Need Help with 30BR

[Barks]

Okay. I have my new 30 br and with it I have 100 rounds of 3x fired brass. The brass is from a different 30 br barrel, but from the same reamer. The brass is very tight to chamber and will likely need to be bumped back and re-fireformed in my chamber.
I was experimenting a bit with 110 gr V-maxes,only bullet I have right now to try) and when placed into an empty case and chambered, the OAL is a consistant 2.165" Theres a whole lotta bullet in that case.
So I dump 34 grains of powder into the same case and press the bullet into the case mouth by hand and the consistant OAL is 2.210" It feels like I'm going to crush the case if I close the bolt when I try to chamber this dummy round.
The powder charge that allows the bullet to be seated to 2.165" is 31 grains of H-4198. This seems like a pretty low starting point. I do not have a comperator to measure the ogive of the bullet, but the length of the v maxes is .930"
Should I try starting at the lands with a 31gr charge and work from there or could I go up to 33 grains and start with the bullet really jammed into the lands??
There is no freebore for this barrel. The twist is 1:17.5 and is a 24" shilen. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[tightneck]

Okay. I have my new 30 br and with it I have 100 rounds of 3x fired brass. The brass is from a different 30 br barrel, but from the same reamer. The brass is very tight to chamber and will likely need to be bumped back and re-fireformed in my chamber.
I was experimenting a bit with 110 gr V-maxes,only bullet I have right now to try) and when placed into an empty case and chambered, the OAL is a consistant 2.165" Theres a whole lotta bullet in that case.
So I dump 34 grains of powder into the same case and press the bullet into the case mouth by hand and the consistant OAL is 2.210" It feels like I'm going to crush the case if I close the bolt when I try to chamber this dummy round.
The powder charge that allows the bullet to be seated to 2.165" is 31 grains of H-4198. This seems like a pretty low starting point. I do not have a comperator to measure the ogive of the bullet, but the length of the v maxes is .930"
Should I try starting at the lands with a 31gr charge and work from there or could I go up to 33 grains and start with the bullet really jammed into the lands??
There is no freebore for this barrel. The twist is 1:17.5 and is a 24" shilen. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

The zero freebore chambers are very common for the 30BR. Standard charge weights range from 33-35 grs of H4198, so compressed loads are the norm. Most shooters opt for a fairly heavy neck tension so the bullet wont back out after seating. My "pet" loads are 34.8 and 35.2, although many opt for charges in the 33.5 range. Get yourself some custom bullets and experiment with different charge weights. While the V-Maxes and other factory pills are accurate, they wont let you or the rifle exploit your abilities.

 

[Spook]

Ditto tightneck's advise, get used to the crunching sound,long drop tubes help to a point) when you seat.... if you have to shoot factory bullets Speer 125 tnt's have worked best for me but throw just enough flyers to leave you scratching your head.
Fowler,Scheider) had some pretty good 117's in stock.

 

[rangertim]

My first time out with my 30br,I started out with 34.5 gr off 4198 extreme some of BIBS 112 Molly's,a 324 bushing with a lot off jam, made one seating depth adj, after the 1st group,not bad" backed off jam, 1 mark on my Wilson mic top,shot a .96 I was amazed at how this round was so easy to tune. I have never changed a thing.