6.5x55 reloading data

[Dougan]

No problem mate - the offer is open...

...and there's nothing wrong with using your mojo know and again razz

[dromia]

Dave has told me he has a special miniaturised mojo.

[Alpha1]

Had an hour in the re loading room. I am a bit concerned about bullet retention I neck sized a few cases using a redding neck die. I think I will probably neck size about 15 cases to see how they spin. I want to seat the bullets as far out as I can. I have checked with a over all length gauge and the bullets would fall out the case before they engaged the rifling.
I have been measuring up a Le wilson die to see how they are made etc. They neck size about 1/16" of the case neck .So my thinking is if I neck size the 6.5x55 then seat the bullet about 1/16" in to the case is that enough bullet retention. I had to use one of Adams tricks to get a good tight fit I removed the expander before neck sizing. I checked with the expander and again with out I get better bullet retention with out the expander.
Do you reckon its worth a punt.

[dromia]

Grind all expander plugs into dust, they are the work of the devil and are an abomination in the eyes of the god of handloading.

As you have discovered you will never be able to seat the bullet far enough out to reach the lands in these rifles.

As a consequence seeking to have the bullet as far out as possible is a complete waste of time.

Fully resize the neck and seat the bullet so that the bullet base is flush with the base of the case neck. This will give you good bullet retention which is desirable with these slower powders to give good combustion. Look for consistent bullet retention by ensuring uniformity of case wall thickness at the neck and consistent case neck inside diameter, consistent case length is also crucial.

Wilson dies are wasted on this type of handloading by the way (BTW).

What you need to concentrate on is concentricity and aligning the bullet with the bore, using fireformed cases, neck sizing and using a high quality in line seating die like the Vickerman (my seating die of choice) or a quality seating die like those from my preferred accuracy die maker Forster goes a long way towards this.

However my favourite concentricty step is to gently flare the case neck, the Lee neck flare die is good for this, so that the case mouth is in contact with the chamber throat thus holding the case with its concentric bullet concentric with the bore. You will need to experiment with the amount of flare necessary, you should just feel the case mouth flare engaging with the throat as the bolt closes into battery.

If you have a good chamber/throat/bore/groove slug of the rifle, which all serious handloaders should have, then it is easy enough to measure the flare required and reduce the trial and error, it would also have told you whether the bullet would reach out to the lands or not along with a host of other useful information germane to making accurate ammunition for the specific rifle.

Have I used the words concentric and concentricity a lot?

That along with consistency should give you a good idea of what you need to strive for.

[Alpha1]

Thanks Adam.

I am not using the Wilson dies for any of my Millitary calibers. You are right they would be totaly wasted they are .308 dies for use on the rifle I am hoping to use for S class. But thats another story. I have collected some Lapau cases for that project I now need to get my hands on a slack hand full of 168grain bullets to try in it.

But I digress back to the swede.
I will take your advice on bullet seating and see how they perform at the week end. I am not familiar with Vickerman dies I will have to look that one up.

[dromia]

Don't forget the concentricty and the neck flare tip, trust me, I'm not a doctor, it does make a difference on the target.

[Alpha1]

Just so happens I have a set of Lee neck flaring dies had them for yonks finally I have found a use for them. I tried them ages ago but I much prefer the Lman neck expanders. I also have a couple of custom ones I got from Buffalo arms.
Any way I will give it a go and see how they spin. tesnews

[dromia]

The M dies won't give you the type flare you need to centre the case. Different technique apples and oranges.

[Alpha1]

OK got yeah.

[Alpha1]

Had another hour or two in the reloading den to night.

Started with cleaned brass primer pockets cleaned de burred and cut to the correct depth. Cases trimmed to a uniform length.
I shifted them over to the other bench ready for sizing. I used a Lyman neck de with out the expander to neck size a small number of cases I am going to use.

I then used a redding full length sizing die with out the expander plug to resize the rest of the brass and that's were I have left it I will prime them to morrow and then think about powder charges.

A interesting observation I normally use imperial sizing wax this time because there was quite a few cases and I found a tube of Lee lube that needs using up I lubed them on a pad then full length resized with the redding die. I noticed a couple of the case necks were quite badly dimpled four cases in total this surprised me because I did not have the decaping rod in the die so there was quite a large hole at the top to vent out of. I guess I must of got lube on the shoulder either that or the vent hole is blocked.