Recently bought a Remington 760 pump that was rebored/rechambered to 9.3x62. A friend suggested that the pump action is not as strong as a bolt when feeding ammo and I may need small base dies to ensure reloaded ammo feeds reliably.
Does anyone have any experience with small base dies for 9.3x62 OR reloaded ammo with a Remington 760 Pump?

Thanks!

Bullsh*t on all accounts. You do not need small base dies for anything; those are just a ploy by the die makers to sell dies to those who do not know how to reload. Just load and fire as normally; 760s are not weak except on extraction and the 9.3x62 is not a high pressure round. Anyway, no one make small base dies for it as they are not needed.
BTW, my Hornady dies are already much smaller than the factory brass; looks like they used a small reamer to make them.

Sounds like a excellent combo do you know the original caliber.

The 760 can be had in 35 Whelan I believe also.

I have a 760 Remington pump gun.

The 760 was also chambered in the high pressure 6mm Rem and 270 Winchester. Both rounds are among the top 3 or 4 highest pressure loadings with the 30-06 head size. The 760 is actually a straight pull bolt gun actuated with a forend pump handle. It has multiple locking lugs in a rotating bolt head. I would make sure that the chamber is polished very smooth and is kept clean and free of rust. Other than that, if the 9.3X62 is a low pressure round it is going to work about like a 35 Rem which had been working in lever guns, pumps and autoloaders since about 1912.

Ditto what DPCD said. I've been loading for a 308 caliber 760 for over 30 years and never had a problem with regular dies. Two friends who have 760's chambered in 30/06 also use regular dies with no problems.

308 WIN

I'm going to try a box of factory ammo first to see how it cyles and then reload the brass with regular dies and see what happens.
I appreciate everyone offering their experience...

that my friend is a good find. that caliber is spectacular in putting large game down or medium.......in a pump action at that. keep us informed on your results.

I've been discussing this topic with a very knowledgeable friend who has owned 760 pumps and has experienced problems with reloads sized with standard dies. Through his research he found out that standard dies do not resize the base of the case back to "factory spec"...and this made him question the reliability of pump guns.

Then why did you ask?.

Because I'm open-minded and interested what others may have experienced.

...specifically with a 760 rebored to 9.3x62... So far I've heard a lot of positive experiences with reloads and 760 pump guns but I'm also interested to hear if anyone else has had an issue and if there is a solution.

I shoot reloads I my 270 760 with out trouble.

I would question that friend's "research", if it was my friend.

That's precisely why I'm on this forum looking for second opinions. I'm very optimistic after hearing your (and others') trouble-free experiences.

If you want things tighter you could use a Redding 30-06 body die.

Also, try Lapua brass. Its head is less likely to noticeably increase in size with firing.

Two great suggestions! I'll be sure to add those to my bag of tricks. Thanks for the help!

Triple4

I had a 760 chambered in 35 Whelen and put many reloads through it with no issues.

Mark

These are strong actions, the weakest link is extraction. But actually, with heavily recoiling loads the M760 and M7600 actions will unlock by themselves when fired. This occurs after the bullet has left the barrel so there are no safety issues, it actually helps the speed of follow-up shots.

The inertia of the forend and the shooter's arm continue back while the shoulder stops the action moving rearward, so the action unlocks and opens about an inch. Seen this with four different Remington pumps in .338-06, .35 Whelen and .375 Whelen. None of the loads were too "hot".

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My buddy and I reloaded thousands of rounds for the 742 and 760 back in the day, mainly 30-06, some of the loads quite hot. Never used a small base die.

The reasoning behind small base dies had more to do with automatic firearms than other actions..I have been told by RCBS that all their .308 dies for instance are small base. you can order a set of small base dies in any caliber from RCBS.

I would be more inclined if I had a problem to send them 3 fired cases from my rifle and have them make me a set of custom dies based on the chamber in MY gun..I do that sometimes.

The 760 is quite a gun..I have never owned one but I have shot a lot of them and they are accurate right out of the box, most of them shoot great.

My only issue with them is the pump handle and its working parts rattle like a bowling ball in a box car going 50 miles and hour..and if I can hear it with my shot out ear drums, I know a deer can.

So here we have reports of guys with 760 rifles who both need small base dies and others who dont. Maybe they are both correct. As I understand the concept, small base dies are beneficial for those who have rifles chambered to very tight tolerances. I have a BLR that I think could benefit from it. At first my reloads wouldnt chamber, then I began adjusting the (standard) dies up a bit more to the point to where I actualy put a little squeeze on the press and voila, problem solved. But frankly I would feel more at ease with them starting from a small base die for resizing.

I would say if you already have a set of standard dies, by all means give them a try. If they wont chamber then you might consider a small base die. But as that is a custom chamber, my guess is that you shouldnt have any issues.

The 760 does not "unlock" when firing.
The rifle recoils and stops at your shoulder
the momentum of the bolt unlocks but the
bolt stays forward.

I shoiuld have said "unlock due to pressure:.

quote:

Originally posted:
As I understand the concept, small base dies are beneficial for those who have rifles chambered to very tight tolerances.

I is not just the tolerances being tight which may cause a small-base die to be required.

A chamber cut with a much-used reamer, or with a reamer "sharpened" several times may require that small base dies be used to reload for it. In one instance the reamer has been very slightly cut smaller, and in the other it has simply worn to a smaller diameter. Either is a possibility with a gunsmith-cut chamber. Top gunsmiths do not use or sharpen their reamers to that extent.

Again, small base dies are never required. All the cases I have seen of where a guy thinks he needs it, is that his headspace is tight and the die won't bring the brass back. NOT the base diameter. My experience.

I would tend to agree with SB dies not being needed, with one caveat: IF you use empty cases fired in another firearm to handload for your semi-auto or pump gun, you MAY find that they won't chamber. This is because of what AC said: chambers are not all the same.

Now, having said that, if it came out of your rifle, it should darned well go back into it!

There is a need for small base dies..Small base dies return the case to a smaller base. that is where some lever guns, autos and pumps jam up.

The reason is the factory reamers start out lets say, perfect, then after many uses the chambers get smaller as the reamer wears. some smiths that work there lose count or just don't change out the reamer as often as they should I suspect..

I have had to file down the cartridge case holder on several ocassions in order to push the case further into the die, so it would resize the case enough to fit my bolt action guns. Mostly this happens with belted magnums, but it's no biggie just a small headache. You could also file down the bottom of the sizing die, but if you file too much its better to buy a new $8.00 seater than a full length sizing die. Mostly were talking about a thousand or so. very little at any rate.

BTW, it's a poor practice to make 9.3x62s out of 30-06 cases, you get a bulge in the base and have to full length resize thus over working the brass..Has been said that its dangerous and I suppose that's correct as a head separation is never a good thing.