Question for military shooters 30-06

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  • Last Post 06 November 2013
Longone posted this 10 October 2013

Is there one brand of brass that is preferred for the 06 over others? And do you do any special prep other than flash holes chamfered, primer pocket uniforming etc.

Thanks, Longone

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72coupe posted this 10 October 2013

I prefer the Match head stamped Lake City. But any of the Lake City brass is good when processed.

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muley posted this 10 October 2013

Longone, I prefer the winchester brass. It is somewhat softer. I prep as u do and also shoot my loads for group. any cases that do not stay wiyhin a reasonable group are set aside and tried again later. I believe u could sort any cases the same way. Jim

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onondaga posted this 11 October 2013

My 1903A3 30-06 shoots all over the place if bullets are less than .310” diameter, I size .3105” for a sliding fit when chambering and rifle shoots less than 1/2 inch at 50 yards with Mil. peep sight.

I use Win Brass, Lee Collet Neck sized, CCI #200 LR primers and bullets seated to engage the lands .010"

The Lee C312-185-1R sized .3105” with 42 Gr H4831SC  is my best shooting load.

Gary

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RicinYakima posted this 11 October 2013

Longone wrote: Is there one brand of brass that is preferred for the 06 over others? And do you do any special prep other than flash holes chamfered, primer pocket uniforming etc.

Thanks, Longone

If money is no object, Lapua is good enough to shoot as it comes.

I have 98 Winchester cases I neck turned and uniformed the primer pockets in about 1992 that I used for Hi-Power shooting. They have been loaded about 50 times, necks stress relieved 4/5 times, and I am still shooting CB matches with them.

I have 200 LC Match cases that had the above treatment, except no stress relieving, that have been loaded maybe 15 times and still going strong with no cracked necks.

Target below was shot with the WW brass when it have been loaded about 30 times.

FWIW, Ric

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Ed Harris posted this 11 October 2013

Very best brass is Frankford Arsenal Match. Lake City Match is also good.

With M2 Ball brass, after swaging primer pockets, uniform flash holes and primer pockets, size, trim to length and deburr, then sort by weight to within +/- 1.0 grain within a batch and lightly turn necks to 0.013” just to kiss any thick spots. This for use in accurized Garand.

Some lots of TW cases I have '53-'55, were as uniform in sorting as LC Match. Like Ric I reanneal after each 5 reloads and cases last a long time. Lapua or Norma brass or FA56-62 match can be run as-is. LC62-67 Match can be run as is. Everything else I prep and sort.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Longone posted this 11 October 2013

72coupe wrote: I prefer the Match head stamped Lake City. But any of the Lake City brass is good when processed.

That's good to hear as I've seen a lot of promise from LC Match and also LC 69. Do you anneal after a certain # of loadings? I have sorted brass to +or- .5 grain but I wonder about neck thickness and how it releases the boolit. Some FC brass that I neck sized only shot poorly and you could also feel more effort was needed to withdraw the case over the expander ball. The LC seemed to be far more consistent from that standpoint. Has anyone tried the Nosler or Hornady brass?

Longone

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72coupe posted this 11 October 2013

I have a lot of LC68 and it seems more uniform than some of the other years.

I tried neck turning but in my rifles it made accuarcy worse. Neck turning made my standard deviations in velocity go wild.

My 3006 rifles are a 1903A3 that shoots 1 inch with 26 grains of 4198 under a 150 grain Hornady fmj and an M1 Garand that has been match prepared and an M1D sniper rifle that also shoots very well.

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Longone posted this 11 October 2013

"I tried neck turning but in my rifles it made accuarcy worse. Neck turning made my standard deviations in velocity go wild."

I wonder if you were to anneal that brass if it would make the numbers more uniform again?

Longone

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72coupe posted this 11 October 2013

Longone wrote: "I tried neck turning but in my rifles it made accuarcy worse. Neck turning made my standard deviations in velocity go wild."

I wonder if you were to anneal that brass if it would make the numbers more uniform again?

Longone Sierra suggested that but the SDs never went back down to what they were before turning.

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RicinYakima posted this 11 October 2013

My neck turning is about like Ed's; just enough to take off the high spots. I have an old Wilson tool that lets you set it in very small amounts. Ric

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billwnr posted this 11 October 2013

I use Lapua and a Redding bushing die for neck sizing. Should make the cases last just as long as the .30 BR cases.

I did not see the need to turn the necks as they are within .001. Lapua cases are close to $1 each.

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72coupe posted this 11 October 2013

A friend of mine use the same Lapua 3006 cases for 15 years in his Garand. Finally he began to get a lot of neck splits and retired them.

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Ed Harris posted this 12 October 2013

If he re anneals those cases he can use them still!

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Longone posted this 12 October 2013

Ed Harris wrote: If he re anneals those cases he can use them still! They would most likely give up just from the total number of primers being pushed in and out. Which kinda leads us to the next question. If you are sizing your boolits to.309” what size expander do you use? I have done some playing and my best results have come with .001” over boolit dia. I currently use the RCBS system to expand the necks and have read some about the Lyman “M” die but don't know if it comes in different sizes or one for 30 cal. If someone can enlighten me I would appreciate the first hand knowledge.

Longone

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Ed Harris posted this 12 October 2013

I size and decap only without pulling an expander button through the neck. I use the RCBS .309 expander plug to expand necks, and a Lyman VLD reamer to inside mouth chamfer cases. The RCBS expander is set to lightly flare mouths so that the base band or GC can be hand started into the case about 1/16". I normally use .311” bullets in the '06, as this is throat size in typical chambers. Rifles which have been shot a great deal get .312"

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Longone posted this 12 October 2013

Ed,

Have you ever loaded a .311” boolit and let it set a day or two then pulled it to see if the “sized dia. had changed? Just curious if the dia. had shrunk as a result of the neck tension.

Longone

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swed6.5 posted this 13 October 2013

A, to much of any thing can be bad, if u load em single shot i would stay on the lighter side of n tention. I also have some LC 69 lot that has been fired well over 20 times never a failure. As far as some having inconsistancies with turning is normal on 1st firing in most cases.and some say the same of anealing is true but if u tune and aneal the same every time u wont have a variable the next firing.the most important thing is to keep a consistant regimine of prep every time,and always aneal before sizing.

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Ed Harris posted this 13 October 2013

Longone wrote: Ed, Have you ever loaded a .311” boolit and let it set a day or two then pulled it to see if the “sized dia. had changed? Just curious if the dia. had shrunk as a result of the neck tension. Longone

Yes, I have. If cases are re-annealed every 5X there is no problem. If cases work harden and are not re-annealed you do size the bullet in seating if sized more than about 0.0015” smaller than bullet diameter AND if bullet is softer than 10 BHNB. With harder bullets 12+ BHN is not an issue.

But to answer the question, I do not use an expander larger than .309” for cast in the '06 as is not necessary. I do use a .312 expander for 7.62x54R and ,303 British where I am using .313-.315 bullets.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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Uncle Russ posted this 15 October 2013

After 5 or 6 trips through a M1 or M1A the rims and case heads are so battered that you can barely read them. As an Army gunsmith once told me “Those weapons weren't designed to reload the brass.” I have always believed him. Anyone elses thoughts?

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Ed Harris posted this 15 October 2013

If the rims are battered and distorted you are loading too slow burning a powder and too hot, or the rifle is out of time, or both. I have LC Match cases which have been through an M1 or M1A dozens of times which are not beat up.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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