Gibbs 35 reloading help needed

broham

Hello,
Has anyone any experence with this? The dies are avaible from Modway but after that I'm in the dark...
Thanks very much.

nononsense

broham,

To my knowledge and according to Rocky's manual and pamphlet, he never marketed a .35 Gibbs. But in that same vein, P.O. Ackley didn't bother to Improve all of the cartridges that he is credited with either. So...

Rocky Gibbs used the 30-06 as his basic case.

He moved the shoulder forward, shortening the neck.

He 'improved' the shoulder angle.

He 'improved' the body taper of the case.

These three changes result in a substantial increase in the powder capacity of the case. With proper reloading procedures, you can get an increase in the velocity available from the basic '06 case.

The drawback to the Gibb's cases is getting the cases into the proper shape. Rocky used a hydraulic method which can be a big mess even when handled as instructed. You can fireform cases but it is necessary to neck a standard case up bigger than the bullet diameter that you need and the neck it back down carefully until the bolt just closes. This yields a datum line for headspacing each case. In the example of your .35 Gibbs, you need to start with the .35 Whelen cases, neck them up to say .375" but bigger in this instance would be better. Remember that this neck sizing will provide the headspace for the new case so you have to have enough shoulder in the false neck to stop the case from moving forward during firing.

This is not your cartridge in particular but it is the .270 Win. configured for the 6.5 Gibbs so you can see what the case shape looks like.



Best.

JustC

for the less experienced loaders and wildcatters, the ackley improved case design is far easier to form correctly. MHO

nononsense

broham,

I forgot to welcome you to the GB forums!

I think that JustC's comment is worth looking into since it holds a lot of truth. The Ackley design is easy to create from either factory cartridges or your own reloads from standard cases.

Another design to consider is the Hawk line of cases or cartridges:

http://www.z-hat.com/HawkContents.htm

You could buy the Hawk basic cases and use them for the Gibbs cases or simply use the Hawk design.

Bear in mind that the owner/creator is obviously proud of his thinking but that some of the data can be a tiny bit overstated... Reloading for any cartridge is rewarding but you should always start with moderate loads and work your way up slowly watching for signs of pressure.

Best.

broham

Thank you all very much!