Reloading 30-06

[tjndaltx]

Hi yall,

I have all the casting equipment and molds but haven't gotten up the courage to try it yet. But I soon will.

Right now, I'm trying to reload 30-06 cartridges. My bullets have a cannelure. Does the cannelure have to go all the way down in the neck of the cartridge or does it hurt for it to be above the mouth of the bullet?

If I seat the bullet all the way to the cannelure it's going to be way too short and probably will produce too much pressure.

I know it's a newbie question but that's what I am..........a newbie.

Thanks.

[Wally]

Best to seat the bullet so that it is 1/16" from engaging the lands, if the loaded case will fit the magazine. The cannelure is to be used when you are firing a S/A gun..with a bolt action it can be ingnored or use bullets w/o one.

Cast bullets in the '06 are wonderful to use as they are accurate and will save you a lot of money.

[Jeffery8mm]

Does nat have to be seated at the cannalure as long as you dont exceed the COAL for that bullet. Just looks funny!!!!!

Jeff

[Hip's Ax]

A lot of the time the cannelure is placed for .308 not 30-06 and will be pretty far from the mouth of the case after seating. No worries, make the round proper OAL for 30-06 and go shooting.

[tjndaltx]

Best to seat the bullet so that it is 1/16" from engaging the lands, if the loaded case will fit the magazine. The cannelure is to be used when you are firing a S/A gun..with a bolt action it can be ingnored or use bullets w/o one.

Cast bullets in the '06 are wonderful to use as they are accurate and will save you a lot of money.

Wally, thanks for your reply.

I already have these bullets and want to use them. I'm loading for my M1 Garand so I've got to make sure it fits the magazine, as you said.

All else being equal, does the cannelure have to be inside the neck or is it okay to shoot with the cannelure above the mouth of the case?

I'm definitely going to be casting for the 30-06 but right now I'm trying to get the reloading part down and get some experience reloading.

My 30 cal molds: Lee 155, Lee 160, Lee 185, Lee 150, Lyman 311291, 311672, 311299, and the 314299.

[tjndaltx]

Thank you so much guys, that what I needed to know. You're a great help.

TJ

[mpmarty]

TJ if you're loading for a Garand it's a whole different story. What weight bullet are you using? Generally for the Garand you need the cannelure to be placed exactly at the point where the crimp goes. The crimp should ROLL into the front edge of the cannelure to stop the bullet from being shoved back into the case (creating a dangerous situation) by the brutal smacking the cartridge receives during the loading cycle.

[tjndaltx]

TJ if you're loading for a Garand it's a whole different story. What weight bullet are you using? Generally for the Garand you need the cannelure to be placed exactly at the point where the crimp goes. The crimp should ROLL into the front edge of the cannelure to stop the bullet from being shoved back into the case (creating a dangerous situation) by the brutal smacking the cartridge receives during the loading cycle.

MP, I'm using a 150 grain Soft Point. It's a sharp pointed bullet.

The cannelure is about a 1/4th inch above the case mouth.

I'm using the Lee Universal crimp die on the cartridges.

I've also got another problem. The last cartridge hangs up and won't eject as I'm testing the rounds in the weapon.

I've never fired this rifle before so MP, any suggestions are very welcome.

[tjndaltx]

Sorry, I'm using the Lee Factory crimp die for the 30-06.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Since you are a newbie, there are some things that you need to be aware of with the M1 (if you aren't already) when loading JACKETED BULLETS.

Stay with 150 - 175 gr. bullets. Do NOT load with powders slower than 4064. Using heavier bullets or slower powders risks bending/breaking the op-rod. 4895 is the classic powder for the M1.

Full length size all your brass. Do NOT load bullets to touch the lands. Rounds encountering resistance when chambering risk slam-fires or out of battery firing.

As long as you are getting adequate neck tension, you can ignore the cannelure.

Cast boolits are a bit of a different kettle of fish. Slower powders with heavier CAST boolits work well in the Garand. Use the search function and get ready for some good reading.

[tjndaltx]

Since you are a newbie, there are some things that you need to be aware of with the M1 (if you aren't already) when loading JACKETED BULLETS.

Stay with 150 - 175 gr. bullets. Do NOT load with powders slower than 4064. Using heavier bullets or slower powders risks bending/breaking the op-rod. 4895 is the classic powder for the M1.

Full length size all your brass. Do NOT load bullets to touch the lands. Rounds encountering resistance when chambering risk slam-fires or out of battery firing.

As long as you are getting adequate neck tension, you can ignore the cannelure.

Cast boolits are a bit of a different kettle of fish. Slower powders with heavier CAST boolits work well in the Garand. Use the search function and get ready for some good reading.

Mr. Bear, thank you for your post. I am using IMR 4895, 46 grains, for the 150 grain jacketed soft point. I am using RCBS X-dies for sizing and seating.

I have read all the threads on cast bullets for military rifles and plan on studying them more before I start casting. There is a ton of info there.

Frankly, I don't know how to load bullets to touch the lands so I don't know if they're touching or not.

My COAL is 3.298.

Would my cartridge length have anything to do with the last round hanging up in the clip and not ejecting?

[mpmarty]

Does the last round hang up in the clip or does it fail to eject? These are two distinctly different occurrences.

[tjndaltx]

Does the last round hang up in the clip or does it fail to eject? These are two distinctly different occurrences.

It fails to eject. It seems like it is hanging up between the clip and the bolt.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Sounds like you have things well in hand.

I just checked my M1 jacketed loads. Pretty close to yours. 150 gr. Hornady BTSP on top of 46.5 gr. of IMR 4895 seated to 3.226 OAL and mildly crimped in the cannelure.

