22 views no responses in the 6.5 forum

[TTE]

Okay! The last step is knowing how much to turn your necks to get .003-.004 clearance in your chamber neck.

Is this determined by seat of your pants neck turning ?

 

[ncageneral]

This may or may not be helpful, back when I was just as broke as I am today, I used to take 30-06 down to 25-06 on a regular basis. I could pick it up in any dirt pit in the county as everyone had a 30-06. You aren't necking it down as much as I was, it seems to me the necking down part you may be over thinking. But then again, I am no expert. Just seems you're doing a good bit of unnecessary work for the same outcome. Annealing can't hurt.

 

[Ringostar]

You say that you’re leaving a false shoulder which I would agree with before fire forming. However I have to ask, How would you neck turn ahead of fire forming if using a false shoulder? Also, Starline makes good 270 brass which would save you steps and money.

 

[TTE]

You say that you’re leaving a false shoulder which I would agree with before fire forming. However I have to ask, How would you neck turn ahead of fire forming if using a false shoulder? Also, Starline makes good 270 brass which would save you steps and money.

I have some Starline 270 brass, but the supply is limited and they are asking about the same price as Lapua 06 brass. When I used Norma brass, they chambered without neck turning.

However, I could neck turn them before they got sized down to 6.5 if I had to (a trial and error approach).
IF they will chamber I will neck turn them after fire forming and annealing.

 

[Willie]

Is this determined by seat of your pants neck turning.

No! You need to know your chamber neck I.D. to start. If you don't have a reamer print, you can get close if you have a couple of cases fired in your chamber. Measure O.D. of fired brass neck and add .001", it'll be close.

When you know that, we can figure out how much to turn the necks, to get be it
.003" or .004" total clearance.

I hope you are aware that you need a ball micrometer to set up your neck turner, calipers won't do the job.

 

[TTE]

you need a ball micrometer

Have one. Thanks for your reply

 

[Willie]

I have often turned my necks prior to setting a false shoulder on my wildcats
by knowing my chamber neck ID from a
reamer print. I prefer to turn new brass generally. Your choice.

 

[bozo699]

TTE,
I agree with RegionRat on post #9 however I do have a silly question? Why do you need a false shoulder on a ackley chamber?… now my 6.5-06 is just a hunting rifle so the length wasn’t so important to me so I necked up Winchester 25-06 brass and simply loaded and fired, annealed and loaded from then on with my AI die no false shoulder. I think your smart using Lapua brass. I also agree with another poster using a bushing die to get you from .308 down to 6.5 again just curious about the false shoulder?…. RegionRat you can chime in on that too seems your pretty knowledgeable on the subject
Wayne

 

[bozo699]

You say that you’re leaving a false shoulder which I would agree with before fire forming. However I have to ask, How would you neck turn ahead of fire forming if using a false shoulder? Also, Starline makes good 270 brass which would save you steps and money.

I fireform 6brx from 6br brass I use a false shoulder so I turn my neck prior to creating the false shoulder works perfect
Wayne

 

[TTE]

TTE,
I agree with RegionRat on post #9 however I do have a silly question? Why do you need a false shoulder on a ackley chamber?… now my 6.5-06 is just a hunting rifle so the length wasn’t so important to me so I necked up Winchester 25-06 brass and simply loaded and fired, annealed and loaded from then on with my AI die no false shoulder. I think your smart using Lapua brass. I also agree with another poster using a bushing die to get you from .308 down to 6.5 again just curious about the false shoulder?…. RegionRat you can chime in on that too seems your pretty knowledgeable on the subject
Wayne

I want to make sure the brass is tight against the bolt face when fire forming to avoid any possibility of the cases developing a separation problem.
I just want to make sure I am doing everything properly as best I know how, or as stated previously, learning from the members here.

Mine is a hunter as well,
1947/48 Winchester Model 70 action, Bartlein barrel, Jewell trigger McMillan stock. Built by SAC

 

[bozo699]

I want to make sure the brass is tight against the bolt face when fire forming to avoid any possibility of the cases developing a separation problem.
I just want to make sure I am doing everything properly as best I know how, or as stated previously, learning from the members here.

Mine is a hunter as well,
1947/48 Winchester Model 70 action, Bartlein barrel, Jewell trigger McMillan stock. Built by SAC

Sounds like a nice setup buddy!…. P.O Ackley designed his chambers so you could fire factory ammo in them but maybe your chamber is cut different idk. I do understand your thoughts I wouldn’t want any failures either. I for sure would anneal at least after ffing if you have an annealer would be a good idea to before and after since your working the brass quite a bit with your sizing process, best of luck I’m gonna follow your post as I’m curious if your outcome
Wayne

 

[RegionRat]

RegionRat you can chime in on that too seems your pretty knowledgeable on the subject
Wayne

You are on point either way. You can neck up to 6.5-06 from a smaller caliber, and get very good results, and you can also neck down the way OP is doing. Most times, you can get an AI without lots of steps, but here the OP is doing two things at once, reduction from .30 cal to 6.5mm, and also blowing out to AI.

They should be easy enough to headspace without worrying about stretching them for that first shot.

