[slim1754]

We have a new batch of 125 grain 30 cal CBB MKZ tipped projectiles.
Same expansion parameters but with a higher BC. BC went from .320 G1 to .360 G1
View attachment 78175

View attachment 78176

Are these going to be too long for the Tac30? What is the length?

 

[gunner14412]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/QUOTE]
So nearly 3 years later, I was able to get back into this hobby. LIfe happens, y'know.

Turns out that with new S&B brass and newish Hornady 30 Herrett dies, that if you reform them into TAC30 without annealing first, they split vertically at the new shoulder when first-fired. I formed about 40 pieces without annealing in the first go-around. Fired about 15 of them, and found splits, so I stopped. Then I pulled all the loads apart and un-primed. That's when life happened.

Fast forward nearly 3 years. I annealed the already-formed cases from long ago, just 3 of them. It wasn't a barely-annealed job, I really heated them up. Then reloaded and fired. They all split too the same way, vertically, MAYBE not quite as bad, but they still split. I guess all the previously formed peices are toast. Such a shame, considering the shortage of brass, but it is what it is.

So I annealed three new 6.8SPC brass peices after de-priming. Then formed into TAC30 and loaded and fired. NO SPLITS!!!!

I've seen a guy on YouTube reforming S&B brass without annealing, but they were fired at least once (maybe more times) as 6.8SPC prior to reforming. And I believe he might have been using RCBS dies, but I'm not sure.

In any case, I know lots of people reform 6.8SPC into TAC30 without annealing, but for me, it's a must. I'm very excited to be moving forward with load development and making some first-rate ammo. So many possibilities....

Thanks much to all who had commented and offered suggestions.

 

[BMT85]

Probably a bad batch of brass.
I have some 6.8 S&B brass that have a few firings, never annealed, and no problems. Had an American 30 that I formed some once fired brass for, no splits, but never fired. Had an ARP 6.5 tac or whatever it was called. Formed S&B virgin brass and fired a few shots, never had an issue. Have a ARP Tac 6, formed some virgin S&B brass, no splits, hopefully sometime soon I can actually fire some loads.

 

[Rick F]

AMP Annealing makes life easier!

 

[Strawdawg]

I just finished a couple hundred between the old SSA brass and Federal. No problems as far as cracking, but now and again, I find one that will not push the shoulder as far back as the others are moving. I think that after they have been shot...the reloads then push the shoulders down as the others.

I have been wondering if annealing would allow all to be pushed back the same amount.

 

[gunner14412]

The cracking on coverted brass only showed up for me after they were fired. Prior to firing, I could not detect any cracking or other problems.

The guy from YouTube that I referenced had an ARP Tac30 barrel. Might have mentioned it in this video or a couple others that he has concerning Tac30. In this video he mentions differences in stiffness of S&B vs Hornady brass, S&B being stiffer in his observations. There are other reloaders that I like to watch, but this is the only guy I found working with TAC30.

I recently got some new Star-Line 6.8 brass, but haven't done anything with it yet. To experiment, I should reform one of them into TAC30 without annealing to see if splits show up after firing or not.

To be honest, needing to anneal is only a mild inconvenience. I'm mostly just excited that I have a non-destructive method to form brass and reuse it like any reloader would. Now I can move to developing loads for accuracy for many different bullets. I have a supply of 110 VMax/Zmax, 125 MKZ's, 125 SST's, many others. Lots of range-time coming up.

 

[Strawdawg]

I had to set the set back differently between the Federal and the SSA by a bit. At my age, II would never get the price of an Amp annealer covered...probably nothing else either LOL

 

[gunner14412]

I formed a single round of TAC30 out of Star-Line 6.8 brass. Just lubed it, no annealing. Then trimmed, loaded and shot. No splits of any kind. However, there are some marks around the shoulder that might be brass-stress that could possibly develop into splits. But they might just be marks from the die/forming process. Time will tell. I think I'll be annealing these prior to forming just to be safe. Interesting to see different results with different brass though.

 

[martentrapper]

I prefer SSA cases so far in my 1.5 year career as a tac30 owner. I take a 6.8 case and trim it as far as I can. Then run it thru a Hornady 30 herret die and trim to 1.57. Seems to be working OK. Works also with new S&B cases and I have also done hornady cases.
My load is SSA case, cci450 pri., 27.4 SWBO, CBB 125 gr. and 2.30 oal to fit in the mag. Unfortunately I don't have the mv written down.

 

[martentrapper]

Oh yea, I would really like to get another tac 30 barrel. Prefer 18 in. but 16 would get my interest.

 

[constructor]

I don't think any case larger in diameter than the 6.8 is right for the AR15 platform, the bolts are too weak and the magwel too narrow. Taking that into consideration I ran every caliber through Quickload calculations 15 years ago. 308 was optimum for several reasons, the bullets still have a decent BC without being too long and the weights are not so heavy. It can still get velocity up enough to get reliable expansion. The powder burn rate is 1680, CFE BLK and SW blk which is very efficient out of short barrels. From 0-300yds it has a good bit of energy, My TAC 6 with a 90gr bullet doesn't catch up till 300-350. Most shots hunting are under 300 so it's a good fit.
Problem is, it's a wildcat and not easy enough for most people.

 

[Dan_F]

i can tell you i think the tac30 is awesome. my 18" shoots 125 nos or 110 tsx under 1" 3 shot groups. easy to shoot and load after the forming. the case forming is not that bad. my go to deer or bear upper or rifle. Wish i could get another.

 

[gunner14412]

I want to get a Hornady factory crimp die for TAC30. My 300 blackout crimp die didn't work unfortunately, case body needs to be a close fit, and 223 case body is more narrow than a 6.8 case.
Would a 30-30 die work? Or would the case body on that die be too long to the point that the neck wouldn't push up far enough to form the crimp? I'm guessing a 308Winchester would bee too long, but maybe not. Using a Dillon XL750 if that matters. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help.

This might have been asked in the TAC30 history, but the search function didn't find it. Sorry if it was.

 

[Strawdawg]

I had one made by Lee but normally don't use it . Have not had any problems without it. We talked about it not that long ago in this thread, I think

 

[Strawdawg]

Here's one thread. What FCD can be used on Tac 30 and 270 MSR?

 

[greentick]

I need another caliber like a hole in the head but not grabbing a TAC30 bbl is one of my regrets.

 

[gunner14412]

Thanks for the info. Did the one-off FCD from Hornady cost a bunch extra? At Midway, they are only $10 give or take.

 

[Strawdawg]

There is something about both the TAC30 and the 270MSR that just feels right when you pull the trigger. Too bad both of them are not commercial loads. I wish I had an 18" TAC30 to go along with my 16" barrel. Not sure why, but if it is so good in 16", got to be even better in 18

 

[gunner14412]

We need more barrels Harrison!!! I also had my eyes on a 18" barrel, but got impatient and luckily got a 16" before the end. I agree, the TAC30 has extra umph, and I like it a lot.

 

[gunner14412]

In the choice of "shooter" or "reloader", I believe "reloader" describes me a little more than shooter, but only by a little. So a wildcat isn't an obstacle for me.