Reloading for Swedish Mauser

[justwondering01]

I am new to reloading bottle neck rifle shells and I am starting with a 6.5 x 55 Swedish Mauser. I've reloaded thousands of pistol rounds but rifle rounds are new to me. I am using IMR 4350 and 140gr jacketed spitzer soft points with a Lee 3 die set. I sized the brass I had with the Lee collet die, primed it with Winchester LG rifle primers and then put 43gr of IMR 4350 in them. Everything was good up until I started seating the bullets. I found that the bullets went into the neck very easily. So easy that for most of the cases I could put them in with my fingers. That doesn't seem normal to me. Did I miss a step somewhere or do I need a factory crimp die to crimp them correctly? Any suggests/tips would be greatly appreciated.

[Maven]

Did you follow Lee Precision's instructions for setting up the collet die to the letter? Also, if you were to size a handful of 6.5 x 55mm brass with the FL sizing die screwed down to touch the shellholder, would the jacketed bullets still be loose; i.e., removable with your fingers? Lastly, is the brass new or is it old enough to need annealing?

[462]

If the brass is new, or previously fired but new to you, full length size, trim, and de-burr them. After they've been fired in your rifle, Lee's collet neck sizing die can be used.

Helpful hint: In the future, make up dummy rounds -- no primer, no powder -- and assure they load and chamber correctly, before moving on to live rounds.

[zomby woof]

If it is the LEE neck size collect die, make sure it is set up correctly. Measure the rod the case neck is being formed against. I've had to remove some material before because the rod OD was too big. It will never get enough neck tension if the rod is over size.

[justwondering01]

Thanks for the tips. The brass I have is once fired in my gun. I will check the rod size as that may be the problem.

[462]

Okay, since the brass has been fired in your gun, use the collet neck sizing die, as it will work the brass less. If you ignore Lee's directions, and play with how far down you screw the die, you can size the neck to get the exact amount of neck tension you desire, rather than whatever dimension Lee deemed apropriate.

[MtGun44]

Make sure you are camming over on your press to fully size the case.

Bill

[PS Paul]

I ahve that very same die set in 6.5x55 and 7x57. Like others said, playing with the adjustment on the collet die SHOULD fix the problem. Some folks have had to polish and reduce the mandrel on the sizer die.... I have also found by doing the seating operation TWICE and turning the cartridge 180 deg. for the second stroke of the ram, this will make the bullet a tighter fit and seems to eliminate runout.
Hope this helps. It worked for me!

[PS Paul]

I'm pretty sure there were several other threads on the Lee Collet Die solutions for cast boolits on this forum somewhere??

[Tedly]

Watch your charge. 140gr. jacketed w/43gr. IMR 4350 is 1gr. below max in many data published for Swede Mauser series. I've used 44.0 gr IMR4350 in this combo but saw noticeable pressure changes if I varied components...brass , bullets , primers... Of course were told not to do those things anyway...its just one of the times I really noticed a difference in the milsurp type applications I do...HTH...Tedly

[PS Paul]

That is my favorite load for the 6.5x55: 140 gr. with 43.0 gr. 4350. I've loaded up to 45.0 gr., but that is just too hot and I don't feel entirely comfortable shooting that in my '96 sporter. A more modern rifle? Well, no problem, but Tedly has sound advice on this one!!