Head space comparator gage

[Highpower]

Yes they do take a bit of getting used to. But once you get the hang of things, it's like riding a bike.   

I bought mine used and it came with a 10 inch .30-30Win barrel. It is a hand full with factory jacketed loads and not all that accurate considering that half of the powder in the case is wasted because it burns up outside the muzzle. It's much more pleasant and useful with hand loads and cast lead bullets. I have other barrels as well, but I have to say my favorite is in .223Rem. Ritz crackers lurking at 100 yards don't stand a chance. 

Another plus is you don't burn through a lot of ammo too quickly.  

[rdhem2]

I forgot to mention earlier one thing that works for me and my group of cast bullet shooters.  Case neck annealing.  Softens those critters up to almost dead soft.  A drop on the deck deforms the case mouth so much you have to run it through a sizing or "M" die again to get it back in shape to receive the bullet.  Those precious little "Bee's" will go till the cows come home.  Provided you aren't riding the pressure peak.

All done.

Now lets get back to piling up the SWARF!!!

[JScott]

rd, Thanks for the tip on annealing.  These cases are brand new but I will be sure and do my older ones.

What method do you use to anneal the neck and make sure you don't affect the body and case head?

As a further FYI here are a couple of pictures from some of my old Shooting Times magazines that show more clearly what I was trying to explain yesterday.  If you click on the picture I think you will be able to read the notes easily.

Here is a cutaway .30 Herrett barrel and chamber showing how a rimmed case can be head spaced on the shoulder.

   

And here is a picture of a sectioned .218 Bee case showing that a few thousandths of clearance at the front of the rim will still leave plenty of "meat" to withstand the pressure (same as the Herrett).

   

I will keep you all posted on my work with this pistol and hopefully next week I'll have some good targets to post!

[dallen]

once the rounds are fired they should be sized to the chamber that they were fired in, unless you full length resize the cases. If you only resize the necks nothing should change and the headspace should be at minimum.

set them in a pan of water up to the shoulder of the case with the mouth pointing up, heat with a torch until red hot, knock them over in to the water to anneal them.

DA

[JScott]

Update on the .218 Bee. 

I had a chance to shoot the Bee yesterday.  I had no misfires or any ammo issues at all.

There was some difficulty getting on the paper (operator error) due to unfamiliarity with the pistol scope.  Finally got it where it was close and this is my last group at 25 yards.  It measures 11/16" center to center; not great but not bad.  I did not have time to run them over the chronograph but I hope to do that on the next trip.

   

Now I have 20 once-fired cases to start working with that are fire formed to my chamber.  I will partial size them and try to keep the shoulder where it is and see if I can get some more accuracy out of this load.  This pistol is very fun to shoot.  It doesn't have very much recoil and it doesn't get hot.  I will continue to add more information to this thread as the project continues.

[rdhem2]

"set them in a pan of water up to the shoulder of the case with the mouth pointing up, heat with a torch until red hot, knock them over in to the water to anneal them."

DA

I might add to DA's comment that the room should be darkened a little so as to notice the red brass sooner. Like anything, the heat can be "OVER" applied.

Friend of mine just rolls the brass in his fingers, held by the head in the flame until it is a little too warm to hold then quenches. But then his brass is mostly .30/06 or 7.65 Argentine. Shorter Bee brass may not work that way. Your call.

[JScott]

rd,  I have read about the method of rolling the cases in a flame using your fingers but instead of using a propane torch you use a candle.  You hold the case halfway between the head and the neck.  When it gets hot enough that you need to drop it, the neck is at the right temperature for annealing.  It leaves some soot on the case neck but it wipes off easily.

I am going to try it using some of my older cases first.