Headspace Question

[Footsie80]

Ask around among your shooting friends in your remote area and see if anyone has a .35 Whelen or .338-06 die they will loan you. (I reckon a .358 Win or .338 Federal die would work too.
Anneal your case necks (all you need is a propane torch or even a candle - plenty of online instructions).
Then run the whole hundred cases over the expander ball in the borrowed die to neck them up to .358 or .338, and give the die back to its owner.
Now you can carefully sneak up on the perfect fit in your chamber by sizing them back down to a crush fit with your 30-06 die.
This is the no-cost option that will save all these cases for you. From there, you can fire-form them without even needing a bullet using the "Cream of Wheat" (COW) method. Google that too for instructions - I do all my .35 Whelen Improved cases using the COW method.
Jamming a bullet in the lands with the cases as is would work too.
I know all the above has already been suggested, I just wanted to expand a little on it.

Good luck with it.
Rex

I think I know a guy who loads .338, so I'll give it a go during these long, cold nights. Cheers!

 

[TRexF16]

Yeah, good point, even a .338 WM die would probably be capable of necking up a 30-06 case - worth a try anyway.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I wouldn't jump too soon on the guy that sold the brass to you. Waiting on some 30-378 dies but this is 2 different brands of brass never fired I was given to work with from a friend I'm doing load work up for

The shoulder position is moot, these cases headspace off the belt, so it changes nothing.
I can safely fire a 375H&H round in my 375Bee with no issue, the shoulder not only elongates, but expands outwards pulling brass from the neck to fill the void, never had a separation or other faults due to this.
Minimal sizing of .001" keeps brass going a long time once it is formed.

Cheers.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Get a K&M neck expander in 338.

Anneal neck, expand to 338, size in your FL die just enough you can close the bolt.

Fire low end load. It will fit your rifle with minimal case stretch.

With a decent anneal you should have a long case life.

 

[K9TXS]

I like this discussion but have a little problem understanding some of this.

When the case is necked size up and then resize it to where it was, how does this help the shoulder? It seems like you're back to where you started.

I've saved some case that were not head spaced properly and want to fix them. Some shooters tell me to load up some rounds with only about a half charge and that should blow the shoulder out (fire form) to where it needs to be. Similar to the COW method. I just hate to waste the additional components required to do this.

 

[PddPdd]

K9TXS,

I believe neck sizing up the case, that has too short of headspace dimension, makes it fit snugly in the chamber so it won't move forward in the chamber prior to reshaping (via firing a moderate load).

I'm not sure if this is necessary but I would probably anneal this case before sizing up the neck and again before loading/firing to make it easy for the brass to deform to your chamber dimensions without any splits/cracks.

 

[TRexF16]

I like this discussion but have a little problem understanding some of this.

When the case is necked size up and then resize it to where it was, how does this help the shoulder? It seems like you're back to where you started.

I've saved some case that were not head spaced properly and want to fix them. Some shooters tell me to load up some rounds with only about a half charge and that should blow the shoulder out (fire form) to where it needs to be. Similar to the COW method. I just hate to waste the additional components required to do this.

K9TXS,
After necking up the case, you don't size it back down to where it was. You only size the neck back down to the point where the bolt will just barely close with some resistance. This is called forming a "false shoulder."
Once the false shoulder is set at the correct point, one can use either a normal fireform load, with a bullet, or the COW method to blow out the shoulder back to where it belongs. The false shoulder jammed into the chamber's neck/shoulder junction keeps the case head against the bolt face during the firing pin strike and initial charge detonation.
Definitely DO NOT load a bullet and a "half charge" of powder. Depending on the powder (slow powders = bad) this can be very dangerous.
So you can see how this could also be accomplished with the unmodified, badly headspaced cases, by just loading a bullet over-long so it jams the lands and holds the case head against the bolt face.
I think the false shoulder is the better option - more positive.

Cheers,
Rex

 

[K9TXS]

K9TXS,
After necking up the case, you don't size it back down to where it was. You only size the neck back down to the point where the bolt will just barely close with some resistance. This is called forming a "false shoulder."
Once the false shoulder is set at the correct point, one can use either a normal fireform load, with a bullet, or the COW method to blow out the shoulder back to where it belongs. The false shoulder jammed into the chamber's neck/shoulder junction keeps the case head against the bolt face during the firing pin strike and initial charge detonation.
Definitely DO NOT load a bullet and a "half charge" of powder. Depending on the powder (slow powders = bad) this can be very dangerous.
So you can see how this could also be accomplished with the unmodified, badly headspaced cases, by just loading a bullet over-long so it jams the lands and holds the case head against the bolt face.
I think the false shoulder is the better option - more positive.

Cheers,
Rex

Thanks for the information. I understand now.