30-06 AI questions

[liltank]

would you guys say that lapua brass would be the best to start with if not military brass?

Don't really know. Some guys don't like using lapua because is so think and creates a doughnut on the inside, base of the neck when fire forming. I wouldn't know that for sure though. It may very from caliber to caliber. Your not decreasing or increasing neck size, so you may not have that problem. Lapua is the way to go. I know that is the brass I would want to use.

Tank

 

[strombeckj]

You may not notice the difference in accuracy, but brass prep, contricity and number of firings will make a huge impact with Lapua. Mill brass is usually thicker allowing for less charge.

Jon

 

[Dano1]

I do have to agree with Strombeckj. While I do not use Lapua brass, (the cost is prohitive) I have used most brands of brass as well as military for my .30-06 AI. Brass prep is key, but I find that the .30-06 AI to be the easiest of all of my Ackleys to form brass.

The 6.5-06 AI is definately the hardest and the most pickey as far as brass is concerned. I use .270 Brass to form and I've used Winchester, Federal, Remington, PMC, Frontier (made by Hornady) and Hornady. I've found that case capacity is very close with Winchester, Fedral and Remington. So far the data is interchangable with these headstamps as long as the cases weigh within 10 grains of each other. But Hornady and frontier are much thicker varying up to 25g of the other head stamps. But they also are the most uniform cases. They are strong as well. I learned the hard way and lost 5 in a row. One even blew a primer, the others won't hold primers anymore. All with the same charge as the other brass. (these were full strength loads). I decided to pull them and hold the brass for working up loads specificly for that brass.

I guess what I'm saying is that Ackleys are best loaded hot, but you have to do it smartly. I used Quickload as a guide and it has helped me recognize the limits of the cartridges. Sometimes quickload was right on. Like with the .30-06 AI and 168g Bergers. I am loading safely right up to the max it lists, but with the 6.5-06 Ai its been tougher and it's the same with the .243 AI.

Hope this helps, PM me if you need help with the specifics.

Dan

 

[vendetta333]

help me out here then. i dont reload for br, so i am not wise to these specific of things, however, i was under the impression that within the same cartridge, it is possible to reach the same velocities with lesser charges in brass that is thicker due to pressure. can anyone clear this up for me? thanx guys!

 

[Dano1]

help me out here then. i dont reload for br, so i am not wise to these specific of things, however, i was under the impression that within the same cartridge, it is possible to reach the same velocities with lesser charges in brass that is thicker due to pressure. can anyone clear this up for me? thanx guys!

Yes this is true. I'm not loading for Bench Rest either, but it's something that needs to be considered when loading for improved cartridges. The only way that these are cartridges are really better than their parent cartridges is if they are loaded for optimization for the specific rifle that they are for. This usually means that they are also loaded at higher pressures than the parent as well. This can safely be done if one knows what to look for and more importantly knows where to stop. There are alot of pressure signs that lead to this point. And the most basic are also very revealing. This also keeps a less experienced handloader out of trouble. I would also say that load development be done on the higher end of outside temperature at arround 90 degrees to be able to keep the loads safe for hunting in extreme conditions. Pressuress are always higher when hot out side.

The good thing about the .30-06 AI is that it is easy to load for and doesn't require too much brass prep. To get your brass, just load some good Standard .30-06 loads and go shooting. (My rifle shoot fireform loads very well, they are just 300fps slower than my finished loads.) Then start loading. Sierra actually lists load data for for the .30-06 AI, but it is definately lawyer proof. I don't blame them, but its a place to start of you don't have a guide like quickload. I don't have it either, but I have access through a friend who does.

I still reccomend the .30-06AI for you situation due to the ease of loading and that it does fit the bill for you wnats. The .280 AI is very good as well, but there are a few problems to consider especially if you're looking at using Nosler brass.

Dan

 

[vendetta333]

thanx for the info! just wanted to make sure i was in the right mind, my reloading is for my 357mag, and i use my once fired federal brass when i need new brass and haven't messed with different brass, never saw a need.

 

[strombeckj]

The problem with 06' brass especially mil. run is that it can vary from 180.00 - 186.00 in weight with the same head stamp. A simple tenth in weight diff. can result in a stuck bolt or a blown-out primer when loading at peak. Lapua will have the least amount of weight diff. so 100 cases is 100 usable cases. When I use mil brass for anything I can count on about 30% not making it into a group of 50 or 100 of the same weight range ie... 181.00-182.00 for MAX loads. Win, Rem and the others result in about 15-20% and sometimes I am hard pressed to get 40 rounds from a 50 round bag.

Jon

 

[vendetta333]

what sort of chhambers do you guys run? really really benchrest tight, or not so much lol? let me kno, and keep the info coming plz!!

 

[panama]

ven,your chamber is regulated by your gunsmith and the reamer he uses . i use a floating reamer holder, some just use the tailstock. also if he indicates off of the outer diameter instead of the bore, setup is every thing if your interested in accuracy.the best and least expensive way i have found to fireform cases is F.L.resize with 3006 die use a large pistol primer with 11gr. of unique and a small wad of tissue paper to keep the powder against the primer, fill the case with an inert filler some have used oat meal,corn meal,even grits, but do "NOT" use any fine powderd meal or the like, it will create to much pressure any way after filling with your prefered filler use wax to seal the mouth of the case. you can fire this in your own rifle chamber with absolutly no harm to the chamber or the rifling,i made a short chamber and removed all rifling so as not to incure the rath of u know them guys from the gov. that always " just want to help". the short chamber was made from a take off barrel and was off cut rite in front of the end of the chamber. your smith could make you one i'm sure. have never had a case not form,you can now load this case to full power and even hunt with this load. every body that i read fireforming with bullets has way more money than me.hope this helps you some what. good shooting,hunting be safe