Getting ready to reload 6.5x52

[ebb]

A friend ha a Carcano blow up using Hornaday factory ammo. Oversized means no hity target undersized means a trip to the ER. Just saying be careful, know the size of the bore before loading.

 

[RegionRat]

A few thoughts while stuck on a flight after reading your posts…

I see your budget comments about recovering from a split and will say you may need to learn to slug the bore and inspect the chamber and overall safety yourself since paying a smith will not be free.

The book by Calfee on rimfire accuracy has some words on slugging with soft lead that should be within your skills and budget. The concepts and techniques for a center fire are identical, just the slug diameter is larger. I strongly recommend you run this inspection before you go looking for bullets and let the results guide your search.

With the bore study, you could minimally get by without the chamber casting but you will still need neck diameter for safety. Again, in a perfect world you would have the chamber cast study done but since you mention that even adding an inexpensive common rig isn’t in scope, then this can be handled with a self taught neck diameter and headspace inspection on your own.

It wouldn’t be as good as a chamber casting done by your gunsmith, but you can learn to judge the functional safety with a little homework and do this yourself inexpensively just like the above.

As long as you know the headspace, neck diameter, neck length, and understand the bore diameters, you will be able to determine if you have a safe standard rig, or one of the strange variants that needed ammo to match in order to be safe.

Over the long term, I still would say you will want to save up for a decent center fire that runs common low cost ammo along the lines of a 5.56, 6.5, or 7.62, and learn reloading and functional safety for internal ballistics without the difficulty of the rare Mil-Surp issues, and then slide into those topics as you gain skills and experience.

If you live near a well stocked library or university with a good engineering or technology section, it is possible in many places to borrow some very good text books on gunsmithing and obscure surplus topics for free. This way you can learn without breaking your budget. Texts like these are expensive to purchase, so finding them in a library is like free money.

There are also some dedicated experts on the Mil-Surp forums that you should find. They are a rare breed but have a passion for their specialty that results in a wealth of background and advice.

I hope you can get your life back together and wish you luck with the Carcano but play it safe no matter what you do. YMMV

 

[dellet]

There can be hidden benefits in starting to load obscure cartridges, it’s called research and risk.

If the first shot has the potential to blow the relic up and your face off, research is what limits your risk.

I started reloading from necessity, antique rifles with no available factory ammunition, at a time long before internet ease. Literally no information available. Networking was through magazines and clubs, writing letters and eventually phone calls.

What I found once forums like this started popping up, was that the attention to detail and caution that kept me safe, is the same attention to detail used by the successful and respected folks posting here.

There is a bit of wildcatting that goes on shooting old and or military rifles. There is no real guarantee the chamber and bore meet the specs on paper. Chamber casts and slugging the barrel not only give you a baseline for cartridge and bullet dimensions, but pushing a lead bullet or slug all the way through the barrel will show loose and tight spots. A 2” section where the bullet has no resistance, could be bad rifling, could also be a bulge and a weak spot.

Starting low and working up, takes on a new meaning. Low pressure loads are easier on the brass and forming to the chamber, but also limit case separations and catastrophic failures. Some of the brass I use is well over 100 years old and fired countless times. Chasing velocity when brass is impossible to replace or time consuming to make changes your attitude about loads that loosen primer pockets.

Good books on the basics, and "advanced techniques" are a must. There will also be plenty of information out there and probably a subforum dedicated to your exact rifle or cartridge. Plenty of things to keep you safe.

Quickload would be a wise investment, working up models and seeing what pressures you might be reaching and how they build, is something that can be invaluable with cartridges that have little printed information.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you “that’s a bench rest technique, you’ll never need it” or “that rifle can’t shoot well enough to need it”. Turning necks for accuracy and turning necks for safety are done the same way.

Knowing where your bullet hits the lands, base to shoulder length to insure proper headspace, case capacity, load fill ratios and powder burn characteristics, are all things that some people who assemble cartridges will tell you aren’t needed for hunting ammo, only the benchrest guys waste time with that. Those are exactly the things that keep you safe.

Ammunition assembled, hand crafted, for extreme accuracy, is probably some of the safest ammo you could ever shoot.

A long ramble about some things I have changed my thinking on over the years.

It's the attention to detail and the tools that can measure accurately that in the long run will keep you safe and on target.

 

[mace2364]

I guess maybe I should start with something different. It’s just I don’t have much left in the way of rifles and I got 0 pistols anymore. I was really into milsurps and milsurp sporters, and that’s really all I have left. All my conventional guns were lost either to Free Willy in the Divorce or generating funds to start my life over after the fact. I got a Carcano, a Mosin, and SKS, and an old Winchester boyscout 22. The WinChester and the SKS are the only currently functioning guns. And while 7.62x39 is more common than the other rifle rounds, it’s still not prolific in reloading like .308 and .223. And I honestly don’t know where I’m going to come up with the money to get all new equipment, components, and a whole new rig…unless some ones got a cheap bolt gun in 308 or 30.06 (and when I say cheap I mean like $100.00 + shipping) I don’t know how else to proceed with starting up reloading, outside of utilizing what I already have in the process. And please don’t think I’m asking someone to sell me a gun cheaper than it’s worth. I was just trying to make a point by saying that. Yeah, I am having a hard time right now, but I ain’t one to benefit from my misfortune by breaking the backs of others. This is my mess I’ll crawl out of it or die in it lol. I’m just looking for friends, info and a place to share both my successes and failures here.

I would suggest starting with 7.62x39, since you have one. While it’s not as prolific as .223, there’s still a lot out there for it. We’re at a point where it’s not so far fetched to reload for it costwise. And there’s a whole bunch of stuff you can do with it that will help you gain experience. There are cast loads for 7.62x39 that will actually cycle in SKS rifles, just as an example.

For powder, I’d suggest either CFE BLK, or Accurate 1680. There are others that will work, if you can’t find those( but they’re relatively available here). For bullets, whatever .310 123ish gr suits your fancy-there’s quite a few out there. Most 7.62x39 brass uses Large Rifle primers, but not all. For primers themselves, go with either CCI #34s (or #41s if your brass is small primers) if you can find them. Basically for an SKS you need “hard” primers to prevent slam fires. There may be another suitable primer someone could recommend in lieu of the #34s.