7.62x40 Wilson Tactical Crimping

Ian

Notorious member
For .22s, yeah, you probably will. For .30-cal and up you can get close enough with calipers if you make sure there is no crimp or bell on the mouth.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
Okay, got the Forster outside neck trimmer and .308 pilot.
The pilot measures .3055". I have RCBS and Hornady dies for 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Weatherby Mag, and the 7.62x40WT. None of the expander balls will allow entry of the Pilot. I even greased it, to no avail. I've got a Dillon 308 neck expander for my powder measure for my 550B, but the shaft is .300" and flairs at the top to flair case mouth, if desired. Doesn't expand the neck at all.
Also, the Forster cutter block strikes the lathe frame with the leading edge the entire length of the frame.
I could chuck the pilot in a drill and buff it down a little. I guess better to be to big than to small.
Have sent Forster an e-mail, but all in all, pretty disappointed.
All dressed up and nowhere to go.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I gotta drag my 30's over the Hornady neck size expand ball it's like 3075 ish and running the cases on the pilot is tight.
[the cases usually have a little spring back after being pulled over the expander ball so 307 might be what your looking for]
I inside and outside lube the necks before cutting then start out a touch big and cut and measure, adjust the cut thickness and cut again until I get where I want.
some of the thick .0015 brass coming down to .00115 is a pretty good cut and might require two cuts.

if I am neck cutting I like to cut.
anneal.
set the neck tension.
load and fire form.
and then run them through the cutter again as a total clean up.
 
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F

freebullet

Guest
Hornady offers a larger expander ball, comes with the x39 dies. I've found it very useful with cast on other 30's.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
I think the 7.62x40 might be designed to be a little snugger, due to the fact that it is feeding thru an AR15.
They don't want the bullets moving around during feeding.
Does anyone have trouble sizing .002" under for cast and having bullets miss align/ move when feeding thru ARs?
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I'm actually a little lighter than that for my AR with cast, .002 is my normal go to with jacketed.
I seen a chart once that equated that to something like 30 lbs of force needed to seat a 22 cal bullet, and it worked out to be about 60 lbs in a 30 caliber.
 

popper

Well-Known Member
That is my standard for AR10 (308) and BO. Works for the 336 30/30 also. I use the FCD to remove any bell. I did have an over-run jam in the AR10 that caused the FP to set back a bit.
Found out this morning I can use 309 sized in the BO pistol. Dropped a 307 into the bore, tapped with a rod til it stuck in rifling. Measure with a rod down the muzzle. Repeat with 309. Same length. Now I can return the two Lee 308 sizers that are actually 307 (double order Christmas gifts).
 

Ian

Notorious member
Okay, got the Forster outside neck trimmer and .308 pilot.
The pilot measures .3055". I have RCBS and Hornady dies for 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Weatherby Mag, and the 7.62x40WT. None of the expander balls will allow entry of the Pilot. I even greased it, to no avail. I've got a Dillon 308 neck expander for my powder measure for my 550B, but the shaft is .300" and flairs at the top to flair case mouth, if desired. Doesn't expand the neck at all.
Also, the Forster cutter block strikes the lathe frame with the leading edge the entire length of the frame.
I could chuck the pilot in a drill and buff it down a little. I guess better to be to big than to small.
Have sent Forster an e-mail, but all in all, pretty disappointed.
All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Welcome to the wonderful world of precision handloading. You can easily spend hundreds of dollars gambling on expanders, neck bushings and neck bushing sizers, turning mandrels, maybe mod some stuff like a .31 Lee decapper rod from a Brit or x39 set, finally get the damned necks to fit the turner, then find that after one firing you have to change something, or if you change lots or brands of brass or anneal it's all out the window. Fortunately, the turning part is a one-time deal............ however.......... resizing fired, turned necks will almost always need a bushing change vs. the first go to get the neck tension you want.

Most people think I'm nuts when I talk about the incredible amount of time, money, thought, and effort it takes to properly prepare case necks for cast bullets, but now you know why. This is why I ultimately bought a lathe. I can make neck mandrels, bullet sizing dies, and neck resizing bushings in any size I want now. Already I have near a dozen Forster neck mandrels ranging from .305" to .310".

Is the cutter lock screw hitting the frame, or the cutter head itself?
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
There were several bad burners on the cutter lock screw hole that I stoned away. But in the end the head was hitting the frame.
Forster rep said the frame must be bent.
I don't think so.
I've got another forster trimmer I'm going to try to mount it on. Just haven't had time.
I do need a larger expander button. Pulled cast bullets are getting resized down to .307". Soft coww, powder coated and not re heat treated.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
this is the one time I actually look to lee.
their neck squisher dies are great for setting tension.
no help when prepping brass for neck cutting though, you really want to have the case pushed or pulled over a mandrel first.
 

Hawk

North Central Texas
Okay, I contacted Hornady for a new expander ball and all they had was a .310 for the 7.62x39.
I ordered one. Cost was only $7.00.
Do you think I can just chuck it up in a drill and polish it down to .306 or .3065 with emory cloth and steel wool, without ruining it or getting it out of round?
Surely someone else has done this and can point me in the right direction.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
yep chuck it up in the drill and pull the cloth towards you with firm even pressure.
run it about 15 seconds and measure and run it again.
wear some leather gloves when you do the steel wool part.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Ya, what Fiver said. I run a Lee 7.62x39 .310" expander in my .30-30 sizing die with the die neck honed out to provide less aggressive sizing.