Kropatschek question

[jonk]

I have a Kropatschek. I have been using Buffalo arms formed brass- however it is a tad tight chambering even with a .323 bullet- and this beast slugs at .327. I could use .329 bullets cast for my M.95 quite nicely I think, but my CH4D die set doesn't expand enough for this, my Lee flare die doesn't flare deep enough to avoid a bulge, and even if it DID I think it would not chamber- given the aforementioned problems. And while the .323 shoots OK it leads due (I assume) to etching.

My only thought for this fix is to neck ream the brass, size in the CH set, then just start the case into the 8X56R Hungarian set to further expand the neck, then flare... which means a lot more steps and a lot of working of very expensive brass.

More expensive options would be a custom M die, custom expander plug, etc. but I'm cheap. A set of Lee custom neck dies might work too (I'd be willing to front another $55 or whatever they are charging these days) but I'm already $80 in for the CH dies- and it still would do nothing for the tight chamber issue.

I might mention I am using 8X60R brass, though I've fired some of the later 8X56R surplus (no not Hungarian, Portuguese so don't get all worried).

Anyone have any thoughts to make this easier?

[Timbo]

I have a Krop that is an excellent shooter. I use re-formed .348's, chucked the mouths in a hand drill and beveled the bases to match the bolt-face bevel. All my tight chambering issues went away when I got this correct. I assume your BACO brass is beveled? If not, they will fit tight. It's easy to tell if the brass is not beveled correctly; you'll have primers backed out of the case after firing.

I use the Lee Hung mould, drops at .332; my bore is .331. I don't use GC's and I don't size the bullet. I have a set of CH dies as well and it severely sizes the mouth, in the neighborhood of .318 or so; when you put a .332 bullet in a .318 neck, it tends to look like a bugle.... To get around this, I only size mouths about 1/16" or so, just enough to get some neck tension when seating. I gently flair as well.

I don't like working brass any more than is necessary either; the problem is that this thing shoots so well that I'll probably spring for a set of custom dies, or send mine back to CH along with a half dozen fired cases and see if they can fit it for me.

Regards,
Timbo