Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors reforming 25-35 to HP 22

And now a little more of "WTF?"

I went to reload an unfired S&B case that I had pulled the bullet and powder from and ran through my RCBS HP22 resizing die with a Reeds .228 70 gr. bullet.

The case crumpled just before the shoulder, and the bullet never seated. Bad brass?

I pulled the resizing pin from the die and it measures .225. The bullet measured .228.

I found some articles that say .003" is excessive when seating bullets.

I will try one of the resized 25-35 brass cases and see what happens.

Been one of those weeks...

Blitz

Both cases buckled when trying to seat the bullet. I can actually see where the bullet stopped in the 25-35 case, as there is a ring where it has expanded.

I guess the .225 sizer isn't going to cut it. Any place to get a .227 sizer?

Or did RCBS screw up and give me the wrong expander in the HP22 die?

The die is labeled HP 22.

Indeed it would seem they installed an undersized expander plug.

First off, I want to thank all of you "Savages" for the great advice.

Now, for a little Mea Culpa with a side of crow for the Newbie.

Seems in my haste to make cartridges, I got some bad advice somewhere, not from here, I'm thinking them you-tuber's. Anyway, my fault, not theirs.

I was setting the bullet seating die, the same way as the sizing die. Thread it in till it touches the ram, then another 1/4 turn in.

Supposed to be 1 turn OUT. This puts the crimp above the case. Because I went IN I was crushing the case against the crimp.

I guess there's a REASON RCBS puts a picture by picture fold out poster in with their presses. After reading that, and a little face palm, I am now happily making cartridges with .228" bullets. Got some 60 and 70 grainers from Reeds, over 25.3 gr. of IMR 3031.

If and WHEN the range opens, I'm going to do a little comparison between them and the S&B and Norma cartridges.

I warned ya I was a NEWBIE!

Blitz.

Good show!! I committed more egregious blunders than that when I started. 50+ years now and I'm still learning!

I like pictures and if I had things my way all textbooks would have the text removed and replaced with pictures!

Give RCBS a call. They used to have the greatest customer service on the planet. I assume they still do.

I sent them an email explaining that the expander ball measures .225" and I need to seat .228" bullets. They are sending a new expander ball free of charge.

But it was operator error, not a failure of equipment.

I put a nickle between the shell holder and the face of the seating die. Back the seating rod back until it doesn't contact the bullet. THEN with the bullet in place at the case mouth turn the seater in till it contacts the bullet. Turn it n moving the bullet a little at a time and measuring each time until you get the seating depth/ overall length desired. Once you do this and develop the habit it will become second nature.

Hornady told me the same thing, but it never showed up. Hopefully RCBS will do you right.

I'm pretty sure RCBS will. I've broken couple of things over the years and called to ask if I could buy that part and they always sent it for free. Great company with customer service that excellent. I have die sets from when they put the year on them from the 70's still going strong.

Yeah, but after thinking about it some more, .225 isn't really terribly out of line for an expander for .227-.228 diameter bullets. A couple thousandth interference fit is pretty normal. I guess I should dig out my .22HP Redding dies and mic that expander.

I don't know if you mentioned this or not but I was just wondering if you chamferred the case mouth after trimming?

Rcbs has excellent customer service. Years ago I got my RCII out of storage and the ram was seized. I called them and they sent me a new one in 3 days for the cost of shipping. That press hadn't been made in a long time. They have also sent me a new expander ball for my .30-30 dies totally free of charge. It almost makes me want to start buying RCBS dies instead of Redding.

The cases where fine AFTER I set the seating die as laid out in the RCBS pictorial instruction. I had set the die IN a turn instead of OUT a turn. This was crushing the case in the die.

Like I said a NEWBIE OPERATOR ERROR!

Live and learn. When you fail, you learn how NOT to do it.

I loaded 10 cases tonight, 5 with S&B brass, 25.3 gr. IMR 3031 under a 60 gr. Reeds bullet and 5 reformed 25-35 same charge 70 gr. Reeds.

Tomorrow I'm going to do 5 and 5 with with Reloader 7.

Again, thanks for ALL your input.

Be well,

Blitz

So now that my reloading education is off to a roaring start, here's what I got ready for if and when the range opens:

S&B brass, pulled .224 bullets.
5 rounds - 60 gr. Reeds .228 jacketed over 25.3 gr. IMR 3031
5 rounds - 60 gr. Reeds .228 jacketed over 25.3 gr. Reloader 7

WInchester 25-35 reformed
5 rounds - 70 gr. Reeds .228 over 25.3 gr. IMR 3031
5 rounds - 70 gr. Reeds .228 jacketed over 25.3 gr. Reloader 7

IMR 3031 data was from forum member Ron in previous postings as an "accuracy" load.
Reloader 7 was another member, who is earlier in this thread.

As a baseline I will be also shooting:
5 rounds S&B 5.6x52R
5 rounds Norma 5.6x52R

I suspect the S&B and Norma, being smaller bullets will keyhole like in the past. I know the S&B keyhole, never shot any Norma.

I'll keep you all posted!

And of course PICTURES!

Blitz

Those powder charges are pretty warm in my experience. I wouldn't load any more like that until I saw how they did. With 3031 I like 23-24 grains with 70 grain bullets. Just a few grains less powder generates better case life and in my experience better accuracy.

my worst was having more than 1 powder on the table and using the wrong one

I pulled the charges from searches here at the 24. They seemed to be middle of the road charges. The S&B and Norma bullets had 26.4 gr. of powder in them ,which I thought was a lot.

I was going to load up some with lesser charges also just for data. Last time I shot the HP22 was with S&B and at 25 yards the bullets were hitting the paper sideways and with terrible accuracy. I have a laser bore sight to dial in the scope, then we'll go from there. Be nice to have the gun make round holes instead of oblong ones, and have the projectile go where I was aiming!

Our Imperial Guvna just dictated that "non essential" businesses will be closed until May 20th.

The public outcry and backlash is incredible, with some threats made.

I can't wait till the range is open. I'm chompin' at the bit now!

Blitz

We backed down to 23 grains of 3031 with Norma and Hornady's (probably on Gary's advice). I was surprised that my rifle shot the Hornady's to the same point of aim as the Norma's at 50 yards. Still need to see what they do at 100. I can prove that 23 grains kill deer, right now!