Making 30br brass

[tikkaman308]

I'm new to making my own 30 br brass ,I'm using 7br peterson brass to make 100 rds. I have already ran it thru a sizing mandrel and had no issues .I have seen a few videos on turning the necks.my main question is this.Do I need to turn the necks to uniform the wall thickness or to make it fit the chamber of the rifle....or both? Also if it is to make it fit the chamber do I need to go a little small ,to help fire form the brass to the chamber?

 

[Charwell]

The neck thickness you use depends on the pressure ring diameter of your bullet and your chamber neck size .

 

[22BRGUY]

You may want to get some Cerro safe and make a chamber cast to be sure of your chamber dimensions or have a gunsmith measure it for exact dimensions.

 

[TIMO]

some great starter info here on the site main page.

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Tim

 

[Bat Rastard]

Use more lube neck turning than you think you need. I found it greatly increased rhe uniformity of the thicknesses.

 

[Rodney]

Tikkaman308, I’ve just made some 30 BR from 7mm BR Peterson brass. I normally use Lapua 6BR brass like everyone else, but thought I would try the Peterson brass. A close friend has had great results with Peterson 6BR brass that he made into 30BR. The 7mm was actually easier to neck up and I didn’t have any split necks. After necking up the necks were .011 thick. My chamber is a .330 neck, so I needed the necks .010 thick (actually I go to .0097). A single pass with my neck turning tool and I was perfect. I’ve fire formed once and the shoulders look great. One thing I’ve noticed is that the case volume seems a little less than Lapua. Had to drop my load .7 grains to get a non compressed load I was comfortable with. Will be testing this weekend and will have more data if you’re interested.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

@P1ZombieKiller may have an opinion here

 

[tikkaman308]

You may want to get some Cerro safe and make a chamber cast to be sure of your chamber dimensions or have a gunsmith measure it for exact dimensions.

The guy I got the gun from gave me some good information, saying to get a bushing die with a .324 bushing.He had whidden make his after sending fired brass to them to make his die. So I assume the neck should be turned to that diameter or .001 under? I wish I could have talked him out of his die...lol

 

[Dusty Stevens]

The guy I got the gun from gave me some good information, saying to get a bushing die with a .324 bushing.He had whidden make his after sending fired brass to them to make his die. So I assume the neck should be turned to that diameter or .001 under? I wish I could have talked him out of his die...lol

Most have a .330nk so your numbers wont be the same. Youd want a final neck dia to be .328 to .327 over a loaded round

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

@tikkaman308 I like what Rodney said. I have never used or turned Peterson brass, so I dont have an opinion there as far as load capacity. I dont think it would matter if you started with 6br or 7br brass. In my experience, I have never "REALLY" had any trouble necking up 6mm to 30 cal in one pass, and could believe and accept the fact 7mm would be easier to neck up (one again... I dont think it would matter, but I have never started with 7br brass).


I have turned Alpha brass. and have started offering that option to my customers since Lapua is MIA and looks to be that way for a while.

As far as this question "Do I need to turn the necks to uniform the wall thickness or to make it fit the chamber of the rifle....or both? " I would say that depends on your chamber. Most 30br's are .330 so you will have to turn them just to get the loaded round into the chamber. I like a .0015" - .0025" total clearance on bench rifles, and a .0035" - .0045" clearance on hunting rifles. These numbers are just my opinion, and many more numbers will work.

Concerning this question "Also if it is to make it fit the chamber do I need to go a little small ,to help fire form the brass to the chamber?" You have to make the necks thinner just to fit, and if using Lapua 6br brass, using my process for turning the necks, and with MOST 30br chambers..... the brass comes out almost perfect for the chamber. There is a slight difference after fireforming, however I know many shooters that have taken freshly made unfired 30br brass, and have shot 20+ X's at 100 yards.

Hope this helps. Making 30br brass is not hard with the right tools. It's just a PITA, and most people dont want to invest the time and/or money into good tools to do it. If you do want the tools, I HIGHLY recommend PMA turners, but any number of other turners will get the job done. https://www.pmatool.com/ and today is black Friday.... they have some good deals. If I dint already have 7 of their Model A's, I would pick up another one for sure today.

Good luck, and feel free to hit me up if you wanna talk about making 30br brass. I dont mind it at all.

 

[22BRGUY]

When it comes to reloading for a new rifle, i don't like to ASSUME anything
especially on chamber dimensions. If neither the previous owner nor the
manufacturer can give me the exact dimensions of the chamber, I either cast it
myself or have a smith measure it.
It's just not worth the risk of having a dangerous event.

