Stupid at the reloading bench

[scott5]

Hello all;
I have to confess a dumb thing and a story!

A few days ago I took a shortcut while loading for my M1 in 30 06. I decided to just neck size 200 cases with a Lee neck sizer. As any of you long time reloaders know just neck sizing is not a good Idea, well in this case if wasn't. :banghead:

Well at the range with the Garand, some of them extracted but most didn't.
I even tried some in my Rem 700, with the bolt not going closed on some!!

Well I had to pull the bullets on about 180 cases, and since I found a bunch more 06 military brass I figured I'd load those up to.
So after about 10 hours work I have 350 rounds loaded up just for the M1
I'm ready for those deadly paper targets

On the next note I'm trying to shoot lead bullets for my Rem 700, and I've been using pistol powders like the load books say but the results are BAD.
So I will shoot the cast bullets abit faster, almost at jacketed speeds and give you all a range report the next time I go.

Now the story:I was telling my lead bullet woes to Sam at the local gun store, and he told that he was loading Clays for Smith mod 19 357 Magnum with 158gr. roundnose bullets
when on the first shot the cylinder blew up, or rather to the side tacking the topstap with it.
The metal went wizzing by two people and knocked out a truck window fifty feet away

He told me he thinks he double charged that load.

Well my stupid just cost me time, Sam's stupid cost a good revolver and a truck window, luckely nobody else was around.

I relate this story so that others will learn from my errors, and It hapens to the best of us.

 

[Majic]

As any of you long time reloaders know just neck sizing is not a good Idea,

Neck sizing is an excellent idea, although it could be troublesome in a semi-auto. What must be remembered is the fired case must come from one particular rifle and the reload is shot in the same rifle as the case has conformed to that one particular chamber.

 

[scott5]

Well in this case all the brass was either from the M1 or the Rem 700 and still either didn't fit the Remington or didn't come out of the M1 and tore part off of the shell at exstraction.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

neck sizing on a semi just ain't gonna cut it...

if you kept the brass seperate you could just neck size the brass for the 700 though...

 

[silverlance]

ppl who like to hand load hots

are why im glad i shoot in my own private corner...

i've had ppl shoot loads that audibly made the metal scream.

 

[John Deere]

One other point, you are trimming your cases aren`t you ?
On the 700, clean your bore down to bare metal, cast bullets don`t seem to like any copper fouling at all. Regards,

 

[scott5]

From John Deere"One other point, you are trimming your cases aren`t you ?"
Yes, I trimmed all the brass before I started.

I save the military headstamped stuff for the M1, and only the R-P, W-W Super, and the Winchester goes in the 700, and I only nedd to neck size for the 700.

I broke in the barrel of my 700 before I shot any lead in it, and when I cleaned it after shooting lead there was barley any lead left in the barrel.

I might have posted this before but I can shoot cast bullets out of my Dan Wesson 357 Magnums and my 9mm semi autos at jacketed velocities because I shot some cast bullets with MICA on them to polish the bore.

Before I used MICA I had to scape out a lot of lead

 

[Standing Wolf]

He told me he thinks he double charged that load.

I'll bet he's been checking charged cases ever since.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Neck sizing is an excellent idea, although it could be troublesome in a semi-auto. What must be remembered is the fired case must come from one particular rifle and the reload is shot in the same rifle as the case has conformed to that one particular chamber.

Couldn't have said it better. It is a good way to squeeze a little more accuracy out of a bolt gun/single shot, but tight fitting cases in an auto causes problems (as you now know)

 

[entropy]

Use small based dies for that M1. I just small based everything in .30-06 when I was loading for a 742 and 700, that way my Dad and I didn't have to worry about ammo interchangeability, or lack therof. And you wouldn't either, then.

I try not to use powders that it is possible to double charge with, and I immdiately seat the bullet after charging, or dump it and start over.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I try not to use powders that it is possible to double charge with, and I immdiately seat the bullet after charging, or dump it and start over.

Best way I have found to avoid double charges or squibs is to charge the entire batch and then look over the tops of all of them with a flashlight. An overcharged case in the middle of 200 properly charged cases stands out like a sore thumb.

 

[Art Eatman]

A good plinker load for the '06 is a 169-grain gas-check ahead of 20 grains of 2400. Gives about 1,800 or so. Shoots about a foot or so lower at 100 yards than a full-charge 150 jacketed. Trivial recoil.

, Art

 

[scott5]

Art wrote "A good plinker load for the '06 is a 169-grain gas-check ahead of 20 grains of 2400. Gives about 1,800 or so. Shoots about a foot or so lower at 100 yards than a full-charge 150 jacketed. Trivial recoil."

When I first started shooting cast in the 06, I was shooting about 20-24gr. of 2400 behind 170gr gas-checked bullet and it blew the primers out.

 

[Matt G]

Weighed charges? The pressure curve on pistol powders goes up pretty rapidly. While 2400 is a slow pistol powder, it's horrendously fast for rifles, and thus velocity can't ever get much above Art's 1800. There's no way in heck I'd throw charges or go in large increments up there. I note that you're talking about a slightly heavier bullet, with a significantly higher range of powder. Add in the fact that his bullets and gas checks may well have had a completely different bearing area for the driving band, and that his rifle will by nature have different tolerances than yours, and milage varies.

When I started loading pistol bullets (.357) in my .35 Whelen, I just used reduced rifle powder loads (RL15). I know that I missed the optimum, but it's fun to shoot 158grainers at about 1800. Again, trivial recoil.

MachIVshooter said:

Neck sizing is an excellent idea, although it could be troublesome in a semi-auto. What must be remembered is the fired case must come from one particular rifle and the reload is shot in the same rifle as the case has conformed to that one particular chamber.

Couldn't have said it better. It is a good way to squeeze a little more accuracy out of a bolt gun/single shot, but tight fitting cases in an auto causes problems (as you now know)

I completely agree.

 

[AZ Jeff]

The M1 is particularly hard on brass, in that it stretches the brass more than most autoloading rifles during the firing/extraction cycle.

Owing to this, neck sizing is NOT a good idea for reloading in the M1. Actually, I am surprised you got ANY of the rounds that were neck sized to fit into the chamber of the M1.

 

[P-32]

Yeah, and I don't use small based dies for any of my USGI M-1's. One is match tuned to shoot 308.

Use small based dies only if you need them as they will work the brass more than most rifles will need.