5.6x57 development

[Camel]

Just a wild thought here Waldo...........maybe because the Euros like to crimp their case mouths, a small flare on your case mouths similar to what you would on straight walled cases like the 45/70, which I believe you have, may, just may help out with your problems. Try a 6mm expander button and only push it a mill or so into the case mouth.

[DSD]

The amax (boat tail) still has the ring but it doesn't feel to have the initial resistance of the fb but still takes more pressure than say the 222rem I loaded the other day?

If I anneal one to try should I do it before or after sizing? Unchartered territory for me that one, still learning though you guys into wildcats must be crazy because this thing is frustrating enough.

usually before sizing.

[Waldo]

Gee Camel, you're a lot smarter than you look

I had thought of a neck "flare" type die such as the 45/70 but didn't have a clue as to how to do it with the 5.6. Just happens I do have a set of .243 dies so I can give that a trot, the .243 dies are Lee and the 5.6 Hornady but I should be able to just ease the 5.6 case up into the die and flare the mouth without entering the body of the die so all should be good.

Looking at the varied dim of the neck it appears maybe the last bit is springing back a bees dick as the plug exits, a bit like one of your wildcats a while back IIRC?

Now if I can sneak out to the male bunker while no one (well OK the wife and youngest) are looking I'll give it a try. Otherwise tomorrow it is, well at least after I get back from a sparrow fart o'clock deer spotting exercise and throwing those couple of BT loads over the chrono to get a gauge on velocity.

Thanks, I think you may be onto something
Waldo

[Camel]

Gee wiz, bout time some one on here recognised my good point. Thanks mate,,,,,I think


If you don't want to go to the trouble of using the Lee 243 die, maybe a 6mm projectile seated a little bit but backwards would give you a nice gentle taper, would only have to go in a bit. Just use your 5.7 seating die.

[b t]

DSD no I haven't annealed any cases.

I just tried a freshly sized case and gave it a good chamfer with the drill. The ring still persists. The pressure on the handle just feels too much and when it starts to seat the pill. Went to pull the pill with the kinetic hammer it was stuck like the proverbial. Just seems to be too much neck tension?

The ID of a sized case comes in at .2205 inch

here's your issue.
you need to anneal your cases well then size them.
the bullets you have should be right around .2245.

tldr ...the holes to small for your peg

bt

[Waldo]

OK I couldn't wait till tomorrow, snuck out and gave the 243 die a try.
Probably gave it a bit too much as the pill actually just dropped into the mouth. Anyway the pill fed in nice and still had plenty if neck tension when I went to pull it with the hammer.

Was packing things away and thought mmmm should try this in the rifle it fed in ok but bolt closure was resl stiff so I just need ta bavk off a bit. The hardest thing will be getting consistent with the flare.

A bit of experimenting and I'll be there I think?

Cheers
Waldo

[Waldo]

I'll have a crack at annealing one tomorrow and see how that goes too.

Just been reading thru an earlier thread on annealing, the process seems simple enough I'll grab a butane torch tomorrow and give it a try on a couple of cases. If the annealing does the trick it should be more consistent than the .243 expander plug trick. But, hey as long as it works who gives a proverbial

Cheers,
Waldo

[curan]

Hi Waldo,

I had my first go at annealing cases tonight. So much easier than I had ever imagined. I wasn't game to try myself on the better brass I have, so I went for some "lesser" stuff. I just did the butane torch method, trimmed the flame down, put the case in the flame and spin in the fingers for 5-6 seconds and drop them into water. I was surprised at how well it went and how easy it was. Give it a go......you'll be fine!

Oh, camel! Thanks for the cases! They taught a newbie how to anneal!

regards, curan

[aaronraad]

I did say it was a hell of cartridge to start with.

[big G]

Hi Waldo,

I had my first go at annealing cases tonight. So much easier than I had ever imagined. I wasn't game to try myself on the better brass I have, so I went for some "lesser" stuff. I just did the butane torch method, trimmed the flame down, put the case in the flame and spin in the fingers for 5-6 seconds and drop them into water. I was surprised at how well it went and how easy it was. Give it a go......you'll be fine!

Oh, camel! Thanks for the cases! They taught a newbie how to anneal!

regards, curan

Curan.
Any photos of your case,torch and finger tips.?
Cheers Big G

[Waldo]

Hey I had my first crack at annealing a case then run it back thru the FLS die, guess what I a now the slightly embarrassed owner of a "stuck case removal tool"

Looking on the bright side I now know how much annealing is too much

I might get this case out then try again

[mick_762]

Umm unless I am missing something, how did annealing cause a stuck case?

Mick

[Waldo]

I went to fls the case after annealing and the expander plug on the way out ripped the rim off the shell holder. Kinda assumed I went too long and got the base hot?

Anyway back to the start and I'm resetting the fls die from scratch. Currently not set to size all the way to shoulder and not sure if I really need to.

Time for lunch I'll sneak out this arvo and prep this test case fully and see how it goes.

Cheers
Waldo

[Camel]

I don't think you would have gone far enough down the case to cause that mate. To soften the base of the case, you would have to get the neck/shoulder area white hot, I can guarantee if you did that you wouldn't be holding onto the cast by the rim. Did you lube it after annealing ? That is just about the only cause that I can think of for a case getting stuck, or some very serious case forming, which you aren't doing. Did you by chance have the expander plug too far up in the neck area of the die, that would cause the neck to expand and jam between the inside of the die and the expander plug, I did that once

[Waldo]

Yep, lubed case before "attempting" to size. Maybe a lube issue? I had the case in the cordless drill spinning it around, I'll hold in my fingers next time that should be good incentive not to be too generous with the heat.
Anyway going thru the process from scratch can't hurt in case I was just a bit out somewhere.