14 November 2006, 11:35
lawndartHome Grown 9.3x66 Sako Ammunition
Out of curiosity, I made some 9.3 x 66 Sako brass out of 30-06 basic brass that I bought from Huntington's (~ $26.00 per 20 cases):
Left to right is a factory loaded 9.3 x 66 cartridge, a piece of empty factory brass, a piece of 9.3 x 66 Sako brass made from 30-06 basic after forming and trimming, one that has been formed, but not trimmed and finally an unmodified piece of 30-06 basic brass.
The basic brass is just under 70mm long. You have to use enough (but not too much) Imperial wax on the case. I also used moly powder on the neck area. In the future I will just use Imperial every where. I did buckle one neck when I went too fast. By moving the handle slowly, I didn't ruin any more cases.
The factory cases weighed an average of 188.2 grains. The formed cases weighed 202.0 grains on average. The factory case capacity (measured to the top of the case) was 86.3 grains of water. The formed cases had a capacity of 84.4 grains of water to the top of the case.
All exterior case dimensions were within .001" - .002" between factory made and home made cases.
I believe forming 9.3 x 66 Sako cases from 30-06 basic brass is a viable proposition. The actual factory cases are readily available from Reimer Johannsen in Germany. It takes three weeks to get them that way, and you have to pay for customs and shipping.
If you go with home made cases, knock two grains off your starting load. Max loads using VV powder are available on the www.sako.fi website. I know this is reloading type stuff, but most of the discussion of the 9.3 x 66 Sako cartridge has been in the Medium Bore Rifle forum.
LD
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