Is it time for to me to give up on my wildcat?

[Mike D Texas]

For case growth, I'm referring to oal of case. Would high pressure cause that?

It's possible. With enough pressure you could be getting enough brass flow to cause it, even with a 35° shoulder.

Are you using Lapua brass?

EDIT: after reading a bit more I'm really thinking either the PTG resizing die or the sizing reamer is the likely culprit.

 

[Tac-O]

It's possible. With enough pressure you could be getting enough brass flow to cause it, even with a 35° shoulder.

Are you using Lapua brass?

EDIT: after reading a bit more I'm really thinking either the PTG resizing die or the sizing reamer is the likely culprit.

I have about 350ish rounds through Peterson (some reloaded 11x and some 3x) and about 125 through the Lapua (includes the 50 FF loads).

The ptg die blank is 4140 chro moly steel... Which I understand may give more than harder steels that some other die blank mfg use. Which might mean it gives a bit under the pressure of my brass.

An interesting tidbit I forgot to mention, is on the first few reloads, the sizing die does size the web smaller than 0.502. it's just that that portion slowly gets larger and larger with reloads and the die eventually will only size to 0.502 or 0.5025 on some.

At 3 firings on some of my Lapua, it is not sizing any smaller than 0.502. but most of them are sizing down close to 0.501.

I'll see what Manson says. I hope they'll measure them for me and have some good information. Hopefully the PTG die just isn't up for the task.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I have about 350ish rounds through Peterson (some reloaded 11x and some 3x) and about 125 through the Lapua (includes the 50 FF loads).

The ptg die blank is 4140 chro moly steel... Which I understand may give more than harder steels that some other die blank mfg use. Which might mean it gives a bit under the pressure of my brass.

An interesting tidbit I forgot to mention, is on the first few reloads, the sizing die does size the web smaller than 0.502. it's just that that portion slowly gets larger and larger with reloads and the die eventually will only size to 0.502 or 0.5025 on some.

At 3 firings on some of my Lapua, it is not sizing any smaller than 0.502. but most of them are sizing down close to 0.501.

I'll see what Manson says. I hope they'll measure them for me and have some good information. Hopefully the PTG die just isn't up for the task.

My thoughts on the sizing is that the brass isn't fully formed to your chamber until a few firings. The brass is thicker down toward like the base anyway. So if the sizing die is not dimensionally correct then it wouldn't manifest u til you get a few firings on it.

It you have 11 firings on some of the cases that almost rules out a high pressure issue.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

I'd quit. Commercial .30 cals work just fine. My money goes to reloading components instead. If SHTF, I have many rifles that will eat .gov ammo. Just my $.02.

 

[BountyHunter]

No advantage to that case over current factory. Sometimes a wildcat makes no sense especially if you do not have money to waste on it

 

[FEENIX]

30-284 AI - prints attached, Manson reamers. I own the chamber and resizer reamer
Tikka action
Mullerworks 23" 10 twist barrel
FL sizing die is a PTG die blank, unhardened

Chambered and dies cut by Robinson Precision Rifles. He's no longer in business and I didn't hear back last time I tried to contact him last year. He seemed to be an awesome guy. Knowledgeable, easy to work with, etc. His work seemed good, however the chamber and die cuts aren't quite as smooth as I expected them to be. I know his work was at least concentric. I feel like some of the issues I'm dealing with are either from his work or from the reamers, but I'm not sure which.

I am leaning more toward these. Is there any reason why the sizing die was not sent out to be hardened? The seating die is OK unhardened.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

I have about 350ish rounds through Peterson (some reloaded 11x and some 3x) and about 125 through the Lapua (includes the 50 FF loads).

The ptg die blank is 4140 chro moly steel... Which I understand may give more than harder steels that some other die blank mfg use. Which might mean it gives a bit under the pressure of my brass.

An interesting tidbit I forgot to mention, is on the first few reloads, the sizing die does size the web smaller than 0.502. it's just that that portion slowly gets larger and larger with reloads and the die eventually will only size to 0.502 or 0.5025 on some.

At 3 firings on some of my Lapua, it is not sizing any smaller than 0.502. but most of them are sizing down close to 0.501.

I'll see what Manson says. I hope they'll measure them for me and have some good information. Hopefully the PTG die just isn't up for the task.

May be a dumb question. But have you tried sizing any softer type brass cases such as Win, Hornady, etc. Just to see if the die has a issue with sizing them consistently. And if they chamber & eject easier from your platform. Isn't the brass thickness thinner on these ? I would be curious to see if your die ruins the necks. Maybe just a few cases will lead you to the answer your looking for ? Possibly someone could give you a few cases to try ?
Can you send the die back to EC to enlarge the neck opening ? Explain to him what you're using it for. He is a machinist/gunsmith. As to asking for a return I would choose that route first. If it was sizing your case sufficiently.

 

[Tac-O]

I am leaning more toward these. Is there any reason why the sizing die was not sent out to be hardened? The seating die is OK unhardened.

