Stevens 28-30-120 “Stumpy Rifle” is range ready

* 50 Rocky Mountain Ctg Co brass
* 50 CCI SR Primers
* 50 Accurate 28-120B 1:20 bullets, 125gr - clone of the Ideal 287221 bullet
* 25 reloads of 30gr DuPont 1F black powder
* 25 reloads of 15.7gr IMR 4198

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Slumlord - because it was the original load for the 28-30-120 cartridge:
Cartridges of the World, Obsolete American Rifle Cartridges - 8th Edition
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Not mentioned but the 120gr bullets were the Lyman 287221, which I had Accurate Molds clone.
Accurate to 300yds and was a favorite cartridge of Harry Pope and 'other fine barrel makers'. Pope even said it was better than the 32-40

This looks like something that's going to send me down a deep, dark hole.   I've been going through the different boxes of brass trying to find a cartridge to make this from.  Donnelly says there isn't anything out there even close I haven't got to Nonte's book yet - I think there is one that will require some serious swaging and then nibbing to get the length.  The 30 remington?  What did Pope use? turned brass?
Slumlord, do you have brass for this?

I just got a supply of 223 basic in for the 25-21 and 25-20 SS projects. Now this... and I have a 28 caliber barrel blank too!
Greg

uscra112, great word. From your vocabulary, or looked up? I needed to look for it. Here's an attaboy for it.

Swingeing means severe, excessive,  or similar for those of you that thought it was just a misspelled word.

John Boy
Your 28-30 project is exciting, in a single shot rifle sort of way. Please let us know how your shooting tests go.
I noticed you prepared loads of Fg and IMR4198, have you considered duplex loads of those two powders? Perhaps 3 to 3.5gr 4198* as priming charge and the remainder black? Back in the day, nearly all top tier match shooters used duplex loads to reduce barrel fouling. Duplex will shoot as well as straight black but with less fouling.

*IMR 4227 and SR 4759 are also good choices for duplex for Schuetzen-type cartridges.

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RSW - the curiosity got to me and boy, was I wrong ... off to the basement bullet trap with the MagnetoSpeed chrono:
* 1F DuPont = 1134
* IMR 4198 = 1310
Hello duplexed black powder. Believe the 300-MP charge has to be on the light side. Overall, published fps for the 28-30 caliber I read is 1500 fps!

The .224 Weatherby case is still 1/2 inch too short, as I read Barnes.   And swaging down that base would be a real project.  The 6x70 is just .006" smaller at the base than the .28-30, and it's a whole 1/4 inch longer than the .28-30 case.  Moot point, of course, unless more shows up in the marketplace.

Here is a picture of a bullet and some of the powder taken from original UMC 28-30-120 loaded rounds.  With all due respect to Frank Barnes, the powder is definitely not Fg.

And 1Fg compared with the reference velocity of 1400 fps, 1134 fps doesn't even come close
Oh well, a learning experience with this caliber.  Even the 4198 charge at 1310 fps doesn't come close to the stated 1510 fps

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Dales, good information. Why?
Alliant 300-MP burn rate is right in there with IMR/H 4227/4198 and a little slower than H110. So using 15.7gr of 4198, I'll drop down 10% and work my way up to where the rifle likes good accuracy
Thanks
As for the cork wad - on or off the powder column?

4227 is working good so far for me. Of the pistol powders mentioned, it seems generally more stable in reduced capacity loads and light bullets. Probably due to having more bulk, better fill, and generally takes a bit more powder to reach the same velocity.

4198 has a better fill, but leaves more unburned powder behind.

If your velocity is that much lower than a reliable prediction, I would capture a bullet and look for excessive carbon fouling in front of the base. Look for the same behind the neck of your brass. The pressure has to be going somewhere.

Also check the volume of the brass. My UMC depending on trim length, hold 38-39 grains of distilled water by weight. They are a bit short for the most part.

If using Quickload for estimates, I always have trouble with cast bullets matching predictions without making adjustments, and one of its shortcomings (or mine because I can’t figre it out) is that it does not recognize the pressure increase when you jam a bullet in the lands. It will allow for a negative seating depth, 1/16” in front of the case is input as -0.0625”. But pressure and velocity drop in the program, when measured velocity actually increases.

For what it’s worth, I’m using 12.6 grains of 4227 with a 135 Hoch bullet seated .080” ahead of the case. Velocity is in the low/mid 1500’s. I am sorting through some rifle and sight issues, as well as casting, but in general three shot groups are 3/4” at 50 yards. Tang sight, off bags. Load development really hasn’t even started other than picking a likely powder.

I wish you the best of luck on the primers. At least in this neck of the woods zero. Maybe somewhere on line, but then have to deal with good old Haz Matt!!!

Just to be a bit contrary; has any one tried two part  assembled cases?
Brass tubing plus machined base,  solder together with medium strength silver solder.
Might work well for those long narrow low pressure cases. Or course, this would need to be tested with appropriate safety precautions. 

Many years ago there was a lot of European made .308 brass that had smaller than normal flash holes and gave significantly better SD's.  Just a comment.

