- Location
- Western Manitoba
A head's up - a case made too short can chamber easily.
9.3x62 for 9.3x57 brass
- Thread starter Hmatt
- Start date
A head's up - a case made too short can chamber easily.
Well I did as you suggested I trimmed till it would chamber then trimmed the rest of the batch to that length.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Maybe we are thinking different lengths? I was referring from bolt face to shoulder of case - if you are "trimming", you are referring bolt face to front end of case mouth - that should have circa 0.010" clearance or so within it's chamber - you do not want it "tight" to the case mouth, but you will want it fairly close to the case shoulder - like within circa 0.003" or less.
Yea we are, I understand what you’re saying now. After I read what you said I tried to chamber one, didn’t chamber so I pushed the shoulder back a bit(not exactly sure how much) tried again. Didn’t chamber, then I pushed it back again about the same about and it chambered, I then pushed the shoulder back on all 20 to that. They’re in the media currently then I’ll try chambering all of them. But if one fit.. they all should?
I have limited tooling and knowledge so I’m really learning on the fly here lol.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
If one fit, they all should - I think. That assumes that none relax at all, or they all relax the same. As per posts above though - just getting them to chamber might have the shoulder pushed back too far - you want to find where just smidgeon adjustment on your die in your press is difference between too long and just barely pushed back enough to chamber - is easy enough to go too short and think all is okay.
Do not get caught up in an intermediate measuring device - your rifle's chamber is your gauge - it fits properly or it does not - your die will probably get you there. Neck length is not really critical so long as not too long - can be 0.100 too short without major consequence - but length to shoulder is reasonably critical - is known as "head space" dimension - is typical that a new chamber will be between GO and NOGO gauge - that is 0.004" length difference. SAAMI and CIP often specify a Minimum length to that headspace datum - often 0.010" more than Minimum is their Maximum - so is not much between too short and too long. When you are making brass, do not worry about SAAMI or CIP standards - make your brass fit your chamber.
"Make your brass fit" - does NOT mean that that it only chambers - it means that it is neither too long, nor too short.
Rough rule of thumb - your standard dies will be 7/8" diameter by 18 threads per inch - hence about 0.055" per full revolution. Half a turn on the die body is about .028". 1/4 turn is about 0.014" - you want to get in the 0.002" to 0.003" range for case shoulder length - a very small part of revolution of the die body.
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Well I have some 1F 8x57 necked up fired from my Rifle. I am going to compare it to, aswell as some factory Norma 9.3x57.. I was also only turning my die down like 1/8 of a turn each time.
Well, perhaps back on track here fellas.. making some 9.3x57 brass out of 30-06 Winchester today.. seems to be going quite well. No split necks so far.. trimming the 30-06 down to 57 mm, running through the sizing die 1 full rotation back, in proper place. Next step will be trimming them back down and resizing again. Things seem to be going quite well.
The finished brass shoulder on the pics looks good to me, if it chambers well.
I know to some, the 9.3x57 "shoulder" looks unfamiliar in compare to other cartridges but that's how it supposed to be.
In post #77 you can see a re-formed case that has shoulder "indents". I'd avoid that at all cost.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
For what reason should those indents in case shoulder be avoided "at all costs" - I have had them occasionally - too much lube on the case or built up within the sizing die - I had thought they were inconsequential - would simply blow out when that round was fired - but maybe was something that I had missed??
Here is a finished product, beside a round from a batch I have fired from my rifle with good results.
Here is a finished product, beside a round from a batch I have fired from my rifle with good results.
Nice, thanks for the follow up.
Do you buy them factory loads like that? It's better to have the case indented, ehh?
This was also my thought also. used the Lee “cream” style case lube as I didn’t think the spray would be adequate, and the excess lube was the reason for indents.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
I have not bought shouldered centre-fire cases from a store in at least 20 years or more, so I wouldn't know what gets sold or bought today. I did not write that indented cases were "better" - I wrote they were "inconsequential".
As I recall - I would buy a box or two of shells - I did not inspect each case before I bought them.
I generally use imperial sizing wax for most brass reforming jobs. But yes, those indents are likely from excess lube. They will iron out on firing, and when you resize next time, just use a little less. - dan
Remember to trim the brass to length after sizing as well..
- Location
- Western Manitoba
There is a tin of that stuff in the drawer - I never used it, yet - maybe will make my life easier, if I try that stuff. I still use old school roller lube pad - happens to be Lyman brand - and RCBS Case Lube-2 - I roll maybe 5 or 6 cases at a time - for some specific jobs I will use q-tip and put tiny amount of case lube around inside case mouth - is common enough here to re-form brass without an expander ball in the die - re-install the expander ball stem and then "push up" on case to expand the case mouths with the expander - was from somewhere (likely a John Barsness writing) that "pulling" the expander through can stretch the case body. I think that article was about reducing case run-out - he was reporting that he got much less neck runout when he pushed cases "up" versus pulling then "down". I noticed that uber clean stainless pin tumbled brass is much harder to "pull through" that expander - as if not so clean brass with remnants of "soot" inside the neck act as lube?
The imperial wax works well, and a very, very little goes a long way. I usually run a brush through the necks of my cases for just the reasons you mention, makes quite a bit of difference in effort required. - dan
Already done, by the time I finished my sizing and chambered the brass. I compared the length to factory 9.3x57 and it was within .005, lucky I guess?
Interesting. I always run my cases through my dies before cleaning.
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- Location
- Western Manitoba
I have read that some people do that. I have a couple ways to de-prime before I tumble the brass - an old-school "punch" from ancient Lee Loader kits, and RCBS De-capper dies that apparently do not touch the case walls. Since I got the stainless steel pin tumbler, I de-prime the cases before I tumble them - my idea was to try to also clean out the primer pockets at the same time - I understand that some do not bother.
Once the case is re-sized in the die, it goes into a "spinner" in a battery drill - I trim to length (or at least check the length) with a Lee Case gauge thing. Then touch with a chamfer tool, if it was trimmed at all - then use a wet / damp rag against the spinning case to wipe off the RCBS Case Lube-2 lubricant - on to the next one. For sure, that is not a "high volume" process!!! Prepping 150 or 200 or so brass like that, is usually one session. Another session is to insert primer, dispense powder and seat bullet.
