30-06: Case Capacity Comparison

[jason miller]

All the 30-06 interest of late had me wondering, so I measured the case capacity on some of my brass. All of these have been fired in my rifle, a 2008 Win70 Featherweight. They will have higher capacity than unfired brass and not necessarily the same capacity as brass fired in a different chamber. Also, all of my brass started out as factory ammo and has subsequently been reloaded and fired. I weighed three each, filled with tap water to overflowing, dried the case, and accidentally touched the very edge of the neck on the first one while drying which brought the water level to flat, so continued that trend.

Hornady brass weighs in at 184.6, 184.6, and 184.1 and had an average capacity of 71.3 grains.

Winchester weighed 192.0, 192.3, and 192.6 with an average capacity of 70.6 grains.

Frontier weighed 191.4, 191.8 and 192.0 with an average capacity of 70.63 grains.

The first couple pieces of Hornady I grabbed weren't very close in weight, so I grabbed three more for a set at the lower weight range. They went 182.6, 182.8, and 182.5 with an average capacity of 71.6 grains.


It looks to me like the old Frontier brass I have that started out as old Hornady ammo probably used Winchester brass, which I found interesting. Also of note is that the Hornady brass actually has up to a grain of additional volume.

Does anyone else have any measurements or care to take some for comparison?

 

[truck driver]

Interesting but to get true H2O cap you need to use distilled water which is chemical and mineral free.
I haven't loaded for my 30-06 for a few years since I have been using other rifles but when I bring it back out I will get a H2O cap for the cases I'll use .

 

[SJB358]

I am running Hornady brass right now, but the little bit of overall differences would be hard to notice in actual speed I'd bet. I'd almost bet you could use the same load in all three and not have an awful lot of variance with it.

 

[DON]

I'm curious of the case capacity of Winchester verses Remington as I have good supply of both for my 30-06 Remington 700. I developed my loads using the win brass. Pretty sure I just can't switch over to Remington without starting all over. Is this true ?

Don

 

[Elkman]

I loaded for the 06 extensively in the 60's, and found that I could get more powder in a WW case than an RP. So thinking along that line I would be cautious in interchanging full loads. I don't remember if there was a significant accuracy difference but there could be.

 

[Billyram]

I never cared for Rem. brass or primers in the 30-06 but have had good luck with W-W/Hornady, Fed. and Nosler brass. I've had good results using WLR primers in W-W/Hornady and Nosler brass. I've had good results using Fed. 210 or 210M primers in Fed. brass. With the loads I'm using I don't see much difference in velocity or accuracy from these cases but my favorite is Nosler brass for the 30-06.
Billy

 

[ShadeTree]

Interesting. As far as Remington, I've read more than once that Remington cases tend to have less case capacity. I think Lapua was another one, but don't quote me on that.

As far as good results I've had what I consider very good results with Remington brass in 06 and CCI 200 primers with a variety of bullets and bullet weights. Now understand I'm not a long range hunter or competitor so the differences might show up then, but at normal ranges I have a couple loads with that combo that make me consistently grin at the range.