Wondering out loud about powders. Maybe H110 on the fast end and 1680 on the other.
There have been comments about 1680 giving nasty muzzle blast so it may be too  slow.

I shot a 28-30 at Coors in 1983, where ?? showed and told me about making cases from 30-06. Not easy, but he said he did it.

Hello, Looks like a fairly old post so I hope I will get a reply, I am new to this forum and am looking to buy an 1882 Maynard improved model 16 which has been modified to caliber 28-30-120. Am looking into making brass in order to see if the  equipment I have is capable. Drawn up the cartridge based upon a chamber cast and the end result was better than expected. Also I would like to shoot this rifle, when I can get my hands on it, with black powder. Anybody out there that does the same?

Greetings

Mountaineer

Hello Waterman,

Thanks for the reply, have you ever tried black powder as propellant? Are you using std small rifle primers or magnum?
Attached is a picture of the first cartridge I made, used 223 brass, shortened and made the ID uniform for soldering a brass tube into it. Enlarged rim is made from a brass ring the rim of the cartridge as well as the ID of the ring ar threaded M9x0,5 and solderd after assembly.

I’ll add my 2 cents. Several years ago, I had Paul Shuttleworth barrel an 044 1/2 action and chamber it for 28-30-120. He donated some wood. I had Jerry Barnett cut a mold for me. From the first, it shoots great, 11gr IMR4227, Bertram brass, Federal small rifle primer, & 131gr cast 20 to 1.
Mike

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Kindly add me to the "Friends of the .28-30 club." 

I purchased a late 1882 Maynard a few years back. The barrel wore an "S" lever and a forend, so I suspect it was originally for a No. 16. It had been a .25-20 SS (I think), but a legend stamped on the top flat of the breech says, "Rebored and re-rifled by the Stevens A&T Co." 

It's in .28-30 with a fine bore. I had Accurate cut a mold for me, and SBoomer here was kind enough to trade me a few cases. I just recently began shooting it, and I think it's going to shoot well. 

I mounted an MVA "B" scope to it, and have it rough zeroed at 100. My five good cases are reloaded, and I will get to try for a group when the rain stops. I'm loading 2.5 grains 4227 under enough 3F black to set the bullets properly in the case. 

I didn't want to drill into that legend on the breech, and as the barrel had a dovetail cut there (probably from a Malcolm or similar mount), I milled a piece which fills the dovetail and allows me to drill and tap into it rather than the barrel. 

Regardless, that .28 Stevens is certainly a pleasant cartridge to shoot!

Here's mine along with some cases I made as mentioned back in reply #4.  I haven't tried any duplex loads but 1F and 2F weren't favorable in any of my trials.  Pushing a pill from a Hoch 128gr nose pour with 3N37 VV around 1280fps gave me some very accurate results.  More trials yet to come before the next match.

I'm turning into a big fan of this cartridge.

GT

Greg, 
Another question. 

With all your machining experience and equipment, have you ever tried turning brass?
Bob

bobw wrote on Jul 20^th, 2025 at 1:26pm:


Bob, yes they are.  I'm working on an article about making these for the Journal.  Laurie asked if I'd do this and include lots of pictures as a tutorial...    We'll see how I do.

I have turned brass, even wrote a couple of programs for one of my machines, made a few 25-21SS but using the correct brass matters, in the trades it's called cartridge brass, C260 and $120 will get you about 9' of 3/8" diameter stock.  I feel it's far more labor intensive to make than my swaging and nibbing processes.
GT

Is there any information on the number and width of the lands in a 28-30 Stevens rifle? I have read that they are fairly small? Is this correct? Attached a picture of the muzzle of the rifle I am looking at

It's too bad this case has slipped into obsolescence as it is a fascinating cartridge. I mean it's just sexy like a rocket.

Rick

Attached is a picture of the Maynard 16 Improved I just brought home with me. Caliber 28-30-120 Maybe done by Stevens when they bought over the Maynard factory in 1898 or 1899 as is mentioned in the 1900 Stevens catalogue. Rifling close to perfect! Action looks like it has been redone but I also saw a picture of a Stevens action with similar case hardening. Now start the project to make the brass. Will keep you posted

This is my Winchester highwall barreled by H M Pope in28/30. It is number 369 in Rowe’s Hartford book.This is the kit also.

A few pictures of the chamber cast I made: At the tip there is a piece of brass rod that was machined to the diameter of the lands, at the front surface there is a centerhole drilled. At the rim end I machined a piece of brass that fitted in the chamber, the ID is threaded in order to hold on to the cerrosafe. Two opposite sections are removed so I can measure the diameter of the chamber just under the rim. The rim section has the thickness of the actual rim. All dimensions can de taken from the rim this way. Plan is to assemble cartridges using a shortened .223 Rem case with the ID slightly enlarged. Brass tube is machined so it will fit the Rem case with a gap big enough for soft soldering or glueing. Maynard soldered their brass also in the past and some airplanes a fixed with glue... The chamber cast can be used on the lathe (chuck and tailstock center) to set the correct angle of the compound rest with which the taper of the cartridge will be machined.

And a picture of the complete chamber cast