Who's bullet are you using? Your OAL seems like it could be just a little long, may be your feeding problem. Your load is well below maximum, so I don't think you will have any pressure problems seating to the cannelure with just about any 150 gr. bullet.

I usually check the maximum COAL with each bullet I load for a rifle. With the barrel pointed down, drop a bullet into the chamber so that it is against the lands. Use a short piece of dowel rod that is a little less than bore dia. (like a 1/4" dowel for .30 cal.) behind the bullet so that you can hold it in place. Run a cleaning rod with no jag or brush on it into the bore until it touched the tip of the bullet. draw a line with pencil on the rod flush with the muzzle (I usually put a piece of masking tape around the rod at this location first to draw the line on). Now remove the cleaning rod, dowel and bullet. Close the bolt. Now run the rod in until it touches the bolt face and make another mark on the rod. Measure the distance between the two marks on the cleaning rod. I call this the "COAL to the lands". Keep in mind, this measurement will be different for each bullet. Different bullet weights and manufacturers will vary in ogive, nose shape, etc. If I wanted to load the bullet so that it touches or is slightly engraved into the lands, thats the length I would load to. But I rarely load that way for jacketed bullets.
I mainly use this to make sure I am NOT loading into the lands. Especially with the Garand. I don't recall the exact measurement, but I know that loading to the cannelure on these bullets gets me about a .100 jump to the lands. The Garand is NOT a precision bolt action bench rest gun. A good M1 is a 1.5 - 2 MOA shooter. Any minor gain in accuracy trying to get close to the lands is far outweighed by the possibility of a slam fire due to the bullet engraving and causing difficult chambering by loading them out just a hair too long. I have had and seen many rifles that shoot just fine with a little bit of a jump to the rifling. So try seating to the cannelure and give it a mild crimp.
Did you mean "Factory crimp die" when you said "Universal crimp die"? If so, thats a good thing. IMHO the Lee Factory crimp die is great. Very easy to control the amount of crimp and not worry about buckling cases. Its just too easy to buckle case shoulders with a standard seating die on the occasional long piece of brass.

[tjndaltx]

Sounds like you have things well in hand.

I just checked my M1 jacketed loads. Pretty close to yours. 150 gr. Hornady BTSP on top of 46.5 gr. of IMR 4895 seated to 3.226 OAL and mildly crimped in the cannelure.

Who's bullet are you using? Your OAL seems like it could be just a little long, may be your feeding problem. Your load is well below maximum, so I don't think you will have any pressure problems seating to the cannelure with just about any 150 gr. bullet.

I usually check the maximum COAL with each bullet I load for a rifle. With the barrel pointed down, drop a bullet into the chamber so that it is against the lands. Use a short piece of dowel rod that is a little less than bore dia. (like a 1/4" dowel for .30 cal.) behind the bullet so that you can hold it in place. Run a cleaning rod with no jag or brush on it into the bore until it touched the tip of the bullet. draw a line with pencil on the rod flush with the muzzle (I usually put a piece of masking tape around the rod at this location first to draw the line on). Now remove the cleaning rod, dowel and bullet. Close the bolt. Now run the rod in until it touches the bolt face and make another mark on the rod. Measure the distance between the two marks on the cleaning rod. I call this the "COAL to the lands". Keep in mind, this measurement will be different for each bullet. Different bullet weights and manufacturers will vary in ogive, nose shape, etc. If I wanted to load the bullet so that it touches or is slightly engraved into the lands, thats the length I would load to. But I rarely load that way for jacketed bullets.
I mainly use this to make sure I am NOT loading into the lands. Especially with the Garand. I don't recall the exact measurement, but I know that loading to the cannelure on these bullets gets me about a .100 jump to the lands. The Garand is NOT a precision bolt action bench rest gun. A good M1 is a 1.5 - 2 MOA shooter. Any minor gain in accuracy trying to get close to the lands is far outweighed by the possibility of a slam fire due to the bullet engraving and causing difficult chambering by loading them out just a hair too long. I have had and seen many rifles that shoot just fine with a little bit of a jump to the rifling. So try seating to the cannelure and give it a mild crimp.
Did you mean "Factory crimp die" when you said "Universal crimp die"? If so, thats a good thing. IMHO the Lee Factory crimp die is great. Very easy to control the amount of crimp and not worry about buckling cases. Its just too easy to buckle case shoulders with a standard seating die on the occasional long piece of brass.

Mr. Bear, I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my queries.

I don't know the brand name of the bullets. I bought them off of gunbroker in bulk.

Yes, I am using the Lee factory crimp die - just goofed up when I said "universal".

I'm going to shorten the length of my rounds as you suggested and go from there.

Thanks for the tips on seating and all the rest.

I'm really anxious to start casting but I just want to get comfortable reloading first. I've had my equipment for quite a while but you know how it is - life gets in the way and you don't always get to do what you want to do.

I've got the Lyman cast bullet book, the NRA/Col. Harris series of articles (book) on reloading for the 30-06, plus all the info here on this site. So I feel that I have a lot of good background and advice for when I do start casting and reloading them.

I went in on the group buy with Pat Green and bought the 30 cal die check maker also.

Well, enough for now. Thanks again. You're a gentleman and a scholar - well maybe you're neither but you helped me out.............LOL.

[GrizzLeeBear]

Your'e welcome.

Let us know how things work out. I have learned a TON at this forum. We can all learn from each others experiences and even people who have been doing this stuff for a long time can sometimes learn from newcomers like yourself.