.30 Carbine (Rifle)(using Hornady bullets)

The .30 Carbine (aka .30 M1 Carbine) was designed during the 1930s by Winchester and was adopted by the U.S. Ordinance Department in 1941. Although it has been chambered in many types of firearms, it is most commonly encountered in auto-loading surplus carbines.

Many reproduction "M1" carbines are not built to military standards and feature different internal designs and features. Some are known to fire with the action out of battery, which is potentially dangerous to the shooter and bystanders. It is easy to test a gun for this condition by placing a fully sized and primed case (without powder or bullet) in the chamber and dropping the bolt closed. Next, pull the bolt back just slightly out of battery until the locking lugs begin to twist (or turn) about 1/16 of an inch, and manually hold the bolt in that position. Now pull the trigger, or "fire" the gun. BE CERTAIN THAT THE GUN IS POINTED IN A SAFE DIRECTION, AS SIGNIFICANT FLAME AND PRIMER RESIDUE WILL SPEW FROM THE MUZZLE IF THE PRIMER IGNITES. If the bolt is out of battery and the gun fails to fire, the gun is okay. But if the primer does ignite, the gun should be considered unsafe.

The .30 Carbine’s cases are tapered, however, carbide dies are available at a higher cost, but is money well spent. If steel dies are used, cases must be lubricated before sizing, which must be removed before firing, or case head thrust will be increased (and will potentially cause cylinder rotation problems if ammunition is also used in revolvers).

Recommended "starting" loads containing Hodgdon H-110 and Winchester 296 powders should not be reduced, or erratic pressures and velocities may occur. None of the accompanying data exceed SAAMI maximum pressure limits of 40,000 cup.

The cartridge headspaces on case mouth, so a taper crimp is required, which should be applied as a separate step after the bullet is seated to correct overall cartridge length.