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30-06 Primer Pockets?

O

Onemoretime

Gunny Sergeant
Supporter
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 1, 2007
1,332
11
San Diego, CA
#1
Does anyone measure these? I've read they should be about .208-.209

The reason I ask is with some hotter loads I've started blowing primers on some. Seems only with mag primers so it's likely the pressure.

I've backed the loads off so I'm just curious when I should chuck the brass.

How many loads are you guys getting out of your brass? I'm currently using Win brass.
 
#4
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

Ummmmmm, if your blowing primers your load is too hot, BIG TIME!!!!

FWIW, I'm at 18 reloads on my 06' brass, and well over 40 on my 308 brass. I don't build range loads so everything I run is full house.

Cheers,

Doc
 
#5
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

Today I shot 46 rounds of reloads I blew 2 primers. 1 was 60.5 RL25 lit w/ a WLRM primer pushing a 220smk, all other rounds looked fine, and the other was 60.7 with everything else being the same.

I have pushed MUCH hotter loads and not blown primers when the brass was newer.
 
#6
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

sounds like you are cleaning your pockets to much which in turn can back your primers loose. Also loading to hot if you are blowing primers. Start backing off your load...
 
#7
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

I was running loads that QL said were really over pressure and I've since backed them down. Right now I am very slightly over 60k psi.

Edit: to say I don't really clean the primer pockets at all.
 
#8
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

Measured some pockets.

The ones that blew out were OVER .214" with the biggest one I measured being .223". I then measured some once fired Win brass the average was .2045" with the biggest being .2070.
 
#9
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

As a general rule commercial cases won't take much loading. I have seen new cases beyond reloadability after firing one round of medium pressure load. Others take maybe three and some take maybe seven.

This comes from soft case heads and or hot loads or both.

In the US Lake City Match has a very high reload factor. It is not uncommon to get 100 reloads on a LC Match case if you do your part. I have one LC63 Match 30.06 case with 157 firings on it and still waiting for more.

In my experience IMI has good brass as does Prvi Partisan.

The finest brass I ever loaded was DWM.

FA59 30.06 match cases had soft heads like commercial ammo.

On 7.62 NATA STANAG ammo the cases are required to be hard, make that damn hard so heads won't get ripped off by French 52 LMG or other weapons.
These cases teamed up with tight chamber in a bolt gun will give years of excellent service.
 
#10
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

I haven't measured my primer pockets but with win brass running 59.0gr RL22 under a 208 amax I can get just about 10 reloads before I can't size the neck down enough to maintain consistent neck tension. I tried annealing once, but the results weren't very good and I'm not sure I'm doing it right either.. AFter about 5 reloads my primer pockets I would say are "not tight" like new brass but the primers aren't blowing or falling out. When seating the primers I can still feel a slight resistance.

I also get ejector marks/wipes on win brass even without firing. If I chamber a fired round that's had the shoulder's bumped back .001-.002" and dry fire, that unloaded round will have a slight EJ mark and slight shine on case head. Makes me wonder if win brass is softer than other brass?? I'll have to try some mil surp brass and see if that is the case with them as well.
 
#11
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

It's weird that the last few trips to the range everything will be fine and then I'll blow a primer. Maybe 2-3 out of 40-60 rounds. All the other brass from that loading look fine without heavy bolt lift.

I just went through my brass and threw out anything that was over .209. It's really only started happening since I switched to magnum primers. That's when I backed my load off. I was running 59 grains of RL25 with my 240smk's and not am down at 57.3ish.
 
#12
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

I've been where you are.

A 'standard rifle' (literally 3 consecutively serialed rifles), a 'standard load', and blown primers in my rifle, but not the others. Chrono'd over 100fps faster in my gun.

A succession of blown primers means the load is too hot <span style="font-style: italic">for that rifle</span>. What happens in other rifles is not the subject.

Listen to the rifle. Its telling you what's right and what's wrong.

Don't be looking for the devious and ignoring the obvious.

Greg
 
#17
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

The carbon ring is a buildup of carbon at the beginning of the throat, most often from very slow powders. It results in less bullet clearance and thus raises pressures.

Your excess pressures are causing your primer packet damage, not the other way around.

1)Start at the beginning, with a clean rifle.

2) Measure your maximum COAL where the bullet barely touches, then back off .010" or more. If you try to just touch the lands, slight and normal variation in ogive will result in some bullets having clearance and other being jammed, with resulting pressure excursions.

Trying to measure/adjust COAL to .001" is futile.

3) Load incremental loads, beginning with the "starting loads" shown in a good reloading manual.

4) As you add powder, watch for signs of increasing pressures: edges of primers lose radius, primers crater around the firing pin indent, primers flatten, extraction gets difficult.

STOP as soon as you run into any of the above, you are at or beyond maximum pressures.

If your velocity is too low, you need a different powder or a .300 WinMag.
 
#18
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: E.Shell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The carbon ring is a buildup of carbon at the beginning of the throat, most often from very slow powders. It results in less bullet clearance and thus raises pressures.

Your excess pressures are causing your primer packet damage, not the other way around.

1)Start at the beginning, with a clean rifle.

2) Measure your maximum COAL where the bullet barely touches, then back off .010" or more. If you try to just touch the lands, slight and normal variation in ogive will result in some bullets having clearance and other being jammed, with resulting pressure excursions.

Trying to measure/adjust COAL to .001" is futile.

3) Load incremental loads, beginning with the "starting loads" shown in a good reloading manual.

4) As you add powder, watch for signs of increasing pressures: edges of primers lose radius, primers crater around the firing pin indent, primers flatten, extraction gets difficult.

STOP as soon as you run into any of the above, you are at or beyond maximum pressures.

If your velocity is too low, you need a different powder or a .300 WinMag.
</div></div>

I've been watching everything pretty close and I know the loads are hot but I think the COAL will fix the problem.

Thanks, and .01 is what I meant.
 
#19
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

one;

Answer: I don't know. All I can say is that it's a lesson in why not to make assumptions. Even with all the control variables identical, you can still get performance variances. When we run things at the ragged edge, small additional uncontrollable vatiables can bring on catastrophe.

I had assumed a load that's safe in two 'identical' rifles would be safe in the third. The assumption turned out false.

Greg
 
#20
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Onemoretime</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've been watching everything pretty close and <span style="font-weight: bold">I know the loads</span> are hot but I think the COAL will fix the problem.</div></div>Hopefully getting off the lands will help, but I see that you DO identify the primer pocket problem in your sentence above.<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks, and .01 is what I meant.</div></div>Figured as much.

One thing to be cautious of now is that shortening up the COAL w/o reducing the charge can be dangerous, since one would be reducing combustion chamber capacity which in itself normally raises pressures.

Good luck, and I hope your safety glasses are certified.
 
#21
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: E.Shell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hopefully getting off the lands will help, but I see that you DO identify the primer pocket problem in your sentence

</div></div>

I do think they are a problem and I'm measuring them all and tossing the once that are over .209. It's one more thing I can control and only takes a minute.
 
#22
Re: 30-06 Primer Pockets?

I had an issue with blown primers in my '06 with some LC brass. Where I found my problem was during my brass prep I got to agressive with deburring the flash hole. I had enlarged the inside of the flash hole. I am much more carefull in this area and the problem went away.
 
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