He did not have the ability to do hardening in his shop and his thoughts on that aligned with what I was able to find here and the accurate shooter forum in searching. A lot of people say that they don't really need to be hardened, because the steel, even unhardened, is much harder than the brass It's sizing. However, some people also say that they Do need to be hardened. I recently contacted a Smith over in the east that has a whole lot of recommendations for bench and F class work and has made a lot of dies, and he said no, shouldn't really matter if the die is hardened. It seems to me that maybe there's not a consensus on that and I'd have to have it harden ed or get a new die cut with a harder steel blank and have that hard to find out.

Depending on what Manson says About the issue and if they'll measure the reamers, I'll either get a new die cut with a different blank or I'll see if Cortina can open up the neck in the die I bought from him so that I would at least be able to use my brass longer without having clickers.

 

[Tac-O]

May be a dumb question. But have you tried sizing any softer type brass cases such as Win, Hornady, etc. Just to see if the die has a issue with sizing them consistently. And if they chamber & eject easier from your platform. Isn't the brass thickness thinner on these ? I would be curious to see if your die ruins the necks. Maybe just a few cases will lead you to the answer your looking for ? Possibly someone could give you a few cases to try ?
Can you send the die back to EC to enlarge the neck opening ? Explain to him what you're using it for. He is a machinist/gunsmith. As to asking for a return I would choose that route first. If it was sizing your case sufficiently.

I haven't. I haven't seen any Hornady or similarly softer 284 wind brass available since I started this project and I figured there wasn't the need to look for that since I've been able to find Peterson when needed.

The cortina die definitely won't work for any brand of 30 cal case. My FL sizing die will take the neck outside diameter down to about 0.333 and the case that I sized with cortinas die ended up having a neck outside diameter of 0.331. If Manson says the reamers are good and in spec, having cortina open up the neck in that die would be my cheapest option and should work at least until I shoot out this barrel and save some money for a better FL die to be cut

 

[Hugnot]

I only play around with wild cat rounds to get good results & save money. The 2 that do this are the .20P using cheap 5.6mm & .223 brass and the 6.5-06 using cheap .270W & .30-06 brass.

An exception is the 6mm AI - I just like it so much that I am willing to do fire forming & scrounge 6mm Rem & 7X57 brass & do other steps. 3475 fps average velocity using 87 VMax bullets keeps me interested. Fireform, trim, neck turn, trim ....



Many happy memories of rodent engagements at 600 yards or so.

 

[FEENIX]

He did not have the ability to do hardening in his shop and his thoughts on that aligned with what I was able to find here and the accurate shooter forum in searching. A lot of people say that they don't really need to be hardened, because the steel, even unhardened, is much harder than the brass It's sizing. However, some people also say that they Do need to be hardened. I recently contacted a Smith over in the east that has a whole lot of recommendations for bench and F class work and has made a lot of dies, and he said no, shouldn't really matter if the die is hardened. It seems to me that maybe there's not a consensus on that and I'd have to have it harden ed or get a new die cut with a harder steel blank and have that hard to find out.

Depending on what Manson says About the issue and if they'll measure the reamers, I'll either get a new die cut with a different blank or I'll see if Cortina can open up the neck in the die I bought from him so that I would at least be able to use my brass longer without having clickers.

Not all gunsmiths have a hardening set-up, so they send them out. As far as I know, all sizing dies are hardened. Die blanks are not hardened so that they can be machined/reamed. On my .338 Thor, I, too, have all the reamers. My gunsmith used my sizing reamer to make me a hydraulic forming die using a Newlon blank die and a Forster blank die for my sizing die, and both were sent out for hardening.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

I haven't. I haven't seen any Hornady or similarly softer 284 wind brass available since I started this project and I figured there wasn't the need to look for that since I've been able to find Peterson when needed.

The cortina die definitely won't work for any brand of 30 cal case. My FL sizing die will take the neck outside diameter down to about 0.333 and the case that I sized with cortinas die ended up having a neck outside diameter of 0.331. If Manson says the reamers are good and in spec, having cortina open up the neck in that die would be my cheapest option and should work at least until I shoot out this barrel and save some money for a better FL die to be cut

Sorry about your struggles with this caliber. I did read a few of your threads so far. I will keep my eyes open for some older factory brass for you at a local estate auction. Sometimes they get the strangest things in just when I need it.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Not all gunsmiths have a hardening set-up, so they send them out. As far as I know, all sizing dies are hardened. Die blanks are not hardened so that they can be machined/reamed. On my .338 Thor, I, too, have all the reamers. My gunsmith used my sizing reamer to make me a hydraulic forming die using a Newlon blank die and a Forster blank die for my sizing die, and both were sent out for hardening.

Agreed.

I trust people who make dies, not gun parts sellers. I don't know of any commercially available sizing die that hasn't been hardened.

 

[Mikecr]

What do you guys think?

I think what we learn is more important than anything else we do.
This is your opportunity.