I emailed Thompson Center for the case max and trim lengths for the 30-30 AI. They kindly replyed that I should buy their reloading manual. I haven't found one around here. Does somebody have a TC reloading manual with the 30-30 AI information in it you could share? Thanks.

i have one of the books but the30-30ai is not in it dated 1997
fourth edition
sorry i cant help.
larry

The 2004 Sixth Edition doesn’t have it (30-30AI) either. Who made the barrel? If TC made the barrel I would put them on the spot. Be nice about it, but their customer service has become less than desirable… and that is an understatement.

I am starting to have fun with them, we will see how it goes.

your not going to find the AI in most load manuals so like TCman said I'd call them back. the only info I can find on it is a case length of 2.00" but no OAL and the load data I have is all flat point bullets for lever action rifles. I know a couple guys on here shoot the AI so they may have some more info.

Cartridges of the world has the case lenght of 30-30 AI at 2.040"

Handloader's Manual for Cartridge Conversion has the lenght at 2.00"

Custom Cartridges has the lenght at 2.00"

The regular 30-30 Winchester has a case lenght of 2.039".

Looks like a 40 thousands inch diference between referances. If you barrel was made AI from a regular 30-30 the trim lenght would be ok at 2.040".

Overall lenght would be subjective with which bullets you are using and especially if you are loading in a TC product.
Hope this helps.

people seem to over complicate things imo. an AI is made to shoot the parent cartridge, so the parent cartridge trim length(30-30 in this case) is just fine. look at 30-30 max case length. if while fireforming they shorten up, then even them up at that length.

cartridge oal....make it fit the barrel. max cartridge length is meaningless in a single shot.

........just to say what tigger said in a different way...lol!

I trim My 30-30 Ack to 2.00. I load 125 gr nosler bt boat tails.

Lars

Thanks for the replies. I was looking for a max case length and not the overall length. I decide that on each bullet/cartridge as long as they feed in the firearm intended.

It is a TC factory barrel. My concern was on case stretching and pressure spikes as my chamber is tight to begin with, should the case expand beyond the neck area.

As I will be neck sizing as much as possible, it may not be an issue.

I was just looking for a quick answer from TC since it was their barrel. Their e-mail response did surprise me. My only experiences with customer service has been with Ruger. I think they spoiled me.

maintain standard 30-30 case length and you will be fine. cutting them shorter than that will really not help anything.

herretman....is your barrel tight necked? mine is a factory 14" n it has a tight neck. i had to turn the necks a lil on some cases. wow!...huh?...on a factory barrel. i may have had a few cases with necks on the thick side, but she's still tight for a factory barrel!

I measured about a dozen of my fireformed cases and they are between 2.014 and 2.018 so case length probably will not be an issue. I wasn't thinking about the parent case length. Thanks.

It is a factory barrel. I actually got it new in the wrapper on gunbroker for $150.00 a little over a year ago.

It has a tight chamber. I am using new winchester brass with 308 jacketed bullets. They come out about 2 thousands bigger after I fireform them. I tried a couple of my cast bullets which are at 310 and they won't chamber.

I am VERY happy with it. Although I have only shot some fireform Winchester 150 flat points I picked up cheap with 32 grains of 3031, it Easily shot them under an inch. I'm looking forward to some real loads soon.

I use parent case trim length in my TC .30-30AI and had no problems. As to customer service, since being bought by S&W, it's REALLY gone down hill, IMO.

TC EMAILED ME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course their answer was already given by you guys. Thanks Kyode.

ANSWER: Same as parent case, 30/30.

you did not have to email them. i don't say things that are not true.

I emailed em before I asked you guys.

Next time I'll save the embarrasment and skip em and just ask you guys first