 

[butchlambert]

My .02 cents. I have a fireforming barrel made from an old 22 barrel. My first fireform is without a bullet, just a healthy dose of Bullseye and a Playdough plug instead of a bullet. I don't have donut doing it this way and it is not working the brass as much. Jackie Schmidt does his with a 6mm bullet and fires it in a 30BR fireforming barrel.
To each his own.

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

The guy I got the gun from gave me some good information, saying to get a bushing die with a .324 bushing.He had whidden make his after sending fired brass to them to make his die. So I assume the neck should be turned to that diameter or .001 under? I wish I could have talked him out of his die...lol

I also recommend Harrels for sizing dies. they have a semi custom die for the 30br. Th4se dies are GREAT and very affordable compared to a true custom die.

Full Length Die

Full Length Die

harrellsprec.com

30br's like a lot of nek tension compared to other bench rifles. I use .004" and even .005" on 1 rifle. To know what bushing you need, you need to also know what neck thickness you are running (and if you're shooting a fat bullet or not). Neck thickness most certainly will impact what bushing you need to get.
Here are loaded round numbers assuming you are loading a .3084" bullet. You're fired round will most likely measure .329" at the case neck. If you used a .324 bushing, you would have .0036" neck tension with .0096" necks. you would have .0044" neck tension with .010" necks. you would have ,0056" neck tension with .0106" necks.
See where I am going?

.0096" + .0096" + .3084" = .3276"

.010" + .010" + .3084" = .3284"

.0106" + .0106" + .3084" = .3296"

.011" + .011" + .3084" = .3304"

 

[P1ZombieKiller]

My .02 cents. I have a fireforming barrel made from an old 22 barrel. My first fireform is without a bullet, just a healthy dose of Bullseye and a Playdough plug instead of a bullet. I don't have donut doing it this way and it is not working the brass as much. Jackie Schmidt does his with a 6mm bullet and fires it in a 30BR fireforming barrel.
To each his own.

@butchlambert , Is your chamber one of the longer 1.550" or 1.560" chambers? I have heard in Jackies chambers, his brass is coming out much longer that just necking up.

Typically necking up Lapua 6br brass to 308 (in one pass) produces 1.520" - 1.522" brass.

 

[butchlambert]

@butchlambert , Is your chamber one of the longer 1.550" or 1.560" chambers? I have heard in Jackies chambers, his brass is coming out much longer that just necking up.

Typically necking up Lapua 6br brass to 308 (in one pass) produces 1.520" - 1.522" brass.

My 6br Lapua typically come out 1.550 after the first fireform.

 

[Bill Norris]

Turning the Lapua necks to .098 works perfect with a .330 chamber neck diameter. Gives you a loaded neck diameter of @ .3275 with the 115 gr. Berger's and Bart's 112 gr. bullets. Normally a .324 bushing is good but the .323 is my second choice.

 

[tikkaman308]

I'm new to this caliber and the guy i got the rifle from gave me information on loads he used and his recommendations as to what he used to prep his brass...I was using his information only to get me headed in the right direction .maybe the chamber cast is a better option.

 

[Rodney]

Sometimes the neck diameter is on the barrel next to the caliber. If the guy gave you info for loading, neck thickness would maybe be part of that? Did he give you some brass he already made up. Just measure that.

 

[tikkaman308]

Sometimes the neck diameter is on the barrel next to the caliber. If the guy gave you info for loading, neck thickness would maybe be part of that? Did he give you some brass he already made up. Just measure that.

Yes I have 100 rds.of lapua 6br brass that he necked up and was using. 12 of the rds are loaded with some rounds he was going to test(using LT30,a new powder to him). I measured the neck diameter on the empty cases.328,and the loaded rounds as well also .328. Possibly the empties haven't been resized ,I didn't get that information from him. The 7br brass I necked up is measuring .330 on the neck diameter, but it will chamber in the gun. So do I turn my necks down to .328 and load?or do need to go smaller?

 

[jackieschmidt]

The

I'm new to this caliber and the guy i got the rifle from gave me information on loads he used and his recommendations as to what he used to prep his brass...I was using his information only to get me headed in the right direction .maybe the chamber cast is a better option.

guy that sold you the rifle might have told you a lot, but he failed to tell you the most important thing, the neck diameter of the chamber.

Your rounds that measure .330 are probably a ”zero” fit. They might chamber, but that is not a desirable situation. In all likelihood you have a .330 neck chamber, as this is by far the most popular.

If so, Go with the .0098 wall thickness.