Neck Tension

[SanPedroShooter]

I am loading a .30cal 150g SGK SP in a 30 '06 cartridge for an M1 Garand.

I have my seating die set up to give me good neck tension. If I adjust the die down any further, the case buckles from being crimped.

When I take a loaded round and push the bullet nose into the table (something I read somewhere to tell if the bullet is sufficiently tight), I am getting some movement into the case. I tried using my LFC die, and it seems to work on my Remington brass, but not on the HXP...

Whats the best way to get good neck tension without a crimp? And is a little bit of bullet movement under force okay?

Also, Is it possible to over chamfer the inside of the case neck? I wonder if I am chamfering the inside to much causing the loss of tension.

I measured the inside of the necks on my brass and got .305+/- on the Remingtons and .301+/- on the HXP (thicker brass)

[FLIGHT762]

In a standard die set, you can't set your seating die up for more or less neck tension. Your brass neck thickness will determine the tension. It will resize to the size of the expander button that is pulled through the neck after sizing.

The only way to get a bit tighter neck tension is to polish the die's expander button down .001"-.002". You can buy a couple of spare expander buttons and have one polished down a couple thousandths. This is the least expensive way. I have a 30/06 die I have done this to. If you have a lee F/L die, you don't have a button, but you still can polish the expander.

The other way is to buy a F/L bushing die, but it is a bit more expensive due to purchasing the proper sized bushings and the cost of the die. Bushings can range in price from $12.00 to about $22.00 for the TiN types. Redding, Forester and Hornady makes them, but the Hornady bushings come in .002" increments, the others are in .001" increments.

Here's an article on polishing a die, they polish a lee expander down .003" to get a better bullet pull.

http://www.henningshootsguns.com/pages/65gren_lee.html

There are other tips on the net on how to polish the expander.

I do use Redding "S" bushing dies for L/R target loads in .308 Win.

For your situation, I think polishing / taking down the expander will work. It doesn't take too much time and expander buttons are not expensive.

[SanPedroShooter]

Thank you, I was looking over some of my old posts, and you have always given me the best advice.

[SanPedroShooter]

I use two different dies. A SB for military and a regular LEE for commercial. Could two different dies both have overwide expanders? It seems like there is something I am doing wrong.

Lets say the OAL is 3.250 If I push the round into the table with a good amount of force, it will measure out at 3.200 or 3.198 Is that something I should even worry about? I wonder how much of that measurement is from the tip of the bullet deforming?

[FLIGHT762]

You don't want bullet set back, especially in an auto loader. Have you actually seen set back in your rifle?
I don't think you're doing anything wrong. You could give your Garand loads a very light crimp. Set one of your seater dies from one or the other die set as a light crimping die. You could have the other seater die set up for no crimp. Just remember you have to have fairly uniform case lengths to get consistent crimps.

I don't crimp my Garand loads and haven't had any issues with bullet set back.
I wouldn't worry too much about it, but you could take your S/B sizing die and polish the expander in that die. I have found that different mfg. brass does have different neck thicknesses. Winchester brass has thinner necks than Federal or Military 30/06 brass. Thinner necks will have a bit less neck tension than thicker necks due to the expander button size.

Die manufacturers make the expander buttons to a size that will work well with most neck thicknesses. A smaller expander button will make a tighter neck tension. To polish the expander, you have to have a good caliper (a digital caliper is best) and you have to go slow and not take too much off, but like I said, expander buttons are not expensive. I wouldn't take off more than .002" at first.

If you feel you want to give a crimp with a separate die, the Lee factory crimp die works well.

[Divernhunter]

I think you are trying to solve a non-problem. I use SB dies for all my 30-06 loads reguardless of what type of action they will be used in.. I do not crimp any of them and all my loads for the M1Garand have worked perfectly for years. I would say load them up and shoot them. IF you are concerned then set the die for a crimp when seating the bullets or get a crimping die. It it buckles the brass then you have it set too deep.

Do not make a problem where one is not.

[SanPedroShooter]

Yeah, they all work just fine. I just have a complex about getting all my reloads as perfect as possible. Once, when I was shooting some 168g SMK's I had misfeed that jammed the bullet into the side of the reciever and the bullet was pushed way back into the case, but the bullets dont move from normal recoil. (I checked).

Mostly I am trying to compare my results with everyone else.

[smoothy8500]

I use regular RCBS FL dies for my Garand reloads. I also polished the original neck expander ball to increase tension without having to crimp.

[SanPedroShooter]

I am going to polish the expander on my Lee die and go from there, thanks.