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Posted: 6/4/2013 8:27:38 PM EDT
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I have been loading for a few years and have had good success. My rounds hit things
out to 500 yds with .223 and .30. My Garand load can drop all the rounds into the black at 100 on the SR2 target with a bull or 2 thrown in. My loads close tight on a Springfield 1903a3. Not need a hammer tight, but enough to not really like it and I won't shoot my rounds till this is fingered out. Question? Do I maybe have my die not down far enough? Should I cinch it down a little? Like I said, my loads shoot fine in the Garand, but maybe the tolerances were tighter for the 1903's? Me with bad set-up? SA 3-44 barrel and 880'000's SN. Thanks fellas. |
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I ran into this same issue with my AR & .223 bolt action.
The bolt action has a lot tighter chamber, so it could not chamber the rounds shot out of the AR, which has a loose chamber. You will need to screw the die in just a bit further to set the shoulder back far enough in order for the round to properly chamber. A case gage is handy for setting this up, but I prefer the Hornady Headspace Gauge as it gives you actual dimensions of your cases. You can also use your chamber as a gauge. Screw in the die, size a case, chamber the case, and see if it chambers any easier. If not, screw in the die a bit further & keep testing. |
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Like the guy above states, invest the $40 in a set of Hornady headspace gages and then just measure fired cases and bump the shoulders back .001"-.002" for bolt guns and .002"-.003"ish for gas guns.
That HS set will do most of the bottle neck cartridges that you'll come across. Trust, but verify. Otherwise, you're just guessing. Chris |
| You have an issue that many of us have when loading for some semi-autos and using the same ammo in both bolt actions and semi's. You either have to size the shoulder back to barely chamber in the bolt action or separate ammo to only use in a bolt or a semi. Your Garand probably has a long chamber and the bolt action is a little shorter chamber. Sizing shoulders to fit in the bolt action may make the headspace a little short for the Garand. Just be careful watching for case stretching in the Garand. I second getting a headspace gauge such as Hornady's set to adjust your sizing die. I want my ammo to cycle in both my semi's and bolts so I compromise but sizing shoulders for each and keeping them separate would be best. |
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Op, you are trying to make 1 custom load to perfectly fit two completely different rifles with chamers cut with two completely different reamers/specs. It simply aint gonna happen. You'll have to comprimize. Either a) make the ammo to fit the tighter chamber & live with the case stretching in the looser chamber, b) get gauges & reset the dies each time or c) get dedicated dies for each individual chamber.
Myself, my ammo is custom tailored for each specific rifle, as such i tend to have a die set for each rifle set for case length and COL. At present that equals six sets of 30-06 in my cabinet for the different rifles i load for. You'll have to figure out what solution best fits your needs. ML |
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Thanks for all the replies. I have brass I can resize to fit the 03' chamber.
I did slowly go down on my die until a few pieces I had previously sized fit the chamber and closed easily. It ended up bottoming out on my shell holder with the arm up. Checked how they sat in the Garand and did fine. Actually curious if it will improve accuracy in the old gal. Gages ordered also. |
| The difference in shoulder position from that sized for the '03 and that sized for the Garand will not be much. If it were me, I'd load some cases sized for the bolt gun with your load for the Garand. I'll bet that you'll see good performance and no issues with pressure. |
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