Originally Posted by
geargnasher
I've been playing the brass game for a while, for example my '06 has a tight but long neck for it's caliber and I use .270 brass and turn it a bit to achieve thinner and longer-necked brass. No potential catastrophies with the headstamp, either.
I just purchased a .308 sizing die to aid in reforming for the Swede, but so far haven't found it has added enough thickness with civilian brands to justify the tedious fireforming process with the small head brass. I have three boxes of old milsurp '06 brass from WWII, but haven't tried reforming those yet.
I'm no expert on fit, but I know how to cast a chamber and fit the brass to the gun within reason, and I usually get between .0013-.0009" loaded neck clearance when I'm done. Does marvels for accuracy.
I've played with powders enough to see I can't get there from here as far as lowering the pressure curve enough to shoot softer alloys very well in '06, .270, or the Swede. I've learned from the many posts here since joining how to heat-treat low-antimony alloy to be hard enough to "launch" well but soft enough to expand, and it's a very good idea, but I believe my results could be improved still.
My objective with granular fillers is take something that already works well with hard lead or J-words and make it work near the same with softer, hunting-grade alloys. Not everyone's tack on that objective, but it's something I haven't tried yet and I think it would work. Bob and others figured this out years ago, but I want to know how to do it safely.
Gear