The last case I removed from a chamber was a 30/06, the rifle was a South American surplus that started life as a 7mm57, it was converted to 30/06 in about 1934, I purchased to rifle for #25.00.
I used a starter tap, the starter tap cuts seven threads (+/-) before it makes a full cut meaning it is a tapered tap, I inserted the tap into the case, turned the tap until it cut into the case. Then it was a matter of driving the case out with a rod/dowel with little effort.
If I had been concerned about the chamber I would have taped the tap.
F. Guffey
Setting the shoulder back and increasing headspace? Then there is the 14 +/- firings?
You have fired one case 14 times and do not know the length of the chamber, I determine the length of the chamber before I fire a round. I do not need help with that, there seems to be something wrong with chambering a round in a rifle and then pulling the trigger without a clue as to what is going to happen next. Even then! If I fire a round in a chamber I have measured, I measure the case length from the head of the case to its shoulder to verify the length of the chamber as in measuring before and again after as in I measure the length of the case from the head of the case to its shoulder before firing.
I know, it is not fair, I have dies, chambers and cases that have a correlation, my dies, shell holders and and presses are capable of restoring a case to minimum length (full length size), If I understand restoring to minimum length, then there is the length of the chamber from the bolt face to the shoulder of the chamber, for most the chamber gets dark when the bolt closes and the light goes out, again, not fair, my dies, shell holders and presses are correlated/related, something like a ‘matching set’.
I am the fan of cutting down on all that case travel, again, I purchase cases that have been fired in trashy Ol’ chambers, I want to know the effect the chamber had on the case when fired so I measure the length of the case from the head of the case to its shoulder (no datums, my trashy Ol’ cases do not come with a datum, so? I furnish, make, collect and purchase datums). In the reloading world this is called fire forming, not my cases, I measure cases fired by someone else in hopes they have ugly chambers. With my correlated equipment I size the case to fit my chamber, it is much easier for me to know the length of the chamber first, adjust the die, size the case, measure, then load. And no, it is not necessary to wake up in a new world every day, I do not have to start over, once the length of the chamber is known write the dimensions down.
Let us say you “It can be avoided by backing the sizing die out slightly until the barrel with just close & lock on a sized case” If you go to the trouble of adjusting, sizing, adjusting sizing and adjusting then sizing measure the gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder when you are finish, this method and or technique could save you from waking up in a new world everyday.
I work with very narrow windows when it comes to the length of the chamber from the bolt face to the shoulder of the chamber and the length of the case from the case head to its shoulder with one exception, I have an Eddystone M1917 with .016 thousandths added to the lkength of the chamber from the face of the bolt to its shoulder, I adjust the die off the shell holder .014 thousands then secure the die to the press with the lock ring being careful not to roate the die while securing the die, and of course I verify the measurement.
F. Guffey
