First, hello all. I gained interest in the 6.5 Grendel in late November, and at the time the forum seemed to be off-line. glad to see it back up and running! I've already absorbed a lot of info, esp. on reloading, my topic today.
Price of brass being what it is, I thought the best approach might be to form my own of 7.62X39. so I got 500 rounds from Gunbroker, and went to work. Turns out 400 were Winchester, and 100 were R-P, which seemed no big deal, but I was about to find out.
As I'm sure you are all aware, the 6.5 takes most all the taper from the brass from base to shoulder, and leaves a pretty short neck.
First thing I found out was that the first form would leave what you all seem to call a "donut" ring at the shoulder, an artifact of forcing the neck/shoulder junction. I found a vid on Youtube of a guy hydroforming this brass to 6.5G, in order to avoid throwing components downrange to finish the brass. He sent me a drawing of his hydroforming tool, and I had a friend with a lathe build me one. I had to weld a plug in a shellholder, cause you can hydraulically eject a primer instantly with the setup. It was working! I have all the W-W brass formed now, and have shot a few, miking them before and after, with 100% success.
Now the R-P brass was a different story. It is small primered... what's up with that? No matter. I found that much more than a donut, it would crush the shoulder of the brass unmercifully. After ruining enough pieces experimenting, I found I could back the sizer die out about a nickel's thickness, and only get a small donut on the brass. However, this left the brass too long to fit the chamber. Yesterday I got the last piece of the puzzle together when I hydroformed the brass in the "too long" position. This blew the body out straight, so now when the brass is f/l sized it doesn't collapse. A way to use the *now short* 100 pieces of R-P brass.
I s'pose a few pics would say it well, but there it is in print. I see where several are fighting the same bug-a-boos, and thought my experience might be of some help. Looking forward to comparing notes with you all.
Price of brass being what it is, I thought the best approach might be to form my own of 7.62X39. so I got 500 rounds from Gunbroker, and went to work. Turns out 400 were Winchester, and 100 were R-P, which seemed no big deal, but I was about to find out.
As I'm sure you are all aware, the 6.5 takes most all the taper from the brass from base to shoulder, and leaves a pretty short neck.
First thing I found out was that the first form would leave what you all seem to call a "donut" ring at the shoulder, an artifact of forcing the neck/shoulder junction. I found a vid on Youtube of a guy hydroforming this brass to 6.5G, in order to avoid throwing components downrange to finish the brass. He sent me a drawing of his hydroforming tool, and I had a friend with a lathe build me one. I had to weld a plug in a shellholder, cause you can hydraulically eject a primer instantly with the setup. It was working! I have all the W-W brass formed now, and have shot a few, miking them before and after, with 100% success.
Now the R-P brass was a different story. It is small primered... what's up with that? No matter. I found that much more than a donut, it would crush the shoulder of the brass unmercifully. After ruining enough pieces experimenting, I found I could back the sizer die out about a nickel's thickness, and only get a small donut on the brass. However, this left the brass too long to fit the chamber. Yesterday I got the last piece of the puzzle together when I hydroformed the brass in the "too long" position. This blew the body out straight, so now when the brass is f/l sized it doesn't collapse. A way to use the *now short* 100 pieces of R-P brass.
I s'pose a few pics would say it well, but there it is in print. I see where several are fighting the same bug-a-boos, and thought my experience might be of some help. Looking forward to comparing notes with you all.
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