30-30

[panman]

I have a Savage Mod.340 that i want to load for.I shot a few this winter and washed them as some droped in the dirt.Well i left them on the wood stove to dry.And dry they did,turned blue and grean on me,:(lol.My question is this.Are the discolored cases safe to shoot??.Thanks pan.:patriot:

[AdamN]

I think if I had ANY doubts I would not shoot them.

But its kind of tough to make a call with a pretty close examination. I would give them a good tumble cleaning and see how they looked first

[Crazy4nitro]

If ya Hard up for some cases, I could get some your way. They are Range pick-ups but since I founds then the week B4 Deer season I would bet they are Once Fired.

'Nitro

[187racing]

i've got a few 30-30 cases laying around too. If you want em, pm me your shipping info

[Oreo]

Was there a fire in the wood stove at the time? When you say they turned color I'm thinking they've been annealed. That's usually a good thing for the necks but I'm not so sure about the body. Otherwise, it just sounds like surface tarnish. In that case tumble them up and load them up.

[CZ93X62]

I'm not in favor of tumbling live ammo. Some (not all) smokeless powders have deterrent coatings that are applied to affect burning rate, and my concern is that tumbling will erode such coatings from the powder granules and cause pressure anomalies when fired.

If discolored--and the brass will polish up with a mild metal polish and light rubbing--the brass is likely safe to be fired. If pitting has begun, I wouldn't fire it. I know brass and ammo is scarce, but having a 30K-55K PSI combustion event a few inches from your eyes and face is NOT an event I want happening with questionable brass containing the pressure. Nor do I want the powder getting creative, either.

[Crazy4nitro]

I have some thats gonna be heading his way.

'Nitro

[CZ93X62]

Was there a fire in the wood stove at the time? When you say they turned color I'm thinking they've been annealed. That's usually a good thing for the necks but I'm not so sure about the body. Otherwise, it just sounds like surface tarnish. In that case tumble them up and load them up.

Some lots and calibers of Remington rifle brass show an anneal-type discoloration at the neck and shoulder area, and such coloration is not indicative of a defect. I have a large lot of Rem 30-30 WCF brass that showed this characteristic when new/purchased as unfired bulk brass from Bwana Larry at Midway ~4 years ago. The portion of it used with cast bullets has 12 firings on it to date, with zero case loss to date. Same story with the portion used with jacketed bullets and 4 full-tilt loadings (170 Sierra FP/32.0 grains of WW-748). Good stuff.

[panman]

As always,youse guys are the best.As nitro said we have a deal goin,thanks nitro.
187racing thanks for the kind offer,i just may take you up on it,as,ya never have enough.
Guys the cases i have were on a HOT stove and cooled down slow[room temp].Besids softening the cases,there shouldnt be anything that would make them unsafe,OR would it??that is the Question of the day.lol
The only thing i can think of is that a soft case would maby swell up and flow into the chamber so that extracting would be a concern.what do yas think.?I dont believe that they would be unsafe,but trying to get them out of the chamber may not be an easy job.Im NOT going to use em,just some brain fumes need air.lol.Things are slow,so what do yall think??.pan.:patriot:

[jawjaboy]

Bwana Larry at Midway

:rofl:
.

[Fatdaddy]

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv297/lowangz/Forest.jpg

I may not be the smartest man but I'd load them up.

[Tailgunner]

Guys the cases i have were on a HOT stove and cooled down slow[room temp]. Besides softening the cases,there shouldn't be anything that would make them unsafe,OR would it??that is the Question of the day. lol
The only thing i can think of is that a soft case would maybe swell up and flow into the chamber so that extracting would be a concern.what do you think.?
pan.:patriot:

They may do more than flow, they could very well BLOW.
Cartridge cases are variable in the degree of hard, very hard at the case head, soft at the neck. There is a reason for this, and it's to resist the pressure in the unsupported region.
30-30 brass is common as dirt, and usually free for the asking/picking. Personally I'd scrap them and call it a learning experience.

[Crazy4nitro]

Us GP'ers a get you hooked up. No need to let 30k lbs of pressure take a vacation in front of your face.

'Nitro

[CZ93X62]

+1 to C4N's and TG's texts. Life is too short and eyesight is too precious to risk on marginal or questionable brass.

[panman]

Gentilmen, i bow to your experience,and concerns.You guys are always here to show people the safe and sencible way to go.Into the scrap barrel they go.

[CZ93X62]

Good move, Panman. Tell ya what--if I ever run across a Savage 340 in 30-30 WCF for sale, I'd take steps to acquire it. You got a good 'un.

The gunrags don't have much love for the 30-30 these days, and that is another example of how out of step those clowns are with the gun-buying and gun-using public they so poorly serve. No, the 30-30 isn't capable of cross-canyon shots on deer, or beanfield sniping at a quarter-mile. But, HELLO--most of us don't deer-hunt like that. EVERY deer I've ever shot--whitetail, muley, and blacktail--could have been humanely harvested with a 30-30, and 3 of them actually were--including my first at age 13.

The 30-30 does some really good things with its modest ballistics. Its recoil is tolerable by just about anyone. Its jacketed bullets perform wonderfully with the old-school cup-and-core softpoints in velocity range, giving textbook controlled expansion. Cast bullets can be driven with accuracy to the practical limit of the 30-30's velocity envelope, and I would be willing to bet that softpoint castings would work quite well on deer. And, to conclude--the 30-30 can be VERY accurate in a good rifle like a Savage 340 or Ruger #1. Winchester or Marlin leverguns might give up a little accuracy to more mechanically-sound action designs (not always)--but are certainly minute-of-whitetail well beyond any range a humane shot should be taken from.

Congrats on a great acquisition.

[craig110]

Gentilmen, i bow to your experience,and concerns.You guys are always here to show people the safe and sencible way to go.Into the scrap barrel they go.

Good decision, Pan. My view on questionable brass is simple: If I even look at a piece twice wondering if something is wrong with it, into the scrap pile it goes. This is one area in which I let my gut feel overrule a CRB-inclined brain.

[Mogollon]

+1 on cast bullets in a Savage 340. I bought a used one years ago, my daughter uses it for deer hunting. I loaded her up about 1000 rounds with the list charge of IMR Trailboss, and a 150 grain cast bullet. She shot them all up offhand shooting, but still wonders why she can hit so well with it! Now, if only the deer would cooperate.....:slick:

[panman]

Thanks guys.The only thing i dont like is the way the scope mounts.I think ill install a peep site on her,what do yas think??.pan.

[Brass Nazi]

Peepsights are the way to go IMO when talking about a 30/30 or 45/70.

[CZ93X62]

My Winchester 1894 has a Lyman aperture sight.