How common is bullet setback for tube magazines?

[Canuck Bob]

Just wondering how many folks have experienced bullet setback from using factory 30-30 ammo in a tube magazine rifle? I've never experienced it but a guy on another forum had some questions regarding this.

[TedH]

I've never experienced it.

[Pisgah]

With factory rounds, never; with poorly-crimped handloads, yes. It is always possible some factory worker mis-adjusted a seat/crimp die, though.

[Merle]

Never happened to me with factory loads, but when I first stated reloading back in 1971 it took a while to get the crimping operation straightened out.

[OldWin]

As the others have said, it's not very common with factory loads. With handloads it's a more common experience. The quickest way to cure it with handloads is the Lee Factory Crimp die.


For your factories, I would try the same shells in another tube magazined rifle and see if they still do it. Then try the same experiment with another box of factory ammo. May be an isolated incident.

I do own a very early round bolt Marlin that had a very stiff magazine spring. After trying several different things, I finally clipped a couple coils off the magazine spring to finally cure the problem.

[Malamute]

I've never had it happen, though I've shot very very few factory loads in 30-30.

Leaving the gun loaded for long periods has flattened the tips of the bullets pretty badly a number of times, but so far no bullets set back

[Merle]

Never happened to me with factory loads, but when I first stated reloading back in 1971 it took a while to get the crimping operation straightened out.

Yep, this ended up being the BEST solution by a long shot. With conventional crimping dies case length (and consistency) are critical. A short case gives less crimp - a long case will crimp harder and may even fold up the case.

[Boreman]

I have never experienced it with factory or reloads. I'm no help.

[Canuck Bob]

I reported it has never happened to me with a lever over decades of use. A fellow Canadian on our forum has a box of ammo setting back on his 30-30. I wanted to make sure my report was accurate as it is a safety issue. I suggested it is a batch issue and he should burn up the ammo in practice. He is not shooting the setbacks for safety reasons. I agreed with his judgement on that.

[Pete44ru]

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+7,284

I would think setback could occur if the boolits didn't have a crimping groove.



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[Merle]

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+7,284

I would think setback could occur if the boolits didn't have a crimping groove.



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Or weren't crimped quite enough.....

[Malamute]

I reported it has never happened to me with a lever over decades of use. A fellow Canadian on our forum has a box of ammo setting back on his 30-30. I wanted to make sure my report was accurate as it is a safety issue. I suggested it is a batch issue and he should burn up the ammo in practice. He is not shooting the setbacks for safety reasons. I agreed with his judgement on that.

You can use a simple inertia bullet puller to get them back to proper length then shoot them up.

[Griff]

I have never experienced it with factory or reloads. I'm no help.

+1.

[hayabusa]

Never had set back with either factory or hand loads.

hayabusa

[remshooter]

i did ,10 years ago ,brand new box of remington 30-30 ,checked rest of box ,looked like they did not even crimp the bullets ,have not bought any more rem since then ,it pushed the bullets way deep into the case ...oh the gun was not fired ,just carried all day deer hunting

[earlmck]

This is an interesting topic since an inadequate crimp, factory or handload, could allow considerable bullet setback. So I did a little playing around in "QuickLoad" to see what that ballistic program said about things...

First off, most powders you would use to obtain "normal" 30wcf ballistics would not leave enough room for the bullet (I used the 170 grain Hornady) to back very far down toward the case mouth. But if I used the relatively dense BL-C2, which is a good choice, pressures jumped up to 45K psi (about 3K over SAAMI max) when powder volume hit 103% with just a .15" set-back (slightly compressed, which could possibly happen in a magazine).

However, when I used RL-7 (a bit too fast for best ballistics, but not out of the realm of possibility) it did leave enough room to get the bullet close to flush at which point pressures approached 70K psi.

Using the most likely load of 27.5 grains of 3031, there could be 0.1" of setback before getting compressed enough to stop the bullet at which point you'd hit a bit over 38K psi, still within SAAMI pressures.

Using my best load with the bullet (the load I use on the rare occasions I load a full-powered jacketed bullet in the 30wcf) of 36 grains of LVR, this is already compressed and isn't going to set back any more (in fact, the heavy crimp I use probably keeps it from pooching forward a bit).

Looks to me like if a loose crimp allows a slight bit of set-back this is not going to cause a pressure problem. But if you should happen to see any appreciable (like a quarter inch or more?) set-back in your ammo, whether factory or handload, "QuickLoad" confirms that you need to correct the length before firing or you could certainly see some uncomfortably high pressures.