Reply With QuoteI shoot a 30-06 ackley. I will check my cases tonight. I never paid much attention to them. My fireforming load is pretty hot. I basically stuff my hunting load in the standard 30-06 round for fireforming.
Got a 25-06AI barrel used here on the forum a while back. Got everything assembled but then ran out of time to start load dev until just this week.
Barrel came with 50 pieces of fire formed brass. I noticed that the shoulder didn't look fully formed on most of them, specifically the neck to shoulder junction. Decided to set them aside and focus on getting brass that I had been collecting prepped up.
Did some test fire form loads this past weekend to see how much Unique I would need to fully form the shoulders. Worked up to 8.5 grains topped off with Cream of Wheat. Still not quite enough to fully form the shoulder it appears, but also appears that I might have a bigger/different issue on my hand.
All my brass cases show the same neck to shoulder junction issue as on the nickel brass.
From what it looks like, I am thinking that the chamber may not have been fully reamed out to full AI? It kind of looks like it goes neck -> 17deg -> 40 deg. This is my first AI chamber though, so not exactly sure what other potential causes may be out there.
I am not sure who was the original owner (I bought it 2nd hand here, and original owner info was/is not available) is so I can't fully ascertain what was done and who did it. It's a 112J barrel. Cro-Mo. Blued with some sort of gray coating over the top. Varmint contour. If you happen to know some of it's lineage and can help fill in some blanks, that would be great.
If this is something that I can fix myself or pay a smith a reasonable amount to fix I will have the barrel worked on. I don't know how the barrel shoots so that makes me ambivalent about spending more than say $100, which is what I believe Jim @ Apache charges to rechamber.
Nickel - brass - brass
3 Nickel cases
I shoot a 30-06 ackley. I will check my cases tonight. I never paid much attention to them. My fireforming load is pretty hot. I basically stuff my hunting load in the standard 30-06 round for fireforming.
Thanks! From image searches online I have yet to see an Ackley with that double radius neck to shoulder transition I feel like I am getting. Would love some non-Google feedback though.Originally Posted by Haiku_Rodney
I am going to try a couple full-power forming loads to see if it makes a difference. Have the feeling it won't. That said, if it shoots, I may just not worry about it and use it. Call it some sort of "Half Ackley" or something!
I think you nailed it....looks as though the reamer didn't go deep enough, leaving half of the original shoulder behind.
Full power loads do form best.
Heck! If it shoots well, roll with it! ;-))
Judging by the brass the chamber is incomplete. You will need to finish it out, otherwise you cannot size the cases properly......unless you have some hybrid die that matches the chamber.
"As long as there's lead in the air....there's still hope.."
10-4. Have a call in to the local gunsmith. Options are very limited here locally so may have to send it out.
Will reach out to Dennis and/or Jim at Apache as well. They chamber in 25-06AI so seems like it could be a good match.
Any other suggestions for who might do the work and do it well?
I checked my 30-06 Ackley fire formed cases. They do not have the double radius at the shoulder. I assume you will be reloading. I do only neck sizing. I suspect if you only neck size, you can use the rifle as is. If you are going to do full length resizing, that is going to be another story.
I am not an expert, so I hope more knowledgeable members can weigh in on this.
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