I get his point with wanting to use Lapua, but I will add that we had a 2 year drought with Lapua 30-06 that only ended in October. So banking on Lapua has required long planning. Even finding the 6.5 140 grain Berger VLD Hunting bullets hasn't been easy lately.

For the trouble, it is an amazing cartridge. Faster than a 6.5-284 and was doing something like 3200 FPS.

Also, somebody mentioned 25 cal. I was always impressed with the terminal ballistics of the 25-06, but then the AI version with the more recent heavier bullets came along and I was again very impressed with the smack it put on deer and elk.

 

[TTE]

wanting to use Lapua, but I will add that we had a 2 year drought with Lapua 30-06 that only ended in October.

I got 300 cases the other day. Should do me for awhile.

I will be back here with reports once I get to load testing. Have to get out to the range next week and fire form some brass. I think a medium load on the first go round. Second trip a bit more powder, third a bit more, before ladder testing.

 

[ebb]

The reason you got no response at 6.5 forums is that they all shoot Creedmoor's and they all shoot perfect from day one and never need to be tweaked.

 

[TTE]

The reason you got no response at 6.5 forums is that they all shoot Creedmoor's and they all shoot perfect from day one and never need to be tweaked.

Yeah ... there are good cartridges and bad cartridge, fast cartridge and slow cartridges, standard cartridges and odd ball cartridges. But, they all have one thing in common ....... each have a special place in the owners heart for whatever reason.
Good or bad, the owners will vigorously defend why their choice is/was not a turkey.

However, I also believe with good components, when knowledgeable and skilled machinists are employed to assemble them, with reasonable or extensive reloading procedures they have something else in common. They will perform and shoot well.

Performing and shooting well is a subjective statement, because it means different things to different people.

My rifle is and was built to be a hunter, not a competition rifle.
Does that mean I don't care about sub 1/2" accuracy or want to take extra steps to make it shoot really well ? No, I want it to shoot as good as it can (the old saying, I want it to out shoot me).

I have been reloading a long time, but have learned more in the past few months about reloading, than I have in the previous 30 years. I am open to learning about how to do things better when it comes to reloading. There are many, many members here with tons more knowledge than I about how to do things properly and freely give their advise ............. that's why I joined
Cheers

 

[bozo699]

You are on point either way. You can neck up to 6.5-06 from a smaller caliber, and get very good results, and you can also neck down the way OP is doing. Most times, you can get an AI without lots of steps, but here the OP is doing two things at once, reduction from .30 cal to 6.5mm, and also blowing out to AI.

They should be easy enough to headspace without worrying about stretching them for that first shot.

I get his point with wanting to use Lapua, but I will add that we had a 2 year drought with Lapua 30-06 that only ended in October. So banking on Lapua has required long planning. Even finding the 6.5 140 grain Berger VLD Hunting bullets hasn't been easy lately.

For the trouble, it is an amazing cartridge. Faster than a 6.5-284 and was doing something like 3200 FPS.

Also, somebody mentioned 25 cal. I was always impressed with the terminal ballistics of the 25-06, but then the AI version with the more recent heavier bullets came along and I was again very impressed with the smack it put on deer and elk.

Thank you , that sounds reasonable. I agree with the 25-06 it’s a amazing round in itself, I have always loved mine
Wayne

 

[jepp2]

I followed your same steps in going from 30-06 Lapua to 25-06. I turned the case necks before firing. Here is what they looked like. Notice how the neck shoulder junction moved to the shoulder.

 

[alf]

You're flying blind w/o knowing what the neck dimension is of your chamber.

Ask the builder or do a chamber cast.

I anneal new brass right out of the box, and again after necking down & before fireforming.

Depending on dimensions, I prefer to do a skim cut on virgin brass prior to necking down, and turn a 2nd time for final dimension.

 

[TTE]

You're flying blind w/o knowing what the neck dimension is of your chamber.

Ask the builder or do a chamber cast.

I anneal new brass right out of the box, and again after necking down & before fireforming.

Depending on dimensions, I prefer to do a skim cut on virgin brass prior to necking down, and turn a 2nd time for final dimension.

Print says .2980 for the neck.

I have 50 - 270-06' cases done. Will anneal them again today, then size them down to 6.5.

I have gotten a few PM's with differing advise.
Some say trim the cases, some say don't trim the cases. What is the consensus on trim or don't trim ?

I think I will try the cream of wheat method for the first firing (pros ... cons on this )

Thanks again to all that reply.

 

[bozo699]

Print says .2980 for the neck.

I have 50 - 270-06' cases done. Will anneal them again today, then size them down to 6.5.

I have gotten a few PM's with differing advise.
Some say trim the cases, some say don't trim the cases. What is the consensus on trim or don't trim ?

I think I will try the cream of wheat method for the first firing (pros ... cons on this )

Thanks again to all that reply.

TTE,
Cream of wheat works I’ve used it on wildcats based off the 6br case quite a bit back in the day but it’s messy and remember your barrel still gets very hot so keep a eye on that, also you can build quite a bit of carbon up in the neck and throat area so you may have to keep a eye on that also
Wayne