• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

6BR- Ackley Improved 40 degree

I think most of the issues are self inflicted, head space or a week spring. I have run some very high pressure to see if I could hit the next node and again no issues....... Jim
Now that you and Alex mentioned it, I did have some soft strike issues on CCI 450's and did change the original Borden supplied FP spring to a higher rate Gre-Tan (same issues in both actions and solved with stiffer spring). I have not revisited the Fed 205M"s since.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kvd
Now that you and Alex mentioned it, I did have some soft strike issues on CCI 450's and did change the original Borden supplied FP spring to a higher rate Gre-Tan (same issues in both actions and solved with stiffer spring). I have not revisited the Fed 205M"s since.

Did you notice any increase in pressure needed to lift the bolt after firing with the stiffer spring?
 
  • Like
Reactions: kvd
Did you notice any increase in pressure needed to lift the bolt after firing with the stiffer spring?
If you install a stiffer spring the bolt will open harder. No free lunch. Theres a minimum amount of energy we need for reliability and accuracy. I dont like to walk the line, I prefer to not have these kinds of issues. If a guy knows how to roll open a bolt with thumb on the shroud a little stiffer opening becomes of little importance.
 
Did you notice any increase in pressure needed to lift the bolt after firing with the stiffer spring?
Yes....like Alex replied...no free lunch. I shoot F-class so I always have time cycle the bolt in a manner as to not upset the gun in the bags so it is a trade off well worth it for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kvd
These are Federal GM205M primers and I can't say I've ever heard they are not durable enough to withstand the pressures of routine 6BRA loads.

I guess all that was required was a little prompting and the skeletons came out of the closets regarding blanked Federal primers!

On the one hand, it is good to know I didn't do something drastically wrong loading wise to end up with this condition. As has been stated somewhere in this thread or on this forum, fire forming 6BRA brass is not particularly complicated.

On the other hand, this conditions points to the fact that the rifle's action is not up to snuff. This action had a 6PPC barrel on it when I bought it and may have been "really" setup for that cartridge. Possibly a lighter firing pin spring was added or a few coils removed from the stock spring to facilitate faster and easier bolt cycling that worked with the CCI BR-4 primers that are typically used with that cartridge. I had a few failures to fire with the 6PPC and BR-4's but was able to solve the problem by adjusting the sizing die for a little less headspace. I was getting ready to try BR-4's next but Alex is right - feeling sheepish about using any primer that will produce the best accuracy is lame.

So the bolt is off to Alex (https://www.wheeleraccuracy.com/) for some TLC and a new Bix'n Andy trigger is on the way to replace the damaged Jewell. If there is a lesson to be learned here it is to have one's rifle checked out before switching out a barrel to a heavier caliber - especially if you're not totally familiar with the rifle's history. What may have marginally worked for a smaller cartridge like 6PPC may be wholly inadequate for a larger cartridge that will work with the same boltface diameter.

Happy Shooting................Ken
 
Wondering if anyone has put a glued action up on the firing line next to a non glued action and noticed a difference in shot groups?
 
Wondering if anyone has put a glued action up on the firing line next to a non glued action and noticed a difference in shot groups?
2 different guns, different barrels, different everything. Not going to tell you anything. I have taking good rifles and improved them by gluing. Thats your best test. Take a rifle with a track record change nothing but the glue in and see what happens. I glue/screw 90% of my builds. At BEST, a PERFECT bedding job MIGHT equal a glue in. The only down side to a glue in is the mental block, which we are working on :)
 
2 different guns, different barrels, different everything. Not going to tell you anything. I have taking good rifles and improved them by gluing. Thats your best test. Take a rifle with a track record change nothing but the glue in and see what happens. I glue/screw 90% of my builds. At BEST, a PERFECT bedding job MIGHT equal a glue in. The only down side to a glue in is the mental block, which we are working on :)
Alex, are you scuffing up bottom of action with sand paper and buffing up current bedding to let glue adhere, also what are u using for glue? Assuming glue must be applied very thin as to not mess with the quality of bedding?
 
