a bit of gentle filing to fix the problem. Also it wouldn't go bang as the striker spring was worn out and the striker had been damaged and also needed to be replaced. Once the work was completed the gun worked as intended. I also have a .30 cal. Luger and have not shot it in many years. I used to reload for it many years ago. I decided to reload for the .30 again, bought dies and then found the reloading manuals have little or no information and the components are very hard to get. I still hope to reload for them and thank everyone for all the help.

[sheepherder]

You didn't mention in your profile where you live, so I don't know if you have the same shortages of powder etc as we do here in the US, but I am actively looking for W231 as I have used it in the past for 9mm and plan to try it in my 7.65 reloads.

What I do is compare 9mm and 7.65 loads using the same bullet and powder other than W231. I note the min powder charge in the 9mm compared to the other powder and adjust my W231 7.65 min load accordingly.

Sounds confusing but works out fairly well. I only load 5 rds to start, so if I'm over or way under, I can break them down and start over. Or just fire them off in something else [Lahti, Star].

Unfortunately there is no hard and fast 'universal' load. All firearms have a 'sweet spot' that only experimentation of powder, charge, and bullet will reveal. I've been looking for years...Still looking...

[cliffdropover1]

I live in Kentucky and yes am experiencing the same shortages. I am lucky to have bought powder several years ago and have plenty on hand. Trying to buy some that I don't already have is nearly impossible.

[K.Wilhelm]

If this helps anything, my powder guy told me a number of years ago that HP-38 and W-231 are exactly the same powder. As I stated above I use HP-38 in my .30 Luger loads. So if you can't find W-231 in your area, you could look for HP-38. KW

[cliffdropover1]

Mr. Wilhelm if you have some reloading data using W-231 or HP-38 please let me know what it is.
Thanks