Group buy of .30-40 brass by the forum members

[madsenshooter]

I posted this on Culvers, but realize not all members here look there. One way around this problem for reloaders is to stock up on PRVI .303 British blanks, before retailers realize what we're doing with them and jack up the price. I don't get to shoot much anymore so 105 stashed away is plenty. PRVI assured me that they use the same brass for these blanks that they do for loaded rounds.

Things are getting pretty crazy. I see 50 new Winchester brass going for $116 on gunbroker. Over $2 ea. The blanks cost me .74 ea, and that includes shipping. With Cuba opening up, I might need the blanks for a San Juan Hill reenactment.

[madsenshooter]

It appears we've pulled enough chains that Remington will relent and produce some ammo! Sportsman's Guide says they will have ammo around November 14th! I'll be watching for the brass overage to hit Grafs and other suppliers, if there is any.

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/remington-centerfire-rifle-30-40-krag-psp-core-lockt-180-grain-20-rounds?a=1580791

[psteinmayer]

That's awesome... but I do think we should continue to press Starline and others for an alternative brass source!

[engineeringpunk]

It appears as though MidwayUSA is expecting HSM .30-40 Krag 165gr RNFP on 11/11/16...

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/777856/hsm-cowboy-action-ammunition-30-40-krag-165-grain-hard-cast-round-nose-flat-point-box-of-20

[psteinmayer]

We might just want to look into this to be sure that they're safe for a Krag. Being that they are from Cowboy Action, they may be intended for "Cowboy Action Shooting" in an 1895 Winchester Lever Action, which can handle pressures in excess of what a Krag can. Now I realize that this is just an assumption... but I would rather make an incorrect assumption and be wrong, than to not make one at all and be sorry!

[madsenshooter]

Cast bullet Paul, no way it's beyond Krag pressure levels. At that price, I'd buy something jacketed before I'd even consider it. Flatnose likely equals no feed. In other developments:

I got some of the PRVI blanks I pictured earlier in this thread. The neck and shoulder are not annealed like their brass for loading. I can't just simply size them down with the bolt as I do the reloading brass. They have to be run into a 30-40 die with the expander ball removed. I adjusted my die slowly downward till the bolt would just close on my parked Krag, which I know has the tightest chamber of all my rifles. They'll even feed through my parked Krag, if I only load a couple in the magazine. Blowing out a few scheduled for tmrw.

Update: I fired off a few of the blanks that I'd sized down to 30-40. Some of the necks split following the crimp, one down enough that I won't be able to get a full length 30-40 case out of it. Looks like disassembly is the best way to go, gotta find my tubing cutter! I shot them along toward dusk, pretty good fire ball and report! Fire ball had a blue color to it, the empty had that nice smell of high nitro powder.

[Culpeper]

Things are getting pretty crazy. I see 50 new Winchester brass going for $116 on gunbroker. Over $2 ea. The blanks cost me .74 ea, and that includes shipping. With Cuba opening up, I might need the blanks for a San Juan Hill reenactment.

Shooooot. I need to dig out the the bottom of the "Pile" and get my winchester ammo. Fully loaded, 2005vintage, Krag fodder. Maybe I could get four bucks a round for it. Just kiddin' I could at most get three.

However I am on the road in M... Mi... Mic... Michi... Michigan (Go Buckeyes) visiting people and on the way here I found one box of Remington in a side of the road gun shop in Forsyth, Missouri.

Gotta look hard for it to find it.

[BM1455]

I just picked up 35 rounds/brass of old Winchester from a guy for $10.00. Not too bad for these days I guess. I'm looking at it as brass only since some of them are old 180gr super speed and the others seem to be possibly someone's reloads... 9 of the reloads have been fired and the rest of the box is loaded. (They wrote on the box what they did: 47g IMR 4350/ 150gr Hornady Spire points but the un-fired ones look like virgin cases. Not sure if they just bought the brass and loaded them up or if they are once fired already?) I don't know anything about old Krag super speed 180's so I think I will just disassemble them and use the brass.

[Prince Humperdink]

Reformed .303 is ok to use... but the case will definitely be shorter, and won't have the proper head stamp (not a problem if you don't shoot .303... i.e. wrong round for the wrong gun). I would just rather have the right stuff to begin with.

This is mostly all I use,and I just grind off the .303 head stamp.It's worked for 2 years now.

[madsenshooter]

Following up on the blanks above, seems I got lucky with the tubing cutter on my first attempt. It became too much work and a pain. So now I'm running them up into a file trim die and cutting the tip off with a jeweler's saw. I forgot I had that file trim die, didn't like it because it sets the shoulder back rounded, like a new case. Since I have to anneal them anyway, that's ok for these. The head is .168 thick on the one sample I measured, comparable to a few 30-40 cases I measured at around .170. PRVI .303 for reloading measures the same as the blank.