I inherited a sporterized 1909 Argentine Mauser that sadly has been rechambered to 30-06. The bore remains 7.65 or .311 as measured by slugging the barrel.

What's the most economical way to reload for this situation? I already have a Lee full length 30-06 die set for another rifle, but I'm concerned about two issues:
1. Seating the larger bullets. The neck of the Lee seating die seems to be too tight for .311 bullets (they don't slide thru). Should I hone the neck out?
2. I know that I can order a larger sizing mandrel from Lee, but will the sizing die work the neck too much (sizing it too small on the down-stroke)?

Any input appreciated. Thanks.

.311 bullets will probably work without modifying anything. If not, you can probably order a larger center rod. Lee can advise you an whether one built for the 7.62x54R is long enough to decap the used brass. Lee also makes a die that slightly flares the mouth of the case.

If it were my rifle I would put a new barrel on it at ER Shaw and have a lovely,proper Mauser .30-06.

Terry

Good suggestion re: Lee. I will have to do something about the seater die at minimum, though, as the .311 bullets catch in the neck (rather than sliding up and meeting the seating plug) and thus seat too deep when I tested them.

You might try shooting it with loads using .308 bullets. We did that with my brother-in-laws converted Argentine Mauser and it was quite accurate. More accurate than my Pre-64 FW '06 that I most often used at that at that time.

I had a similar problem a few years ago. I purchased a beautiful Jap rifle at an auction. It had a georgeous birdseye maple Mannlicher style stock. After much trial and error, I discovered that it had the barrel set back and was chambered for the .308... Or .31/08, if you will... I merely sized .308 brass in a std RCBS die, with the expander plug out of my .303 Brit. die. Seated standard 150 gr. Sierra .311 bullets in a std .308 seater die. Worked fine... Hope this helps...

GH

Pretty much what Grasshopper said. Pick up a set of 7.65 dies and pull the expander plug from the 7.65 sizer and put it in your 30-06 sizer then seat you bullets with the 7.65 seater. You'll work the necks too much but the brass should last for a while.

31-06. Finally filling that glaring performance gap between the 30-06 and the 8mm-06.

Mart

I would first try Dancing Bear's suggestion of trying it with .30 caliber bullets, or even factory .30-06 ammo. When I was in my 20's one of my older hunting partners had a .30-06 re-chambered 1909 he'd bought as a teenager. It was very accurate with his standard .30-caliber handloads. I've also handloaded .30 caliber bullets for a couple of .303 British rifles, one with .313 grooves, and found many of them accurate.

For my 7.65-06s, I neck expand with a 31 Lyman M-Die. That works fine to allow .310-.312 bullets to seat without neck damage.

I routinely load .310 cast bullets in a 30-06 by using a neck expander die. Should work just as well for jacketed bullets.

Thanks all. I should note that I did some quick testing of the rifle with standard 30-06 loads and the accuracy was iffy. I had contemplated the 31 M die route as well, but would then still need to resize the neck down after firing with another die. I was worried about working the necks too much, but in the end that may be too small a point.

I may switch to a RCBS die set to allow easier changing of the expander plug and perhaps more clearance in the neck area of the seating die.

I thought about this, but didn't see the point in taking off a perfectly good barrel per the gunsmith.

I tried 10 rounds of 30-06 reloads (with flat-based 150 grain Interloks) and wasn't too pleased with the accuracy. Perhaps try another bullet?

I would try different bullets until something worked. If not, do as others said, with the dies and changing expanders.

gotsarock,

When I seated my bullets, I used an RCBS .30 Cal Competition seater. I am very fond of these dies. I like the window. The .311 bullet went thru the standard .30 sleeve without a hitch. Which leads me to believe that one could use a std .30-06 seater without any problems.

I strongly suggest that you exhaust all possiblities before you replace the barrel.

At the very least, you have the opportunity for a valuable learning experience! In the long run, I don't think you'll be sorry... Good Luck!

