During the rain yesterday, I had time to evaluate the fired cases. SOME LARGE SURPRISES RESULT!! Both Lyman #46 and Lee 2nd edition show headspace measurement 2B 1.418 in from the head to a datum line of 0.375 in dia. Using a hornady headspace comparator kit and a Lyman stainless 6 in caliper, I found the following: The unfired Graf by Hornady 150 gr RN measured 1.405 to fired 1.414 with a primer protrusion of 0.006. My hand load of 170 gr Sierra RN with 30.5 gr IMR4064 went unfired1.404 to fired 1.416 with a primer protrusion of 0.005. My handload of 190 gr FN Barnes with 29 gr of IMR 4064 went 1.404 to fired 1.417 with primer protrusion of 0.004. My handload of 190 gr Barnes with 30 gr of Varget went 1.405 to fired 1.418 with primer protrusion of 0.004. Just as a comparison, 20 rds of vintage Remington 180 gr RN unfired went 1.395 avg with variance of +4 to -8 for 19 rounds. #20 measured 1.422 unfired and triple checked. Previously, I had observed the water capacity of a fired, but resized, Graf's ammo case to be 42.7 grs and that of a resized Win 30-30 case to be 44.1 gr. These closely paralleled a posting here by Mule Deer some years back of an experiment he had ran. I remembered reading about his results in the pages of Handloader years ago but could not find it in my stockpiled copies so I called them and purchased a reprint of #238 from Dec of 2005. My technique was NOT the same as his. I had weighed a resized case with a primer filled to the brim. He used a fired case with a 170 gr Speer inserted to the cannelure. In evaluating the 3 cases from the 30 gr Varget loading, I found the following: Weight of unsized, fired PPU case-171.63 gr. Weight of same case filled to brim with a Sierra FN 170 gr inserted to cannelure and then exterior well wiped with a paper towel-208.08 gr or water weight of 35.45 gr. This is a reduction of 11.74 % vs what MD found. Repeating these steps with the 190 Barnes FN yielded a water capacity of 34.84 gr or a reduction of 15.64%. Now MD utilized a Speer which in 2005 would have been a Hot-cor. All I had on the shelf was a deep curl. I didn't repeat the weighing with it but did observe the bullet to be longer than the Sierra and the cannelure further from the base, almost as far a the cannelure on the 190 Barnes. This would yield even a greater reductionof water capacity inthe PPU brass. MD used a Win case from a 190 ST loading.
Your mileage may vary as these measurements were taken from firings in my rifle and with my caliper. That PPU 303 Savage brass runs from 20-30 grains heavier than win 30-30 brass and is very strong but does offer less capacity. Think I wont Tiptoe any further than these loads in my Tulip patch. I suggest you develop your own loads and don't use these. The lot # of the PPU brass is 1701 and was purchased from both Graf and Midway usa. I've polished the chamber a little with some JB bore paste using a case as a lap. Well C if that helps.
