prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
Has anyone used this brass? Prices are good. The imperial and Browning can't be current production, any ideas on how old it is?
Higgisons powders 30-06 brass. Imperial, Browning, metallverken
- Thread starter prairie lover
- Start date
I've used a lot of the Browning 300 Win they used to have, and some although a lot less of the 30-06 and 243. It is very tough brass, primer pockets are durable. If it's primed, do yourself a favor and decap it and throw those away, unless you want to use just them for plinking or fireforming loads. Brass needs a good cleaning.
I recently (last week) dug out some of the 30-06 BRW brass to try with a Superformance load I was working on. ( 3150 fps with 165 Sierra Gamechangers
compared to the Rem I was using the case weights were almost exactly the same but the internal capacity is slightly less on the browning. That came into play with the heaviest loads on powder compression.prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
I've used a lot of the Browning 300 Win they used to have, and some although a lot less of the 30-06 and 243. It is very tough brass, primer pockets are durable. If it's primed, do yourself a favor and decap it and throw those away, unless you want to use just them for plinking or fireforming loads. Brass needs a good cleaning.
I recently (last week) dug out some of the 30-06 BRW brass to try with a Superformance load I was working on. ( 3150 fps with 165 Sierra Gamechangers
I have used there browning 30-06 brass, just need a few 100 more. I have a few reloads on it and no issues. Was wondering how good the other stuff is. That imperial has got to be pretty old too eh? Any info I can find on the browning stuff says 80s manufacture.
Imperial brass is good brass. I believe it was made by CIL
A good thing to do with old brass is to wet tumble them clean and then anneal them before sizing/reloading them
I just did a batch of old CIL dominion 30 rem brass and they look like new
A good thing to do with old brass is to wet tumble them clean and then anneal them before sizing/reloading them
I just did a batch of old CIL dominion 30 rem brass and they look like new
GunsNotPuns
CGN frequent flyer
I use Metallverkan 8mm Mauser brass and like it -- still have some in regular rotation. Any Metallverkan probably isn't newer than the mid-60s as they merged with Norma around that time.
Metallverkan 308 is good brass, it's certainly better than current Remington or Winchester from my measurements. I found the Norma (Browning) 30-06 to be on the soft side. Old Norma had a rep for that. I tossed some unused as it had aged out and turned copper coloured. But at that price, what the heck.
prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
I've used a lot of the Browning 300 Win they used to have, and some although a lot less of the 30-06 and 243. It is very tough brass, primer pockets are durable. If it's primed, do yourself a favor and decap it and throw those away, unless you want to use just them for plinking or fireforming loads. Brass needs a good cleaning.
I recently (last week) dug out some of the 30-06 BRW brass to try with a Superformance load I was working on. ( 3150 fps with 165 Sierra Gamechangers
What issues have you seen using the primers?
Dogleg is right. I wouldn't use the primed cases for hunting.
I had a fellow come to see me with some 300 Win Mag cases and he had two misfires, right when he least needed them last fall.
I've had this happen, not from Higginson's with other primed, bulk cases myself.
Another issue is you don't know the burn rate of the primers to load accordingly.
I just toss them, or give them to newbies to reloading to practice with, then shoot but not for hunting. I find there's a 1-2% failure rate and from others I've spoken with, they've had similar issues with pre primed brass
I had a fellow come to see me with some 300 Win Mag cases and he had two misfires, right when he least needed them last fall.
I've had this happen, not from Higginson's with other primed, bulk cases myself.
Another issue is you don't know the burn rate of the primers to load accordingly.
I just toss them, or give them to newbies to reloading to practice with, then shoot but not for hunting. I find there's a 1-2% failure rate and from others I've spoken with, they've had similar issues with pre primed brass
A lot of misfires. I figure that if a lot aren't working there's gotta be quite a few that barely worked. I never found a load with the mystery primers that didn't improve with Feds or Wins, and I could have driven past good loads that were hidden behind poor ignition. Before the world went upside down the math worked out to a buck for the powder, a buck or so for the bullet, and a buck for the barrel every time the guns went bang so trying to save 3 cents on the primer just didn't make sense. Today it might make some for plinking loads or something.
prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
That's no different than my current brick if 2 year old cci 250s. I've had 2 duds the last 50 shots. Wouldn't go off in 2 different guns. Yes brass is headspaced right and yes primers are seated properly. Before this I haven't seen a primer issue in 10s of thousands of rounds.
Yeah, that sounds like CCI primers alright. In a world where new striker springs are nine bucks and primers are 50 cents you might want to try a new one.
prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
Brand new model 70 and tikka t3x so I doubt we can blame the guns. Multiple hits on same primer no bang. Pulled bullet, deprimed case, put in a new cci 250, dumped powder back in, seated bullet and it went boom both times.
You should ask Longwalker about his brand new M70 375 H&H, the misfires and the striker spring swap. A spring is a few degrees away from being a wire. They are cheap, easy to change and here's the coolest part: even if they aren't the problem they can still be the solution especially with extra strength versions.
I'm quite content blaming the CCI primers, but what with supply problems and crazy pricing I can understand why someone would want to use what he already has.
