30 BR neck expander

TomD

TomD

e publius unum
I'm going to do my first batch of 30 BR brass in quite a while (years) and have no desire to expand the necks in steps (6mm to 6.5mm to 7mm to 7.62mm), the way I've always done it in the past. A little reading on 6mmbr.com tells me that one step tapered mandrels are far more common and much less work these days.

I'd appreciate some advice and comments before I just buy the first thing I happen to find.
 
BTW somebody is going to come on here and tell you the expander mandrel is not the best way even though that is what you asked the question about. So I might as well jump in. I have found I make better cases and do not lose any in expanding them by using pistol powder , a pistol primer , and firing the case with no bullet. This method requires very little trimming of case length.

Dick
 
Dick Grosbier said:
BTW somebody is going to come on here and tell you the expander mandrel is not the best way even though that is what you asked the question about. So I might as well jump in. I have found I make better cases and do not lose any in expanding them by using pistol powder , a pistol primer , and firing the case with no bullet. This method requires very little trimming of case length.

Dick
Click to expand...

I've already ordered the K&N stuff but will try this too. Cotton wadding? Takeoff barrel?

That would have the added attraction of no donuts and the necks being straight when turning.
 
Last edited:
Dick Grosbier said:
BTW somebody is going to come on here and tell you the expander mandrel is not the best way even though that is what you asked the question about. So I might as well jump in. I have found I make better cases and do not lose any in expanding them by using pistol powder , a pistol primer , and firing the case with no bullet. This method requires very little trimming of case length.

Dick
Click to expand...

I agree with Dick.

When I first got into shooting 30 BR, I tried the expander mandrel method, then the method described in the previous post by Dick Grosbier, which I have been using for about five years now. Try it, you'll like it.

Dick
 
TomD said:
Cotton wadding? Takeoff barrel?
Click to expand...
I have used cleaning patches but now I take sort of a 1/4" thick sheet of styrofoam and just push down on case mouth. Friend who gives me the stuff says florists use it to make flower arrangements in. A takeoff barrel would be good (and I have lots) but I usually just use the barrel I am shooting at the time.

Dick
 
Dick Grosbier said:
BTW somebody is going to come on here and tell you the expander mandrel is not the best way even though that is what you asked the question about. So I might as well jump in. I have found I make better cases and do not lose any in expanding them by using pistol powder , a pistol primer , and firing the case with no bullet. This method requires very little trimming of case length.

Dick
Click to expand...

Can you tell us more about this method for example which powder and how much one should start off with,like to try it out.:)
 
I fireform with 8.5 grains of Unique Powder, corn meal, and a wax plug. Cases turn-out just fine. Yellow corn meal produces the best groups.:)
This also works fine for the 6PPC cases.
 
I've used a bunch of stuff for fireforming. Cream 'O Wheat. Cornmeal. Cotton balls (the kind you or you wife, depending, use for makup).

It all works. But -- it all generates slightly different pressures. So, for example, Cream 'O Wheat gives higher pressure with the same charge than cotton balls.

Second thing -- a few people -- Jimmy Harris was one -- had trouble with Cream 'O Wheat. He was a good, careful, knowledgeable reloader, making 6.5/06 AI cases. When fireforming, he wound up deforming the chamber. The shoulder became sort of bubble shaped, rather than a cone. What to do? Actually, that rifle shot fine, sizing the cases wasn't a big deal. I think he won a lot of wood with it, but the experience was still a head-scratcher.

What we came up with -- still just a guess -- was make sure your corn meal is dry. If it gets at all wet, it can clump up & start to act like a solid.
 
dick,
any issues with melted plastic(styrofoam) in the bbl ? no melting?? just blown out ?
mike in co

Dick Grosbier said:
I have used cleaning patches but now I take sort of a 1/4" thick sheet of styrofoam and just push down on case mouth. Friend who gives me the stuff says florists use it to make flower arrangements in. A takeoff barrel would be good (and I have lots) but I usually just use the barrel I am shooting at the time.

Dick
Click to expand...
 
I do all my fireforming with shotgun powder and nothing else. I add a tiny bit of fluffy kleenex if I'm fireforming out a window.
 
mike in co said:
dick,
any issues with melted plastic(styrofoam) in the bbl ? no melting?? just blown out ?
mike in co
Click to expand...

Mike I worried about that but have never seen any evidence of it creating a problem. I don't know if it blows out of barrel or is burnt up I just know it disappears. Herb Llewellyn showed me the flower arrangement styrofoam thing but I have been blowing out cases with Unique and Bullseye for many years. Mostly just pointing barrel in air and shooting with no plug at all, it is much easier however with case plugged.
 
I must be missing something, don't you turn the necks before you fire form by the method described?

Thanks,
Ed
 
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