Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles 30 American - Federal Brass

I have a few virgin boxes of this brass waiting for some powder and primers. I don't know a great deal about it other than it is 30-30 brass but with a small rifle primer. I'm planning to re-size for 7-30 Waters some day when I find a new barrel for my Contender. Anyone out there ever use this stuff and have any notes or tips to share? I really think it's pretty cool brass with a great head-stamp!


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I read an article on it 30 or so years ago, so my memory may not be the best... Someone with some pull in the industry, and I suspect a fair amount of money, was getting a bit tired of the PPC cartridges winning everything and getting all the hoopla, and wanted some winners built on what he perceived as an American, rather than foreign, case. The .22 wasp based on the .30-30 case was a BR winner a generation before that. He convinced Federal that if they made these cases with the small primer pocket and small diameter flash hole like the PPC cases they could sell a lot of them to wildcatters looking for super-accurate cartridges.

That's the story as I remember it, anyway.

Interesting info DHN, I'll have to spend some time googling to learn a bit more about the history. Seems like they never totally caught on as they had hoped. These cases might also be a good fit for one of the "Classic Seven" cartridges.

That's very interesting.

I was confused at first, because there is a modern wildcat called the 30 American. To add to the confusion, it's a descendant of a rimless 30/30-based case, the 30 Remington, and it does use a small rifle primer. Google Black Hole Weaponry "30 American" for more info on that one.

Wasn't the 7mm Mauser necked to 30 caliber also called the 30 American? Read that somewhere a while ago... may have been in one of Ackley's books...