Resizing 30-06 to 8mm mauser problems

[BornAgainBullseye]

I have a lee breech lock press and a set of 8mm RCBS FL dies. I have loaded about 40 8mm mauser from two boxes that I bought and shot. It almost broke the bank at 30 dollars a box. I have about 300 spent 30-06 cases laying around, and have read that it is possible to run them through the 8mm FL sizer die and trim to length. I have tried two using the Lee wax type lube and it is bucking the shoulder somewhere in the process. I have tried oil as lube and same thing. What can I do to make this work. Im sure there is somebody here that has sucsess with this. Any ideas???

 

[highlander 5]

I had a 7 mm Mauser that I made cases from 30'06 but I used a form and trim die to reform the cases. Are you trimming the cases before you run them thru the FL die? That may be why the cases are buckling. If you still wish to use the FL die I would trim the 30'06 cases to 2.22" then run them thru the die and check for length.

 

[243winxb]

Long time ago i made 8mm from 06's. Dont know about trimming? I used RCBS dies and lube with a rock chucker press.To much lube can dent the shoulder. Is the vent hole open in the flrs die?

 

[243winxb]

The expander ball would make contact with the 3006 brass first. That would maybe buckle the shoulder.

 

[rcmodel]

I have tried oil as lube and same thing.

I've never tried Lee lube, but no oil is at all suitable as a case lube.

The requirement is high film-strength grease or wax, and oil doesn't have either property!


If I were you, I would take the expander/decapper rod clear out of the die, and attempt to size the 30-06 case to 8mm.

If it work's, then trim them to length, and resize them a second time with the expander rod in place.

I can't think of any reason it shouldn't work.

Annealing the neck & shoulder area might be necessary, but I wouldn't think so unless the 30-06 cases are very old, or work hardened from being reloaded several times.

rc

 

[Jim Watson]

Friend of mine starts reforming brass by running it through the seating die. In some combinations the seating die will hit the parent case just enough to start reshaping it so it does not deform in the sizing die. I don't know if it will work for '06 to 8mm but it will cost nothing to try.

 

[fguffey]

I checked the price of 8X57 brass, checked the cost of a forming die, I had purchased 1,400 cases of 30/06 for $14.00, .01 cent each because no one wanted to clean them and another 800 that were belted with metal links for $25.00.



I formed 200 8X57 cases with the RCBS trim/forming die, while the ram was still up and before removing the case I trimmed the cases with a hack saw and finished with a file, that is 4 foot 5 inches + of trimming, I also used an aircraft counter sink, all three tools worked for trimming, the cases formed with the forming die require full length sizing, it worked so well I purchased a 7X57, 7.65X53 BM, 257 Roberts, 30/06 etc., trim die, for the most part I have control over the cost of cases, once the cost of the trim/forming die equals cost the cases formed I can replace all cases for no more than .10 cents each, forever.



An advantage to moving the shoulder back to form cases is head space, there is no reason why head space exist when the reloader is in control of adjusting the die.



Trimming before using the forming die, not necessary, the 30/06 case will not touch the die until the shoulder contacks the die meaning the neck will have have two diameters, (one) the new neck formed by moving the shoulder back and (two) the neck of the original 30/06 case.

I have formed 7.7 cases with a combination of forming dies, at $40.00 per 100 +, it makes the effort worthwhile and if military cases are used, no case designation on the head of the case.



F. Guffey

 

[X-Men]

Just finished making a bunch of 8mm Mauser cases from 30-06. I lubed them with hornady one shot case lube, ran them through a RCBS form/trim die, cut with a hack saw, finished with a file, chamfer and deburr, then finished in a FL die. Very happy with the results and you can't beat the price.

 

[ReloaderFred]

I do what X-Men does and I don't ruin any brass. Unless you're getting too much lube on the case and in the die, you shouldn't be buckling cases.

I like to fireform mine with about 15 grains of Red Dot and some corn meal, after sizing and trimming to size.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[Remo-99]

Like RC mentioned take out the expander rod for the first pass.

Case forming from another calibre often takes several steps, a large press with good leverage, and a fine even coating of quality case lubricant.

 

[fitz47]

I have done the .30-06 to 8x57mm thing i have used both RCBS and Leere sizing lub. I always encountered problems. Switched to Imperial Resizing lub its a much better product for this application

 

[Clark]

I opened fifty 30-06 cases from 338-06 to 35 Whelen last night by running them through an RCBS 35 Whelen sized die.

The conversion was taking ~ 20 seconds per case.

I had to put lube on the inside of the neck for the first time in years.
I had not used an expander ball in years, but I guess they do have some usefulness.

I have been doing some experimenting lately with trimming 223 cases.
The load books are wrong for my rifles. My cases should be 0.025" longer than the book listed max length.

223 case starting 1.771 inches fired and resized 13 times at 66kpsi with no trimming now 1.788 inches long [book says 1.76" max, trim to 1.75"]

I'm going to guess that the 8mm trim length in the books is even worse.

 

[BornAgainBullseye]

took the decapper and expander ball out of the die. It is working pretty well. I cannot size it very fast I have found out. Steady slow handle motion. My lee wax is working pretty good. I have around 20 that I have sized so far. I am going to trim them a little long and run them through the sizer again to decap and size the neck. and Off to the case trimmer again. Thanks for all of the useful replies. RC nailed it out of the park.

 

[Birdhunter1]

I have 100 8mm Mauser cases a guy gave me that I'd sell ya if you want them. Make me an offer.

 

[748]

I always use vegetable oil to lube cases.
When I would make 8x57 out of 30-06 I would put the case in a case trimmer and lop off about 3/16 of an inch with a hack saw, run the brass through a standard sizing die then trim off the extra with the case trimmer.

 

[Jim Watson]

The load books are wrong for my rifles. My cases should be 0.025" longer than the book listed max length.

Sinclair has a little widget to measure the actual chamber length for such occasions. Naturally all chamber dimensional tolerances are plus and all brass tolerances are minus, so the usual trim-to lengths are WAY conservative.