Jim at Apache will soon be building a barrel for my next build, a 6x55 Improved 30 degree. It uses the same 6.5x55 Swede Lapua brass Dean is using in his .22 Eroder. At $70 per hundred, this brass is hard to beat in strength, tolerance, and price. I started a trial run of necking the brass down to 6mm by using a gutted 243 Winchester sizing die, but the body was a bit too large so I stopped after the first trial round. I was about .100 short of completely sizing the neck, leaving a donut that would have made chambering impossible. I had a set of 6mm dies I had no use for, so I took the sizing die to work and turned it down to the body/shoulder junction. The first 100 rounds are now neck sized to 6mm with no issues and no donut at the junction. This round should easily top the 6mmAI, pushing a 105 AMax somewhere in the neighborhood of 3400-3500fps, and should run the 75's around 4000. I'll start building fireforming loads once I get the barrel from Apache and the headspace gauges from the big "M". The 6br sizing die will neck size, and bump the shoulder if needed, but with it being an improved round, I may have to have dies made for resizing the larger body, we'll see once things start coming together.
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