Wondering if anyone has put a glued action up on the firing line next to a non glued action and noticed a difference in shot groups?

I'd rather have me glued into one those days where the groups are small and perfectly centered, without any "aw sh--ts"!
 
2 different guns, different barrels, different everything. Not going to tell you anything. I have taking good rifles and improved them by gluing. Thats your best test. Take a rifle with a track record change nothing but the glue in and see what happens. I glue/screw 90% of my builds. At BEST, a PERFECT bedding job MIGHT equal a glue in. The only down side to a glue in is the mental block, which we are working on :)


I hope to be able to offer some insight on this in the coming months. It's a mental relief for me not having to worry about action screw torque or getting something between the action and bedding when putting it back together. Now, I can't take it apart so I don't have to worry about that.
 
I hope to be able to offer some insight on this in the coming months. It's a mental relief for me not having to worry about action screw torque or getting something between the action and bedding when putting it back together. Now, I can't take it apart so I don't have to worry about that.
What glue or epoxy are you using? Are you scuffing up bottom of action and bedding for adhesion?
 
Now that you and Alex mentioned it, I did have some soft strike issues on CCI 450's and did change the original Borden supplied FP spring to a higher rate Gre-Tan (same issues in both actions and solved with stiffer spring). I have not revisited the Fed 205M"s since.

Had one failure to fire today FFing bra in a Panda action with 450's. First time. Match loads use BR4s or 400, so I had not noticed any problems till today. Today completed FFing the new batch of brass for my bra#2. First tuning tests later this week. Hope it shoots as well as the first. Steve
 
Tried out my 6BRA dies for the first time. I had a Forster 6 Dasher full length die shortened by 0.082" and the neck honed. Seems to be a very good match for my reamer specs (which closely mirror Alex's reamer print for base/shoulder diameter). I ordered the die from Forster shorter by 0.080" but it wouldn't quite bump the shoulder so had to take the last 0.002" off myself. Forster is advertising making the 6BRA dies as 0.082" shorter so it seems like others may have had the same experience as me.

I'm getting 0.0006" sizing at the base of the case after first firing, .4703 fired down to .4697 sized. Shoulder diameter goes from 0.460 down to .4585". Bumping the shoulder 0.001 to 0.0015 gives effortless bolt close. I had the neck of the die honed to .265 for no turn Lapua brass, current manufacture. I run a Sinclair carbide turning mandrel as my final expanding step to set neck tension. Neck expands about a half a thousandth to hit a final measurement of .2655 with 0.002 neck tension.

Runout is essentially zero, very consistent straight cases even though I'm doing it on a Dillon 550.

Happy with the choice of Forster dies, something to consider if you're looking at the varying die options.
 
Tried out my 6BRA dies for the first time. I had a Forster 6 Dasher full length die shortened by 0.082" and the neck honed. Seems to be a very good match for my reamer specs (which closely mirror Alex's reamer print for base/shoulder diameter). I ordered the die from Forster shorter by 0.080" but it wouldn't quite bump the shoulder so had to take the last 0.002" off myself. Forster is advertising making the 6BRA dies as 0.082" shorter so it seems like others may have had the same experience as me.

I'm getting 0.0006" sizing at the base of the case after first firing, .4703 fired down to .4697 sized. Shoulder diameter goes from 0.460 down to .4585". Bumping the shoulder 0.001 to 0.0015 gives effortless bolt close. I had the neck of the die honed to .265 for no turn Lapua brass, current manufacture. I run a Sinclair carbide turning mandrel as my final expanding step to set neck tension. Neck expands about a half a thousandth to hit a final measurement of .2655 with 0.002 neck tension.

Runout is essentially zero, very consistent straight cases even though I'm doing it on a Dillon 550.

Happy with the choice of Forster dies, something to consider if you're looking at the varying die options.

Thanks for that info! That’s exactly what I ordered for myself about 2 weeks ago.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
165,799
Messages
2,203,693
Members
79,130
Latest member
Jsawyer09
Back
Top