GH

Thanks for the encouragement. It seems like my Lee seater is tight in the neck and if I want to seat .311 bullets I would need to hone it out or try another brand.

In an article MD found that .308 partitions shot quite well in a couple .303 british rifles, a no. 1 and an enfield.

Yeah, Partitions will often work in slightly larger bores, because the rear core bumps up to fill the bore. Sometimes a little faster-burning powder then the typical slow-as-possible powders chosen by many handloaders will work better.

This die is made for slightly flaring the mouth of rifle cases so that cast bullets can be loaded easily. I think it might help.

This die is probably a better product, but as far as I know, it only works on 30-30.

gotsarock,

I have an extra Lyman or RCBS seater if you wish to try it... PM me your shipping addy and I'll ship it out... You can purchase it if you wish, or just borrow, either way not a problem...

GH

Honing out the existing die or getting a seater die for a .311-ish bullet is probably the simplest solution. Seater dies for 303 Brit, 7.7 Jap, 8x57 or similar rounds would likely work just fine, properly adjusted. Seater dies are large enough that the brass isn't supposed to touch the die.

As others have advised get an M die from Lyman then proceed with some .311/312 bullets.

Probably the most sensible idea, but then there goes the fun of developing new loads.

If the accuracy is so-so, I'd have a look at the muzzle end of the tube. Not unusual for milsurp guns to have some damage from cleaning. Often times lopping 2-4" off the barrel (provided you keep it to a legal 16" length) and putting on a fresh crown will do wonders.

Sitka deer picked up a 223 with a barrel that everyone who looked at it considered to be junk due to the heavy rust and pitting. We figured in the name of science it wouldn't hurt anything to see if I could save the barrel. I put alot of elbow greese trying to clean up the barrel with JB combpound but the last couple inches of barrel just wouldn't clean up. So I lopped off 4" of barrel and recrowned it on the lathe to the see if the "goner" barrel would shoot. As I recall the asnwer was an affirmative with sub moa groups.

Thanks for the kind offer, Grasshopper. I'm going to try honing the current die, but will be in touch if that doesn't work.

Why not a 7.65 die set from Lee? Swap the expander ball into the '06 set, and use the 7.65 seater? If that set is too hard to come by, maybe a 7.62x54R Russian set?

I once had a very early 30-06 Model 30 Remington that Remington built with a 303 Brit barrel 5 groove left hand twist 312 diameter and it shot well with most anything I fed it with.

I did try some 174 gr 303 bullets and they worked fine, Didn't have to change a thing in the reloading die, just seated them as normal.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've honed out my seating die so a .311 bullet will fit through and will try a 31 M die for expanding the case neck.

Hot damn....I've been waiting FOR YEARS for someone to do that!!

9point3,

About your Model 30, I remember having read somewhere that US M1917s had the same bore and groove diameters as the British Pattern 14 that Remington, Winchester and Eddystone had been making earlier, just chambered differently. Since early Model 30s were built largely from 1917 parts, your experience doesn't surprise me. If I remember correctly, Col. Harrison of the NRA recommended different(larger diameter) cast bullets for 1917s than for 1903s.

I'll swing with those saying just shoot 308 bullets in it first and see what happens...I'd grab a chronograph and increase charge weights (carefully) and track velocity at the same time as charges are increased. Might work.

I say this because I have built barrels cut a thou or two over sized through the groove diameter in 30 caliber and they shot fine..even had a pre 64 M70 375 H&H that we miked at .378 through the grooves that was very accurate.....another 30/06 that was about 1.5 thou oversized.

About the only difference is that charges are increased to boot the bullets a bit harder in the arse to make them slug better into the bore.

Have you considered rebsrreling and making it a B-29?

That is the same info I had as well. Shot 308 diameter bullets out of it before I had read the .303 stuff and it worked fine.

Are not expander balls available in just about any diameter? My "old" memory thinks yes. Jack