I think I need a small base die............

[3006guns]

I have a nice little 1888 German Commission carbine that I picked up at a gunshow some years back. I used a file/form die to make 8 x 57 brass from surplus 30-06, a process I've done many times for my other 8mm's. However, even after setting the die as deeply as possible in my Rock Chucker, the finished cases are difficult to chamber without effort.....hardly a good situation for quick follow up shots! I rechambered several fired rounds and found them to STILL be somewhat difficult.

In all my years of reloading this is the first time I've run into this situation. The little carbine is quite accurate with a 214 grain cast boolit over 14 grains of Unique, so I'd like to find an answer. I checked the RCBS website and can't find any small base dies in 8mm Mauser, so my only alternative would be to grind a small amount off the base of my standard die, resize and go from there.

Does anyone make a small base sizer in 8 x 57?

[dudel]

Won't grinding some off the base, also push the shoulder back? How rough is the chamber?

[jcren]

I had a 243 with the same trouble. I cheated and ground .008 off the top of a spare shell holder to get a little more setback without modifing the die. Just marked that holder for that rifle.

[3006guns]

Chamber is like glass.......perfect. Except for a very tiny bit of minor roughness from old rust in one spot, the bore is about as nice as you could want. It just seems to have a slightly short chamber.

I think the shoulder is not being set back far enough, the suggestion of grinding a bit off the shell holder is a good one. Since I have quite a few #3 shell holders I can sacrifice one. Completely forgot about that method. Thanks for the suggestion!

[gwpercle]

Try a different shell holder. I don't think the small base sizing die is going to be the answer.
Alter the shell holder , cheaper and easier to replace , grind it like jcren suggests and keep it seperate for this rifle only. Sometimes just using a different shell holder will work, they are not all the same thickness , I discovered this with a couple of rifles that I have.
Gary

Gary

[gnostic]

I've had the same experience making 7.65 Arg. from 06's. I shaved some metal off the shell holder until I was comfortable with the way the bolt closed and never looked back.

[Mk42gunner]

Before I ground on anything, I would color a case with a magic marker then chamber it to see just where it is tight. It might be a slightly short chamber as you said, or it could be a bit small in diameter.

If it is diameter, they do make a small base die in .30-06, so you could squeeze the case before or after trimming.

Robert

[3006guns]

Update: Well, I got out the handy dandy Dremel tool and carefully removed stock from the top of a spare shell holder......about .009 total. Lubed and ran ten cases through and noticed a BIG improvement right away on eight of them. Two of the cases were only better, but still a bit "stiff" when chambered. The head stamps on those two are Denver and another I can't identify off hand, but both are surplus military. It might just be due to slightly thicker brass, so I just set them aside for now.

It would appear that by setting the shoulders back just a touch, my problem is solved. A major headache is the "butterknife" bolt handle....no grasping ball makes chambering more difficult unless everything is perfect, since the action has no real camming power like a true Mauser.

Now I need to buy a mold smaller than that 214 grainer......that thing really wallops me in such a small rifle!

[country gent]

Your fired 30-06 if mil surplus may have been fired in a machine gun with a slightly a larger chamber. Most military brass is thicker in the head area so sesizing it there can be a chore also. A 30-06 die could be used to just squeeze the body down on these cases. 3 fired cases can then be sent to Harrels for a custom die to be made I think redding offers this service also. ( Always wanted a small based die 1 1/2" 12 die in 308 win. The larger dia would give much thicker walls to hold the cases on first time resizing of military brass) . Look in the loading manuals at the drawings and a die can be found for a case with longer datum on same body taper size to use for sizing if needed.

[seagiant]

Hi,
Be advised....Military brass is usually thicker than commercial!

Not a good idea to mix these....especially if your any where close to max!!!

Just sayin!

[atr]

I would say to anneal the neck and shoulder and THEN run it through your die. I have found that re-sizing brass to a different caliber sometimes makes the case hard to chamber, but by annealing that problem seems to go away
atr

[3006guns]

I would say to anneal the neck and shoulder and THEN run it through your die. I have found that re-sizing brass to a different caliber sometimes makes the case hard to chamber, but by annealing that problem seems to go away
atr

I could kick myself............that's a step I normally use also, but for some reason I skipped it this time. I'll anneal all the cases, resize and check them again.

[trebor44]

I had a Remmy pump in .308 that was difficult to cycle with reloads. Switched to a small base die and the reloads (commercial brass) worked very smoothly. Having different rifles in the same caliber, full length sizing and the small base die makes a world of difference. My current .308 reloads are 30-06 mil surp cases that were formed, cut down, annealed, sized and trimmed for use in both bolt and semi-auto rifles. I do run ALL of them through a case cage on the first go around and 'sample' them on subsequent re-use. To date, I have not had any tight chamberings.