How do I reload Military 30-06?

[Northslope Nimrod]

I have a few hundred brass in 30-06 that have the larger primer. They often have red around the primer. I think I was told that these are military. Regular primers don't fit.

Can I reload these brass? What do I need to do? Just get different primers?

QUESTION #2

I just picked up some 30-30 dies. I haven't read anything on reloading 30-30 yet, except that I need to crimp for tubular magazines. Is this true?
What do I need to know about crimping?

 

[Grumulkin]

Military primers are crimped in so are harder to remove. You also have to remove the crip before you seat another primer. A primer pocket uniformer and/or a chamfer tool work well for this. The primers are the same size as large rifle primers.

If loading for an M1 Garand, you might consider the CCI military spec primers (if I remember correctly, CCI 34 primers). I load for a Garand and have always used large rifle primers (usually CCI 200 or Federal 210M). If loading for a bolt action 30/06 you don't need military spec primers.

I have never crimped 30/06 cartridges.

 

[SDC]

What's the headstamp? If the primer is noticeably larger than on a standard factory load, you probably have a bunch of Berdan-primed cases, which aren't easily reloadable anyway.
As for crimping, yes, you should crimp the rounds if they're going to be used in a tubular mag; when you have a tube full of them, and you fire a shot, the mass of all those rounds ends up trying to pound the bullets down into the case.

 

[ClarkEMyers]

You need to buy some books and/or view some videos.

You need to buy some books and/or view some videos.

There are many different varieties of military brass in .30-'06 including both Berdan and Boxer primed brass. Pictures or discussions in any of the many fine books will help people tell the difference.

Generally military brass has the primer crimped - the primers are sort of staked in - and the crimp must be removed before seating the replacement primers. Berdan primers are somewhat available but given the ready availability of Boxer primed .30-'06 cases there is little reason to reload Berdan primed cases in .30-'06.

It is certainly true that reloads for a .30-30 in a tubular magazine should be crimped just as they should be flat nosed or have the proper plastic nose (Hornady's new style) so that the bullet point does not ignite the primer in front of it. Just as the bullet nose can ignite the primer in front of it the cartridges can hit each other and seat the bullet deeper. Seating the bullet deeper reduces case capacity and so increases pressure - generally a bad thing to do. Dies for .30-30 are invariably capable of crimping when used according to directions.

 

[Art Eatman]

If the '06 brass is boxer-primed GI: The crimp makes depriming hard enough that it's common to bend or break the decapping pin of a resizing die. There is a specific punch made that fits smoothly through the case neck and the pin-part is the right size to fit the flash hole. Use that and a small hammer. You can drill a 1/4" diameter hole in a piece of hardwood as an anvil.

To remove the crimp, either careful use of a pocket knife or the use of a primer pocket reamer will work.

GI brass has a case capacity some three grains weight less than Remington or Winchester brass. So, adjust loads downward accordingly. If a max load is around 50 grains for a commercial case, I suggest stopping at 47 grains, maybe at most 48 for GI brass.

BTDT.

Art

 

[Grumulkin]

I've reloaded a lot of military brass and I've never used special decapping pins. Of course, I have ruined a couple decapping pins but they're easily replaceable.

 

[Sunray]

"...that have the larger primer..." The .30-06 uses regular large rifle primers. You don't need CCI #34's either. They're a marketing thing.
Before you do anything, buy The ABC's of Reloading and read it. Twice. Then look into your .30-06 cases. If there are two primer holes, it's berdan primed. Reloading berdan primed brass is more trouble than it's worth. You cannot deprime them with a regular die. It takes a special tool and berdan primers, if you can find them. There's no safe way of converting the cases either. Drilling out the primer hole doesn't work and it's unsafe.
If there is only one primer hole, it's boxer. Milsurp brass is a bit more trouble to reload, but once you have the primer pocket crimp removed(use a chamfering tool in front of the TV) you just reload them. You need to reduce the powder charge by 10% due to the slightly thicker case not having the same capacity as commercial brass.

 

[Grumulkin]

The CCI #34 primers may not be all a marketing thing. If you chamber a round in a Garand or M1A and then remove it without firing it, you will see an indentation in the primer. In uncommon cases, the primer detonates before the bolt has completely closed thus ruining your day and your gun.

I have fired several thousand rounds in one or the other of the above mentioned firearms usind Federal 210M primers and have never had a problem. I believe though, that the potential for a problem exists and have been seriously considering changing my practice and using milspec primers.

As far as bolt action 30/06 guns are concerned, milspec primers are not necessary.

Oh, and you can deprime a Berdan primed case with a regular decapping pin. Of course, it is a bit difficult, is very hard on the decapping pin and doesn't leave you a case you can reload. How do I know that?

 

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

"Can I reload these brass? What do I need to do? Just get different primers?"

You deprime it, remove the military crimp from the primer hole and then reload like any other case.

"I just picked up some 30-30 dies. I haven't read anything on reloading 30-30 yet, except that I need to crimp for tubular magazines. Is this true?
What do I need to know about crimping?"

Crimping is not hard, especially if you separate the crimp and seating operation. If I were loading for a weapon with a tubular magazine, I would crimp, especially if the rounds had any substantial recoil. Keeps the bullets, which are resting against one another, from being pushed into the cartridge case. Real handy not having this happen when you take a shot at a deer and need a second shot, but don't want to blow up your gun due to a sudden spike of pressure due to a bullet setback (related to recoil) too deeply into the case.

Regards,

Dave

 

[USSR]

The CCI #34 primers may not be all a marketing thing. If you chamber a round in a Garand or M1A and then remove it without firing it, you will see an indentation in the primer. In uncommon cases, the primer detonates before the bolt has completely closed thus ruining your day and your gun.

The CCI #34 primer has been sold as being necessary for loads used in a M1 or M1A to prevent slam fires. It is pure bunk. This marketing campaign began at the very same time that ATK (owner of CCI) took over operations of the Lake City ammunition plant. Slam fires are the result of high primers. If you use a primer pocket uniformer on your brass and ensure that you don't have high primers, you will have no slam fires. The reason ATK uses the #34 primer is, it is a "hot" primer, and is necessary to ignite the ball powders commonly used in USGI ammo.

Don

 

[qajaq59]

Buy bullets that are meant for the 30-30. they will have a place to crimp that is obvious to see. Then do the crimp as a separate step after you seat the bullets. That way you'll have less chance of crushing a case while crimping them. Your dies should have had paperwork with them that explains the procedure. But if not, just let the guys in here know and someone can tell you how to set up the die.
Also, I generally trim my 30-30 cases so they are all exactly alike. That way every case will crimp in the same spot. It isn't hard to do and it will improve your accuracy. You really don't want the recoil pushing the bullets deeper into the cases.

 

[snuffy]

Bigger primers

I had some 30-06 BOXER PRIMED military cases that I tried to reload. After sizeing, I tried to prime them. A standard large rifle primer rattled around in the obviously MUCH larger primer pocket. Since I only had a few of them, I tossed them in my scrap brass bucket. I don't know what the headstamp was, but they fired just fine in my Garand.

 

[fatelk]

I recently bought some Tiawanese 30-06 surplus. The headstamp is 60A 30 59. It is indeed Boxer primed, and the primers are indeed slightly larger than standard. I was concerned that perhaps the pockets were enlarged due to pressure so I pulled apart a couple unfired. Sure enough- oddball sized primer pockets, scrap brass.

As to military grade primers, I've heard the same thing about improper seating causing slamfires.