Are there any dies or series of dies to form 35-40 Maynard brass?
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Are there any dies or series of dies to form 35-40 Maynard brass?
The answer is: it depends. Depends on whether you mean"old_ or "new" style.
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The cartridge can be made from 38/55 brass. You will need to size it down to .400 diameter for the full length. If you know someone with a lathe they can make you a forming die from a grade 5 or grade 8 7/8"-14 bolt. You can't reduce the diameter right up to the rim so a small amount of brass will need to be machined off from about 1/16" in front of the rim. If you stick with black powder this thinning of the brass is not a problem.
I've made it from 38-55 brass as well, I made a forming die from an old reloading die. I made a sizing ring .250 long and having a .397 internal diameter. If I was doing it again I'd go with .395 inner diameter, as the spring back is a little more than I anticipated, and the brass comes out at either .401 or .402 depending on the brass. .401 chambers in my gun, .402 doesn't.
As mentioned, the web area above the rim needs trimmed to fit as well. As long as you pushed the brass as far into the sizing die as possible it doesn't really weaken the case though, as the web area is solid.
You can't do this using a shell holder BTW, you need to push the brass as far as possible into the sizing die, and then force it back out, 2 reasons for this, one is that the rim would rip off when you tried to remove it, and secondly you need to drive the brass further in than the shell holder would allow.
And what case lube would you recommend ?
Imperial sizing wax applied sparingly and evenly with your fingers.
Thanks for the info.
Pole billy,Quote:
Originally Posted by polebilly
Maybe CH4D has them. I think that's where I got mine.
Soundslike Deadeye and No zombies had to jump thru hoops with their brass.
In my case the standard (short) 2.08 38-55 brass or the 32-40 brass was used. I
fortunately didn't have to go thru the steps they had to.
The Winchester 38-55 un fired brass is 2.08 and the 32-40 is 2.125 respectively.
So depending on your chamber you may want to go with one vs, the other.
If you are going to have dies made, you may want to have a chamber cast made and order the dies to your chamber specs.
Just a thought.
In my case I had a reamer cut by Pacific tool which I then used for my chamber and dies.
Mine is a tight neck close tolerance design which requires neck trimming to .011 on the brass.
However you can obviously spec what matches your chamber
I suggest you go to http://www.texas-mac.com/ and read the articles on his web site.
Great info if needed on all sorts of case related situations.
Other good threads:
http://forums.accuratereloading.com/...m/f/5031007002
I'm reviving this old thread because I recently purchased a Rolling Block rifle with a BW Darr barrel and under the forearm it is marked .35-40, with Barry's twist rate, rifling detail, and date. I foolishly assumed it was a custom cartridge chamber made from necking down .38-55, or necking up .32-40, but soon realized the small base diameter made it a .35-40 Maynard chambering.
I am going to use either .32-40 or .30-30 brass, and make up a mandrel to chuck the brass in my lathe by the neck without damage. It will just slip in the case necks, and have a pin to fit the flash hole and keep cases centered while turning the bases. Hopefully that will make a quick job of getting them about .006" smaller at the base.
Once I turn about 100 cases I'll fire form them out to fit the chamber, and they'll be ready to reload. I contacted C&H4D and they make the die sets for $130. So I'm ordering a set for this Roller.
https://i.imgur.com/XqqXbful.jpg
I know this is going to sound like heresy but why not ream or lap the chamber a few thousandths bigger so the brass does not need to have the heads swaged and turned?
There's .006" difference, and that's a large amount lap. Reaming might work if done using a .32-40 reamer to open up the base diameter, but not being able to keep a pilot centered in a .35 bore could result in a messed up chamber. I think it would take a special reamer with a .35 caliber pilot.Quote:
Originally Posted by dtknowles
There were gunsmiths chambering the .35-40 based on a blown out .32-40, but in checking around for reamers I haven't found anything. That would be the perfect fix, if someone still made a .35-40 based on the .32-40 case.