I have an 8mm/06 and am going to start loading for it again. It's been awhile. I previously had a bunch of rounds that had been given to me with the gun. They had been fireformed and loaded and presented to me. I only re-loaded these already formed cases.
My question is this....could I safely fire some 30/06 loads in order to fireform the cases to my 8mm/06 chamber? Or should I use empty 30/06 cases with a small load of powder and stuff the necks with wadding?
Your opinions and expertise are qppreciated.
It sure would be expensive and wastefull to fire 30-06 loads in your 8mm-06 to get brass!! Also it's not a good idea to do so.
Your only going up from .308, to .323, so why not get a "tapered expander" die and just neck them up that way??? Mine are from RCBS. These work very well for going up this small amount, and would be my first choise.
"If" you not going to do that, i'd use a fireform load with pistol powder, and toilet paper over the powder. BE SAFE fireing these, because they do have a lot of expanding gas comeing out, and ARE dangerous!!!
According to the Nosler #5 manual, just run your brass over the .323" expander ball and load with a 180 gr bullet. No fire forming is required.
This does NOT always work well, and that's why i recomended the "tapered expander" die.
Sometimes when just running them over a expander ball, it will leave the neck thicker on one side over the other, and many times you end up with slightly deformed necks that won't be properly formed untill after the first time they are fired.
I all depends on how soft ect. your brass is, and how picky you are.
Thanks for the responses.
For the record, I do have the 8mm/06 dies form RCBS and therefore have the proper sized expander ball. I'm not sure that it is tapered though. I will check this.
As said above, I have only reloaded rounds that were previously handloaded and fired in this gun. Therefore, the expander ball only had to do the job of a normal expansion....I wasn't jumping from the fired .308 to a finished .323, .. just from the fired .323 back to a finished .323.
Thanks for the replies. I think the acquisition of a tapered expander ball is the safest and best bet ... probably cheaper too in terms of time, effort, and powder. I think this will be the best way to attack this new bag of unfired 30/06 brass that I wish to load and put through the 8mm/06.
BTW, as advised I'll shy away from firing the 30/06 rounds through the 8mm/06. But I do have a steady supply of once fired 30/06 brass from my Savage 30/06. I've got a lot of brass to stuff!
Just wanted to post what the rcbs folks said to me in reply to my e-mail...below will appear my e-mail and then their response.....would like some of your input about their reply.........
My e-mail...
" Dear RCBS, I own a rifle in 8mm/06. I want to handload using some unfired 30/06 brass. I do have the RCBS dies in 8mm/06. Do I need a special tapered expander ball or expander die to handload from unfired 30/06 brass, or is the expander ball that comes with your 8mm/06 dies sufficient for this
necking-up process. I don't want to overly work the neck and end up with
more material/brass on one side or the other of the neck
Thanks for your advice
Their response was...."case forming dies not required - use sizer die in final caliber for
forming. That is what is recommended and should work fine. If you have any
problems - let us know - have a great day
Question....When they say "use sizer die in final caliber "..they must mean to use the sizer die AFTER using the first die with the decapping pin and expander ball but just to go far enough down with the ram to "neck-up" the .308 diameter of the unfired to 323...right??
Not too sure about the 8mm-06 but I used to from cases from .223 brass to 7mmTCU.
Using an RCBS 7mm TCU die, it would size the neck from .223 to .284 and decap the case.
Because of the slight difference in shoulder configuration, I would then re-prime the case and charge it with a moderate load, seat a 7mm bullet and fire form the case.
After that was done and being that I used this in my T/C Contender, all I did was neck size.
I don't think I would used pistol powder and tp as previously recommended. There should be more info somewhere on the web to help you in makeing your cases.
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Since I'll be using my 100 unfired and brand new 30/06 cases for this, I really only need to worry about necking it up, then final sizing the necks and them stuffing them. The first firing after that will complete the custom forming of the case to my chamber. I'm just trying to determine if the expander ball on my 8mm/06 dies is going to do the job of necking up from the .308 diameter to the .323 diameter.without undue stress. It was suggested above that I use a tapered expander ball for this...I guess i should take a good look at my dies to see if they appear more tapered than my other equipment.....duh! I guess the easiest thing to do sometimes comes last to mind. I'll check that out.
Location: NW Ohio , 5 min from Ottawa National / Magee Marsh
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RE: Fireforming question
I use the corn meal and bullseye method .
Prime the case
Drop powder in and fill the case 2/3 full of corn meal NO BULLET
Go out side and load the case with the muzel up and fire
The corn meal will form the case
I start with like 5 gr of Bullseye and work up till the case "fireforms"
I use 2 powder measures , 1 with powder and the other with corn meal
I use any odd primers
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Fireforming question
