So I finally didit, after 1000's of rounds, i stuck a 30'06 case in the sizing die and stripped the rim off. I tried the tap/die/screw/socket trick, but the threads stripped out the flashole. I managed to get the decapping mandrel out of the top of the die, leaving just the expander ball inside the brass. After a lot of failed attempts i jammed an appropriately sized alen wrench through the top of the die and started pounding on the top of the expander ball, which eventually pushed the stuck brass out of the die.
The expander ball did not fare well. The very top of it was flared outward and i had to drill the thread hole just a bit to get the mandrel to rethread. I took the flare off the top of the ball with a dremel, being careful to leave some of the precision surface untouched around the circumference. After some sanding and polishing, it looked pretty darn good, but the precision surface presumably expanded a couple thousands (.308" total). I ran some brass through the die, and it was really tough to pull the expander ball through the neck, so I slowly reduced the diameter of the ball by chucking it in a drill and turning it down with some sand paper. At .306" it felt normal again when I sized brass, and normal when i seated bullets.
So having said all that, is .306" the right diameter for a 30'06 expander ball? I'm really into target shooting, so I want to make sure I have the right neck tension. I put a new die on order while mucking with this, but it'd be nice to have two fully working RCBS 30'06 sizing dies.
curiously,
-edfardos
The expander ball did not fare well. The very top of it was flared outward and i had to drill the thread hole just a bit to get the mandrel to rethread. I took the flare off the top of the ball with a dremel, being careful to leave some of the precision surface untouched around the circumference. After some sanding and polishing, it looked pretty darn good, but the precision surface presumably expanded a couple thousands (.308" total). I ran some brass through the die, and it was really tough to pull the expander ball through the neck, so I slowly reduced the diameter of the ball by chucking it in a drill and turning it down with some sand paper. At .306" it felt normal again when I sized brass, and normal when i seated bullets.
So having said all that, is .306" the right diameter for a 30'06 expander ball? I'm really into target shooting, so I want to make sure I have the right neck tension. I put a new die on order while mucking with this, but it'd be nice to have two fully working RCBS 30'06 sizing dies.
curiously,
-edfardos