Handloads: .30 Carbine

posted on January 20, 2021
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
30carb.jpg

When my wife Gail and I were dating, I was pleased to discover that her father owned an Underwood M1 carbine and plenty of World War II surplus ammunition for it. By the time we married, I had seriously reduced that supply by plinking away at targets, cans and pinecones. Back then, surplus .30 Carbine ammunition was inexpensive and plentiful, but the bulk of it has since been shot to feed the 6.2 million carbines produced for the U.S. military during World War II. Commercial .30 Carbine ammunition is expensive, and because shooting an M1 carbine is so much fun, handloading is the answer to reducing costs.

.30 CarbineThe standard .30 Carbine bullet is a 110-gr. round nose. Weight can be varied some, but not the round nose. The Underwood carbine was manufactured in 1942, and has a smooth cartridge feed ramp, but flat or exposed-lead-nose bullets catch on the ramp and jam the closing bolt.

Propellant charges toward the maximum help to ensure that cartridges feed and cases fully eject. Hodgdon 110 is a standard propellant for handloading the .30 Carbine, and it produces some of the highest velocities with 110-gr. bullets. Lil’Gun and 2400 are also good choices. I loaded 15.7 grs. of Ramshot Enforcer and Sierra 110-gr. FMJ Pro-Hunter bullets to achieve 2067 f.p.s. from the Underwood’s 18" barrel, managing a 1.61" average at 25 yds. While I had my chronograph out, I also fired five rounds from my remaining store of surplus cartridges. Velocity for the surplus ammunition averaged 1919 f.p.s., with a 71-f.p.s. extreme spread of velocity over the five shots—pretty good performance for ammunition and an M1 carbine approaching their 80th year.

Latest

.308 Win.
.308 Win.

Handloads: A Quiet .308 Win. For Large-Format Pistols

Of the many commercial .308 Winchester loads, few, if any, are designed for barrels shorter than 16". The one that follows helps address this gap while remaining simple to suppress and light on the wrists.

Court Approves Watchtower Firearms DIP Financing

Watchtower Firearms was granted final approval for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in late June.

Review: Ruger LC Carbine In 10 mm Auto

Following the success of its .45 ACP-chambered LC Carbine, Ruger realized that this platform would go a long way toward making the 10 mm Auto more controllable and fun to shoot, and a new 10 mm version was released in 2024.

The Armed Citizen® July 14, 2025

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Favorite Firearms: A Little Stevens From Chicago

"Over the next five or six years, and before I went off to college, I fired hundreds and hundreds of rounds of .22 BB Caps, CB Caps, Shorts and Longs through this rifle."

Preview: Strike Industries T-Bone Charging Handle

The T-Bone from Strike Industries is an ideal fit for suppressed applications, as it can be configured by the user to redirect gas blowback entirely to either side ...

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.