Hi all, having an issue with my 6 BRA, I've got some used 6 BRA brass from two guys on here and it's 0.06 - 0.012" shorter at the shoulder than cases fired in my barrel.
Edit to add:
Using the Hornady B350 comparator:
Virgin Lapua 6BR: 1.155"
Fired 6BRA in my chamber, unsized: 1.178"
Other rifle #1 (20 pc brass), sized: 1.172"
Other rifle #2 (250 pc brass), sized: 1.166"
Background is that I bought the barrel for my Tikka on here secondhand, I know it's a no turn and I assumed it was otherwise the standard Wheeler #1. It came with 100 pieces fired brass and I checked the headspace against them after I installed the barrel, bolt was tight but would close on a fired case. It wouldn't close on a fired case with a single layer of Scotch tape, and the shoulder measured the same on cases fireformed on my action as the fired cases I was sent, so I'm sure it's not a barrel installation issue.
I got 20 6 BRA cases from one guy and they were 0.006" short at the shoulder (using a SAC comparator), I didn't use them but figured hey maybe that guy had a short chamber or sized them way too far. It's only 20 cases and they were free, I wasn't worried about it. But recently I just bought 250 pieces of brass from a different guy and they measure even shorter, 0.012" short. So now I think it's most likely that my chamber is longer than standard. I now have 300 pieces fireformed to my chamber and 270 fireformed in other chambers that seem very nice but have way too much headspace, so I'm trying to figure out my next move.
As I see it I have four options:
1. Make a false shoulder and fireform (expand the 'short' brass to 6.5, then size down to my chamber's shoulder)
2. Load bullets long and jam to fireform
3. Sell the 'short' (really standard 6 BRA) brass
4. Shave back my barrel to standard spec and bump all my long brass back down to standard?
Any suggestions among these or other ideas?
I'm leaning toward #1 but don't want to work the brass (and myself) that much if it's not needed. I do have an annealer so I'm not worried about that part. Yes I probably should have just fireformed everything and not run into this problem but I'm cheap and used brass is cheaper than new.
Edit to add:
Using the Hornady B350 comparator:
Virgin Lapua 6BR: 1.155"
Fired 6BRA in my chamber, unsized: 1.178"
Other rifle #1 (20 pc brass), sized: 1.172"
Other rifle #2 (250 pc brass), sized: 1.166"
Background is that I bought the barrel for my Tikka on here secondhand, I know it's a no turn and I assumed it was otherwise the standard Wheeler #1. It came with 100 pieces fired brass and I checked the headspace against them after I installed the barrel, bolt was tight but would close on a fired case. It wouldn't close on a fired case with a single layer of Scotch tape, and the shoulder measured the same on cases fireformed on my action as the fired cases I was sent, so I'm sure it's not a barrel installation issue.
I got 20 6 BRA cases from one guy and they were 0.006" short at the shoulder (using a SAC comparator), I didn't use them but figured hey maybe that guy had a short chamber or sized them way too far. It's only 20 cases and they were free, I wasn't worried about it. But recently I just bought 250 pieces of brass from a different guy and they measure even shorter, 0.012" short. So now I think it's most likely that my chamber is longer than standard. I now have 300 pieces fireformed to my chamber and 270 fireformed in other chambers that seem very nice but have way too much headspace, so I'm trying to figure out my next move.
As I see it I have four options:
1. Make a false shoulder and fireform (expand the 'short' brass to 6.5, then size down to my chamber's shoulder)
2. Load bullets long and jam to fireform
3. Sell the 'short' (really standard 6 BRA) brass
4. Shave back my barrel to standard spec and bump all my long brass back down to standard?
Any suggestions among these or other ideas?
I'm leaning toward #1 but don't want to work the brass (and myself) that much if it's not needed. I do have an annealer so I'm not worried about that part. Yes I probably should have just fireformed everything and not run into this problem but I'm cheap and used brass is cheaper than new.
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