I have few boxes of PPU 30-06 ammo that I intend to use in my 35 Whelen. I have been reloading resized 30-06 cases for a while, but I am thinking of leaving the primers in and resize after removing the decapping pin from the die. Would there be any problem with this approach?
Also, I could probably reuse the powder with bullets of same weight as the original 30-06?
I imagine this may be slightly reduced load with the same amount of powder…

George

I cant see any reason it can be done. If the brass has been reloaded before you might want to anneal the neck and a little on the shoulder as far as loading i would be concerned with a pressure problem. the load may be too light for the 35 bullet.
I would tread lightly.
Do you Know what powder is in the /06?

Resizing them is Childs play; most do not need annealing; try it first with a tapered plug. Don't worry about the primers.
Using the powder; probably can. Close your eyes in the fist shot. Bore expansion ratio is drastically changed, in this case, resulting in less pressure. I would do it; not telling you to, and with heavier bullets too.

I recently did that with .244(6mmRem.) ammo in a .257 AI with like weight bullets. They shot fine but didn't fill out the cases all the way and left a lot of powder residue on the cases indicating pressure was low.

Hip

I think I will just dump the powder. I was going to weigh the average powder per case and use it to find equivalent to check what adjustments would be required for 35 calibre bullet, but I don’t think I will bother. It would probably be OK but why risk it. The main thing is not having to remove factory primers, it is likely much safer to resize with the live primer in place. I have RCBS dies, and the decapping pin can be easily pulled out.

Thanks for the input.

George

Necking up or necking down is very hard on case necks. I found that case neck splits on the first or second firing were common if I did not anneal the case necks.

This is commercial 30-06 brass necked up to 35 Whelen. I used a blow torch, in the inky shadows of the garage, twirled the cases in my fingers to a count of three. I did not want to see any orange color to the brass. Dropped the case into a pan of water, because the things would burn holes in carpet.

Good simple explanation of a how to simplify annealing. I made a little case holder cup that I spin in a cordless drill. I still tend to get the cases too hot sometimes.

quote:

Originally posted by SlamFire:
Necking up or necking down is very hard on case necks...

I must have been lucky, none my resized cases failed although I have plenty of 30-06 cases and I have fired my resized reloads only once (no sign of stress in the neck). It was something that I had some concerns about so I will continue using "fresh" 30-06's until I run out and will do some testing afterwards. This is not a plinking caliber so I don't shoot it that often.
Thanks for the info.

And yet I routinely neck LC73 Match brass up to 400 Whelen, in three steps. NO annealing and no cracks. And some commercial brass will crack 25% of the time.
It depends on your donor brass as to whether, when, and how often, you need to anneal.
DO NOT anneal the case body; that will result in much frustration.
BTW I am supposed to make some expanding plugs for someone; forgot who it was.

I have necked up many times without annealing! I just find it much easier to anneal first and get zero case losses than not to! I anneal my brass every 5 reloading and have experienced very long case life with standard cases in the order of 20-30 reloadings or more and 15-20 reloadings OF magnum brass! All full power loads, maybe not max, but full power loads!

Hip

Hip

Leaving the live primers in the case when resizing is no problem if the decapper pin is removed however I would not be annealing live primed cases. Maybe okay if the flame is kept away from the case mouth but then of course you can't drop the cases into water as many do when annealing.

I've safely decapped plenty of live primers, just go slow and wear safety glasses. Never had an ignition and I've reuse decapped primers without any issues too.

I had a bunch of 284 win loaded ammo. I just fired them in my 375/284 and presto, instant 375/284 cases. Accuracy, not so much.

quote:

Originally posted by theback40:
I had a bunch of 284 win loaded ammo. I just fired them in my 375/284 and presto, instant 375/284 cases. Accuracy, not so much.

Barn from the inside.

For years early 35 Whelen users fired 30-06 ammo in the Whelen, AND IT WORKED JUST FINE.. I have used that method many times to form 06 cases to 235 Whelen, 330-06, whatever...

Another good method is to expand the 30-06 neck,add primer and powder, use a near max 06 load and use that round for hunting, good deer killer and fireforming combined...

the whelen is the easiest caliber I know of to form cases....Likewise this works for the 8mm/06, 8mm/06 Ackley, 338/06, 338-06 Ackley.

Ive never found it needing of annealing until about 5 or 6 reloadings, but that depends on the rifles chamber...I have a reloading machine given to me by a good friend...prior to that I sat in a shady spot, twisted a case in my fingers until it got to hot to hold then dropped it in water or on the ground, both work...If your case gets "to hot" you might ought to toss it, thats the real danger of annealing as too hot anneals the base to varying degrees and it should only heat the neck and shoulder...Some folks use Templax and when it melts/changes color, your good to drop..I have not used that for years but its available under different names and it works real well, and prevents mistakes...