I have just purchased some 165 gr. cast bullets for use in my .30/06 with reduced loadings. However I have never loaded cast in rifle cartridges and have a question. With handgun cartridges, one step is to flare the case mouth to accept lead bullets without shaving lead or buckling the case. Is this a necessary step when loading rifle cases? If so, how do you flare the case mouth on a .30/06? I have only loaded jacketed bullets and need an answer please.

Yes, you need a little flare. I believe Lyman sells expanders for all cartridges. You can twist a pair of needle nose pliers at the edge too.

You need this:

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewp...productnumber=140461

Got a friend with a drill press or lathe? Easy universal flaring tool: take a 6" length of 1" steel rod and turn one end 1/4"x1" long. Chuck that end in the DP/lathe and just taper it from 22 caliber to .800 diameter over 3" length. What you have is a perfect tool to flare case mouths, and iron out those crimped case mouths.

Rich
DRSS

I load a lot of cast bullets and dont flare the case mouth, mind you my bullets are all gas checked and I use a VLD cutter inside the case neck. Flare the neck only for PB bullets.

Von Gruff.

I have loaded a lot of cast rifle loads in 30-06 and others and never flared the case mouth. I only use the RCBS chamfer/deburring tool on the case mouth after trimming. I never had a problem shaving the bullets.

A jacketed bullet of a larger diameter makes a handy flaring tool.

as does the ball of an 8mm die set just back it waaay out and use some touch.

RD: You are going to need to clean every stinking bit of copper out of the bore. It will need to be dead clean. One jacketed bullet through the bore and you will need to clean it again.

Mr. Duncan, I too have just started loading cast for rifles. I found good info at beartooth bullets website and talked to the owner, Marshall Stanton when I ordered for my Taylor. He is easy to talk w/ and very knowledgeable. He suggested I get a RCBS neck expander for the cast bullets.
He says to NOT seat the cast below the neck/shoulder junction and load slower burning powders for best results.

quote:

Originally posted by Fat_Albert:
RD: You are going to need to clean every stinking bit of copper out of the bore. It will need to be dead clean. One jacketed bullet through the bore and you will need to clean it again.

What happens if you miss some???????

I believe what aliveincc says is correct.

sunrise, leading starts to build up at that point! Fire-lapp the bore and all copper will be gone as will all rough patches. An effective way of fire-lapping is using paper patched bullets. To speed it up drastically, add fine abrasive compound to the patch. The same can be done with a copper jacket or better yet, a lead bullet. Fill the lube grooves not exposed when loaded, with abrasive compound. Otherwise roll the bullet in the abrasive compound and shoot. Make sure no abrasive gets between case and chamber.

a good powder to start with would be IMR30301. Fills the case rather well.
I cast and load for the 30-06 and have been now for about 2 years.
You can use pistol powders but ya keep away from them. I have a few case failures, could have been bad failures, using Unique.
You can aswell email Accurate Powders Co. and ask them for reduced powder loads. I would say email Hodgtion/IMR but the issue with that would be they will Never Email You Back!

Hey 303, I will be ordering on the first of oct the Pro Swage Reloading Press Kit proswage kit from dav corbin to swage my own bullets vs casting them.

Thanks for all the comments about loading cast bullets. As I said, I am new with cast and this is a learning experience. As for powder, I had planned to use SR4759, but I have read that some of the slower powders work better in keeping leading down. I have H4895 on hand, and could use this as a reduced load to keep velocities low. Any suggestions with H4895 for 165 gr cast?

To answer your original question, I've found it depends pretty much on the particular bullet you are loading. Some you need to flare and some you can get away without doing it at all. So I'd suggest trying it without a bell for a few and see if they seat OK.

Lyman shows 28-45grs of H4895 for a 160 cast in the '06, 1700-2600 fps

28 with dacron or 30 without.

quote:

Originally posted by Lamar:
28 with dacron or 30 without.

Remember to weigh it out too. You have to keep uniform pressures so you dont get fliers or just plain screw up your group size all together. Differences in PSI can make that much difference in FPS!
I learned that the hard way. In talking to a smithy he told me to weigh it and my groups tightened up.