3 days of work figuring out how to size the brass

C

Clark

New member
How can it take 3 days?
Lots of mistakes.
Make one pint of dummy rounds... each one an experiment in chambering or concentricity
30-06 brass is 2.494" long max
270 brass is 2.540" long max
6.5-06 brass is 2.504" long max
So 270 brass necked to 6.5-06 needs to be trimmed, but 30-06 brass does not.
But until I figured that out, I kept pushing the shoulder further and further back on the necked down 270 brass to try to get it to chamber.
You might be thinking that is why I cut the bottom off the RCBS small base 270 die. Not really. I had to do it.
Then I got the RCBS trimmer for 6.5 set up. That is a pain, but in the end I do not use it. I switched to 30-06 brass.
Lee does not make an off the shelf 6.5-06 collet neck die. I figured the 6.5-06 is just 0.4" longer to the base of the neck compared to a 260 Rem case, so I made a 0.4" bushing on the lathe. But the mandrel is too short and does not center in the flash hole.
So at the end of 3 days of struggling trying to make concentric dummy rounds, the process I settled on is:
Use once fired pressure tested FC 30-06 brass from St Marks.
Lube with imperial wax.
Size with RCBS 6.5-06 die
Sizer with RCBS 270 small base with shortened bottom
Size again with RCBS 6.5-06
Chamfer inside the mouth
Seat 142 gr Nosler long range partition with Hornady sliding sleeve seater.
3.506" OAL to reach the lands
3.34" to fit in the magazine
 

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  • cutting off the bottom of RCBS small base 270 die 7-31-2015.jpg
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  • 6.5-06 from 270 getting trimmed in mill 7-31-2015.jpg
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  • 6.5-06 with a pint of dummy rounds 7-31-2015.jpg
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270 brass is 2.540" long max
6.5-06 brass is 2.504" long max
So 270 brass necked to 6.5-06 needs to be trimmed, but 30-06 brass does not.
But until I figured that out, I kept pushing the shoulder further and further back on the necked down 270 brass to try to get it to chamber.
Click to expand...

http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd6506.jpg
Click to expand...

And now more work, change the name to 6.5/270. A friend sent me some information he thought would be of interest. SAAMI changed some names and dimensions. My question had to do with how all the information effected me, I have reamers, dies, cases and chambers.

F. Guffey
 
Then it has to be decided the length of the chamber from the shoulder of the chamber to the bolt face. The 270 is .051" longer than the 30/06 from the shoulder/datum to the bolt face. But in case length there is .041" difference.

F. Guffey
 
Relieved

Me, I'm just glad to know that stuff like this occasionally happens to people FAR more knowledgeable in the field than me.
 
I was really getting tired running between there reloading downstairs and the shop upstairs and out the door.

I needed a way to keep track of the sizer die adjustment.
 

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  • 6.5-06 adjusting sizer diel 7-31-2015.jpg
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Clark, I checked the image. I believe this is the second time I have seen you use the height gage. I have one that is identical to it, it is the lightest of four, the heaviest is 35 pounds. When adjusting dies I set up on the top of the press and or off the shell holder.

Nice table.

F. Guffey
 
I did not pay big $ for the pink.
A dot com bust biz had race cars on the side.
There was one machinery bankruptcy auction after another in the greater Seattle area in 2001.
I got that granite for next to nothing.
 
Auctions, not so lucky. Unfortunately, around here, the sale comes after the death of someone in the gun/reloading community. And that reminds me, I need to get busy. Three of us went to check on equipment, I ask the price of a tool, after getting a quote I said, "That is not enough". They decided to do research first.

Thanks,

F. Guffey
 
Clark, why so hard? I bought new .270 winchester brass and ran it through my 6.5-06 die, then trimmed and trimmed and trimmed some more......yep that sucked alright.... Finally chucked that trimmer in my cordless and boom, 50 pieces of brass trimmed to 3.484.
Then tested each umprimed brass to make sure it chambered, and that I set my die up right....
Now I have over 100 pieces of brass that have their own coffee can to keep separate from .270 win.....
 
hooligan1,
OK, i just tried 270, and that works well too [0.002" runout on bullet, rolling on shoulder], now that I have it working for 30-06.

Thursday I thought I could bike in 90 degree heat, and I was passing up bicyclists half my age, but the radiant heat coming off the pavement at 3 p.m. cooking me and I had to park under a tree and cool off. Maybe I dried up my brains like Don Quixote. Or maybe as a reloader, I am just past my prime.

When I enter that ballistic coefficient of 142 gr Nos Long range bullets into Quickload and Quicktarget, it looks like a 675 yard gun before the 200 yard zero drops 8 moa. I feel motivated.
 
Thursday I thought I could bike in 90 degree heat, and I was passing up bicyclists half my age, but the radiant heat coming off the pavement at 3 p.m. cooking me and I had to park under a tree and cool off. Maybe I dried up my brains like Don Quixote. Or maybe as a reloader, I am just past my prime.
Click to expand...

Washington, west coast? I thought there was a better chance of rusting than tanning.

F. Guffey
 
Day 8, I got 100 rounds loaded.
I had to make a 0.289" neck, 17.5 degree shoulder 7/8-14 thread home made neck die to prep the brass for the RCBS 3 way trimmer pilot.


The chamber has 2.530" neck space. That is 20% of the range too much for a 6.5-06 A square per SAAMI and 80% of the range too little for a 6.5-270.
I bought a 6.5-05 Asquare reamer, but I can see now it does not meet SAAMI specs. I am not complaining. The more neck space the better.

Yesterday I stopped my bike and sat under a tree to cool off. Some woman stopped and tried to help me. I was suspicious but realized later how bad I looked. I am 64 and have been overheating my brain exercising too hard in a heat wave, and cannot get organized and make decisions to load a new cartridge.
attachment.php

link below same as pic above
 

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  • 6.5-06 100 rounds loaded and homemade .289 17degre neck die 8-8-2015.jpg
    6.5-06 100 rounds loaded and homemade .289 17degre neck die 8-8-2015.jpg
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Clark,

Lee Precision will make you a custom collet die.

Send them 2 fired casings, and $80 and they will make to your specific chambering.

Just for future use...

Oh, and turn around has proven to be 2-3 weeks.
 
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