A spring is a few degrees away from being a wire. They are cheap, easy to change and here's the coolest part: even if they aren't the problem they can still be the solution especially with extra strength versions.I'm quite content blaming the CCI primers, but what with supply problems and crazy pricing I can understand why someone would want to use what he already has.
prairie lover
CGN Regular
- Location
- southern MB
You should ask Longwalker about his brand new M70 375 H&H, the misfires and the striker spring swap.
I'm quite content blaming the CCI primers, but what with supply problems and crazy pricing I can understand why someone would want to use what he already has.
Bolt lift does seem light on both my model 70s. Where does one get springs? Wolff says there's do not fit the post 2008 rifles.
The newer springs are different, and not that easy to find. The good news is the one from a short action Remington has the same inside and outside dimensions, and the same wire size. The only thing different is the length, but cutting a few coils off with side-cutters will fix that.
While we're off-topic, I've got a recent striker spring story that I'm running out of people to tell.
I've had MRC in 300 Win for years that was never particularly accurate despite trying a lot of loads and changing everything but the serial number. It wasn't bad, exactly, but definitely not what you're looking for in a 10 pound rifle with thousands invested. It was OK with 185 Berger Classic Hunters and IMR 4831, but just OK. The rifle sat in the back of one of the safes most of the time as a slightly embarrassing disappointment.I've been on sort of a marathon load development, and gun tweaking mission since fall with a fair bit of success. The MRC rifle eventually came up, and since it was sort lackluster I didn't feel like wasting 215s on it. I swapped to Win LRM because I have lots and started the process over. The first thing that I noticed was misfires were occurring with alarming regularity, when I quit it was around half. That's not all bad; because at least I had something concrete that I could work on. The MRC is basically a Model 70 copy but the spring is slightly different than an old style M70. I had some extra strength David Tubb branded springs from speed lock kits that were likely made by Wolff. The primary difference is the length, which was easily resolved by cutting about 4 or 5 coils off. Can't remember exactly; I took a guess then continued snipping until I could barely get it back together. The misfires were instantly eliminated, when I went back shooting the exact same test loads that were still sitting in the block. It helps when the shooting bench is only 40 feet from the reloading bench, it probably took longer to type this than to do the swap. Anyway, the first 5 shot group that was mostly just a function test at this point, went into the same hole at 130 yards and things have been great ever since. Now it wants to shoot everything.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Dogleg, I still may need some more mentoring / coaching about the firing pin spring in my M70 Alaskan .375. I seem to have eliminated the misfires after installing the new factory warranty replacement, but the bolt lift is still kinda weak and firing pin dents in spent primers are "minimum" in my opinion. Because this rifle may be used for dangerous game at some future date, I want more confidence that it will always go boom. I'll send you a text, let's have a visit some time.
I'm thinking you have a bad batch? It happens.
The newer springs are different, and not that easy to find. The good news is the one from a short action Remington has the same inside and outside dimensions, and the same wire size. The only thing different is the length, but cutting a few coils off with side-cutters will fix that.
While we're off-topic, I've got a recent striker spring story that I'm running out of people to tell.
I've been on sort of a marathon load development, and gun tweaking mission since fall with a fair bit of success. The MRC rifle eventually came up, and since it was sort lackluster I didn't feel like wasting 215s on it. I swapped to Win LRM because I have lots and started the process over. The first thing that I noticed was misfires were occurring with alarming regularity, when I quit it was around half. That's not all bad; because at least I had something concrete that I could work on. The MRC is basically a Model 70 copy but the spring is slightly different than an old style M70. I had some extra strength David Tubb branded springs from speed lock kits that were likely made by Wolff. The primary difference is the length, which was easily resolved by cutting about 4 or 5 coils off. Can't remember exactly; I took a guess then continued snipping until I could barely get it back together. The misfires were instantly eliminated, when I went back shooting the exact same test loads that were still sitting in the block. It helps when the shooting bench is only 40 feet from the reloading bench, it probably took longer to type this than to do the swap. Anyway, the first 5 shot group that was mostly just a function test at this point, went into the same hole at 130 yards and things have been great ever since. Now it wants to shoot everything.
Dogleg, this is really good information, especially for newbies.
Many here will just shrug this info off, because they just don't know how important spring tensions behind a firing pin can be and the issues created.
I had a slick Antonio Zoli, licensed copy of a Husqvarna 1640. The action was butter smooth, the trigger let off like a dream and it handled very well.
The main issue it had been tucked away was the best groups were never under 2-3 moa. It was chambered for the 30-06, the bore sharp, maybe a couple of hundred rounds through it.
I was the fourth owner. The previous owners were all very up front about this rifle's poor accuracy and that's why is sold cheap. $250. Even if I had to rebarrel it, that was cheap.
The barrel dimensions, including the chamber, were tight and the axis of the bore was properly aligned with the chamber/bolt face. It should have shot moa or less.
I set that rifle aside for two years, then one day it called to me from the back of the safe, wanting attention.
I should have twigged onto the light bolt lift as soon as I first handled the rifle.
One of the things that was done back in the day was to use a lighter firing pin spring or cut some coils off to help with sear let off.
The spring in this rifle's bolt was weak. It was weak from the factory and showed no signs of being cut back.
I had a spring from a scrap M96 bolt that fit perfectly and had much more force behind it. It was also made of larger diameter wire.
After the swap, everything just came together and that hand little gem, much better finished than the Huskies, shot moa if the shooter did their part.
It wasn't even fussy about ammo.
