.30 Luger

Will, I've tinkered with a 1920 Luger .30 with a 4” barrel for the last 15 yrs or so...off and on. It's an interesting caliber...hard to get a good crimp because of the thin case but accurate nevertheless. As a start, factory W-W loads had jacketed bullets that were .309” in dia. and shot 1.75” gps at 25 yds with 1174 fps velocity. I was unable to find any WW jacketed 93 gr FMJ's for reloading but did get a thousand of Remington's from Midway on a close out many years ago.

I've tried a variety of lead and jacketed bullets with it. Here are some of my results. Most of this work was done at least ten years ago. In my current experience, I think that Win 231 is now a slower batch than what was available then. Be careful as you work up loads in that regard. I do my load testing, shooting from a sitting position, knees up with the gun extended between my upright knees. With a good back rest, my groups are generally better that way than shooting off bags. Too, this Luger had the 'barley corn' front sight and shallow notch rear making a good sight picture difficult. That said, here are some of my notes.

The old Bull-X 100 gr cast SWC @ .310” shoots well, and cycles ok with 3.6 gr of Win 231...inch+ gps at 25yds.
Lyman's 311249 sized .310” out of WW sweetened with a little tin and pushed by 3.2 gr of Bullseye went into 1.5” at 25 but wouldn't eject.
Hornady's 90 gr Swagged SWC .32 bullet gave me 2” gps with 3.0 gr of Bullseye and also ejected well. Didn't check the dia. on this one, but they're soft enough that a roll or taper crimp is possible.

With Jacketed bullets, Sierra's .32 85 gr JHP's with 4.5 gr of 231 gave me 1.25” gps and good ejection. Remington 93 gr FMJ's from the last of Midway's offerings and 4.0 gr of Bullseye went into 1.5” at 25 yds...I used a taper crimp on this bullet. Remington 110 gr Carbine bullets with 4.2 gr of 231 and Winchester Sm Rifle Primers also shot 1.25+” gps. This particular combination is a pain to load and get a decent crimp because of the smooth bullet and its length. I tried a CH canelure machine to get a groove with mixed results but accuracy went to he--.

Over all, .32 cal. bullets, either cast or jacketed, seemed to work fine. Pressure indications with the above prescriptions were normal and ejection patterns were similar to the factory rounds. I never slugged the bore on my Luger when loading for it....makes me wonder now...I'll have to do that at some point.

Reloading for it was a trial and error process. The bottle neck case is thin and it's tough to get a crimp that will hold the bullet tight enough to prevent set back on the feed ramp. Jams were infrequent on the Luger's smooth feed ramp but cycling the action required a fairly healthy shove from the powder.

Leading didn't seem to be an issue even with the swagged Hornady's but then I wasn't shooting 100 rounds in testing. My gun has a fair barrel as far a pitting goes but it's evident that it's crown is still ok considering the gps it shoots.

HTH's Rodfac