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Thread: Head Space?

  1. #41
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    Excessive HS in an old rifle can sometimes be mitigated in the reloading process. You do this by backing off on the resizing die so that your reloaded ammo is better fit to the chamber. Start by loading a dummy round (no powder, no primer) with the size die backed out to just kiss the ram. See if if chambers easily - if not, work down from there.

    Since your 30-30 factory ammo appears to fire OK - you "might" have actually created a HS issue by excessively sizing your reloaded brass. My experience does not include headspacing or even using a case gauge (a must to have if not the Hornady tool I mentioned above) for rimmed brass. Seek some guidance there - possibly on a C&R forum.

  2. #42
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    3 pages of headspace chatter?

    I'm locking this one down boys!
    "You people have too much time on your hands." - scottryan

  3. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by shootist~ View Post
    Excessive HS in an old rifle can sometimes be mitigated in the reloading process. You do this by backing off on the resizing die so that your reloaded ammo is better fit to the chamber. Start by loading a dummy round (no powder, no primer) with the size die backed out to just kiss the ram. See if if chambers easily - if not, work down from there.

    Since your 30-30 factory ammo appears to fire OK - you "might" have actually created a HS issue by excessively sizing your reloaded brass. My experience does not include headspacing or even using a case gauge (a must to have if not the Hornady tool I mentioned above) for rimmed brass. Seek some guidance there - possibly on a C&R forum.
    I think we've had this discussion before in another thread about sizing .223 cases (vs a Dillon Case Gauge in my case). I don't remember everything that was said, I'll have to go back and read, but after that convo, I started sizing my cases to the "bottom step" of the Dillon case gauge. Some of them actually look like they fall slightly below the bottom step...extremely slightly below...maybe .0001.

    Would this be excessively sizing? Does this affect accuracy at all? Should I back the die off a bit and go back to reloading between the steps?

    Thanks.

  4. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ironman8 View Post
    Would this be excessively sizing? Does this affect accuracy at all? Should I back the die off a bit and go back to reloading between the steps?

    Thanks.
    Could hurt accuracy a little. WILL over work your brass and cause case separation eventually.

    Set the die up so it's maybe a little over the bottom step using an average of at least 4 or 5 pieces.... then chamber that brass in your gun to see if it STICKS! If not, you're good. If sticking... squeeze the brass a little more.

    Make sure you're wiping out that case guage if you stick lubed brass in there. It'll get filth built up and give bad readings otherwise.
    Last edited by markm; 02-12-13 at 11:34.
    "You people have too much time on your hands." - scottryan

  5. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ironman8 View Post
    I started sizing my cases to the "bottom step" of the Dillon case gauge. Some of them actually look like they fall slightly below the bottom step...extremely slightly below...maybe .0001.
    That's more than you need. So long as your brass (including some that have been fired several times) is not over the stop step, you should be GTG. That could vary a little if you have a chamber that's really tight.

    Case gauge instructions generally indicate setting the size die so that the case falls between the top and bottom steps.

  6. #46
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    I dont think I saw it mentioned anywhere but if you use the correct gauge you do not have to remove the ejector. In my 20 years of doing nothing but working small arms for the AF I have gauged maybe a few hundred thousand rifles and even the training rifles that they fire 20K rounds a day through at Lackland has never failed this one. The field gauge is all you need. Now straightness, barrel erosion, etc, failures all the time but headspace no so much. The old m60 on the other hand I swear that gun went to bad just sitting in the vault.

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