Sizing Herter's case in .30-06

[orpington]

I was firing my .30-06 the other day at the range and someone else was firing a .30-06 as well. He doesn't reload, so he gave me his 20 fired brass cases, manufactured by Herter's. I immediately noticed that the primer looks different than what I am used to, and appears to be much more flush with the base of the case. I sized one round and the primer did not pop out. I had to remove the shell holder and punch out the bulge created by the die in order to get it out of the shell holder. Needless to say, I did not size the next round in my dies and risk ruining my dies. Is the primer in Herter's cases integral with the case so that it cannot be removed and the shell reloaded?

 

[USSR]

Herters brass is made by S&B. While S&B is good brass, it is notorious for having tight primer pockets. If you are having a problem decapping the brass with your die, you might want to use a heavy duty Universal decapping die as made by Lyman and Lee.

Don

 

[orpington]

Never look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess! Given that I have so much other .30-06 brass, it isn't worth the trouble, so into the trash these 20 rounds shall go.

 

[gamestalker]

I just resized a bunch of 270 win. Herters a couple days ago and didn't have any problems with my standard RCBS FL dies.

Try adjusting your decapping pin out a tad farther, they'll pop out.

GS

 

[gamestalker]

I just resized a bunch of 270 win. Herters a couple days ago and didn't have any problems with my standard RCBS FL dies.

Try adjusting your decapping pin out a tad farther, they'll pop out.

I wouldn't toss those in the trash, Herters appears to be some decent quality brass.

GS

 

[iiranger]

Well, I heard...

We are going back a long way. Herters went out of business in the '70's I think. I bought a bunch of 8x57 on close out for $0.02 per LONG ago. Sorry I didn't pig out on the belted mag. .264 WCF were $0.03 per. (Bags of 50).

I found the brass to be a trifle soft and thought it was out of Scandanavia. Norma. Lapua. Herter took advantage of any good deal he could get. If that was in central Europe, could be.

It might be berdan though I don't recall it in the catalogs. I would punch out the primer with a nail. If that is a chore, probably Berdan. And with brass prices today, scrap it. Trash? What a waste. (Or give it to some dumb kid like I was and make his day.) Luck. Happy Trails.

 

[mdi]

Make sure they are Boxer primed. Probably Boxer if the cases are brass. If they are steel cases, trash 'em...

 

[rcmodel]

We are going back a long way. Herters went out of business in the '70's I think.

This is very likely not old Herter's Model Perfect brass from 35 years or more ago.
They went out of business in 1981.

Cabala's uses the name on one of it's lines of Russian import ammo.

http://gunlore.awardspace.info/gunknow/herter.htm

If it's brass case 30-06 it is Boxer primed and there is no reason you can't de-prime it just like any other Boxer primed brass.

If it's steel case, it is very likely Berdan primed and you can't deprime it with a normal de-priming pin during sizing.
That's what it sounds like you have to me.

rc

 

[USSR]

As rcmodel said, it's current manufacture for Cabela's. The brass cases are manufactured by S&B and are boxer primed. While the primer pockets are tight, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to deprime them.

Don

 

[rcmodel]

Might have to adjust your sizing dies de-Priming rod properly first though!

Properly adjusted, if a boxer primed case will go all the way in the die?
The old primer just HAS to come out!

rc