Japanese Militaria at Castle-Thunder.com

Kirby · Joined: Sep 03 2010 Posts: 3

I have tried 6.5 Norma brass with the same problems mentioned in a number of threads here. Today I tried the Prvi brass which did work somewhat better but the action was a bit stiff on opening to eject the fired case. I noticed some swelling of the brass at rear and have included a photo of it. The photo shows two cases fired this morning the top case has been resized, the bottom has not. Load was 31.8 grs IMR4064 with a 139 FMJ bullet.

Is this type swelling to be expected with the loose chambers on Model 38s?

You can also see on the unsized case a smooth area to the rear of the swelling, this matches a very smooth area of the chamber. The difference inside the chamber shows up by the way it reflects the light.

cwbrel · Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:16 pm Post subject:

That's a pretty good bulge. I've not used their 6.5 x 50. I've had no problem with the 6.5 x 52 and 7.7 x 58. I also had good luck reforming the 6.5 x 52 to 7.35 x 51. Did you try it in multiple rifle or just one?
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Curtis

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Kirby · Joined: Sep 03 2010 Posts: 3

Just the one, it is the only rifle I have in that caliber.

smzeigler · Joined: Aug 22 2003 Posts: 34 Location: Northern Virginia

Kirby,

The case bulging you are experiencing is normal and nothing to be concerned about. Some folks will place one layer of scotch tape around the case head to snug the case in the chamber. I don't think it is worth the time and effort. In my experience the case neck with split before the case head fails.

Regards, Shannon
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smzeigler

Kirby · Joined: Sep 03 2010 Posts: 3

Thanks for the information. Looks like I need to polish that chamber a bit.

Smokey · Joined: Sep 07 2006 Posts: 60

In all honesty, if you don't have any extraction problems, just leave the chamber as is. I would use a bronze chamber brush and solvent to make sure it's clean, but that's all.
Cases normally bulge a little on one side with a lot of old surplus rifles. The extractor presses the case against one side of the chamber, so the case will expand more on the other side to fill the chamber.
I generally "custom fit" a batch of brass for a particular rifle.
I put a narrow strip of tape around the case head to keep it centered. I also fireform by using a mild load, and grease the case so it slides back against the face of the bolt (prevents stretching and thinning near the head).
After the first firing, I clean the cases, neck size and use my normal "working load" for the particular rifle.