reloading question on m2 ball AP in 30.06

[ernurse]

Hey all, heres a question for you?,since the .308 and 30.06 bullets are the same diameter .30 inches. Can you load a 30.06 M2 Ball AP bullet into a .308 casing safely without to much compression, the diameter is the same. but the M2Ball AP bullet is 1.369 inches long versus a 150gr sp in .308 which is 1.070 inches long and the standard M2 Ball bullet is 1.091 inches long. was wondering If I could safely do it with newer powders. When I pulled the bullets the 30.06 casing were pretty full. So I thought Id better ask some pros. Thanks in advance for any serious and knowledgeable answers. I don't want to blow myself up. Or am I :nuts:

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[rick benjamin]

For all intents and purpose, your pulled bullets can be fired through both weapons.
I would dump the powder from the pulled rounds.

 

[Mark W.]

By the way your bullets are .308" in diameter not .30"

 

[vertical ascent]

Weigh the bullet, that should give you an idea.

 

[joe k]

This is from wiki, so verify it by weighing your bullets.

Armor Piercing, M2 : This cartridge is used against lightly armored vehicles, protective shelters, and personnel, and can be identified by its black bullet tip. Bullet is flat base, weight 163-168 grains

Look up reloading a .308 with 168 grain bullets, and that will answer your question.

 

[Mark W.]

30-06 M2 AP ammo uses a bullets 1.40" long .308" in diameter 165.7gr weight

.308 or 7.62x51mm M61 AP uses a bullet 1.28" long X .308 in diameter 150.5gr weight

The M2 AP bullet is longer below the cannelure (crimp) so it will just stick down into the .308 case a little deeper. As long as you chose load data for a Bullet of the same weight 165-168gr and maintain you overall length spec's and use a powder that is not compressed with the bullet properly seated (you should be able to hear the powder shake around if its not compressed)

You will be fine.

All spec's given taken directly from TM-43-0001-27 Army Ammunition Data Sheets 1994

 

[ernurse]

Mark and all others thank for your replies. Its just something Ive been playing around with in my head. And always safety first in my book.

 

[orygun]

Weigh the bullet to know what powder and charge weight you should use. Any bullet from a 30-06 can be used in a .308 and vice-versa. It's that simple.

 

[AMProducts]

As everyone else said, you can load the 30-06 bullet into the .308, it's not a big deal, the thing you need to look out for is your powder charge.

Because the steel used to make the AP bullet is of lower density than a standard copper/lead bullet, it will consume more space in the casing, resulting in higher pressures if standard load data is used.

For this reason, you need to use lighter load data, I would make comparisons to the barnes TSX data as a similar starting point. I think they list the approximate dimensions of their bullets, you should find something with a similar size, also the density of the AP bullet should be slightly less than that of the copper bullet so you should probably drop the load further than you might think.