Would it be practical to turn 30-06 brass into 280 Rem. brass? Is there any specal problems I might encounter? Looks like the shoulder would have to be fireformed. Is that posible to do with a full power load, on the first firing, or does that present a possible thinning of the brass in the head area?
30-06 brass into 280 Rem ?
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NCsmitty
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The case length of the '06 is around .046" shorter, and the shoulder of the 280 is .059" longer than the '06.
You will need to create a false shoulder on the '06 brass when you reduce the neck size to 7mm so that the case has the proper headspace when fireforming. You will need to check the cases in the rifle used so the bolt has a little resistance on the sized case.
The shorter neck of the '06 case should not be a problem when loading, and the false shoulder will allow the case to fireform a repositioned shoulder to the 280 chamber. I would use lower power start loads, not full power.
Fireforming should not cause too much thinning at the case base. You will be repositioning the shoulder more than pulling brass from the case base. You might consider milspec '06 brass to form as it tends to be a little bit thicker than commercial.
Annealing the '06 cases prior to loading and fireforming may help the process avoid cracks in the fireformed brass.
NCsmitty
You will need to create a false shoulder on the '06 brass when you reduce the neck size to 7mm so that the case has the proper headspace when fireforming. You will need to check the cases in the rifle used so the bolt has a little resistance on the sized case.
The shorter neck of the '06 case should not be a problem when loading, and the false shoulder will allow the case to fireform a repositioned shoulder to the 280 chamber. I would use lower power start loads, not full power.
Fireforming should not cause too much thinning at the case base. You will be repositioning the shoulder more than pulling brass from the case base. You might consider milspec '06 brass to form as it tends to be a little bit thicker than commercial.
Annealing the '06 cases prior to loading and fireforming may help the process avoid cracks in the fireformed brass.
NCsmitty
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measure before and after if for no other reason than curiosity, If you size 30/06 down to 280 Remington the first two measurements will indicate the 280 is .047 thousands (+ -or - a few) longer than the 30/06 and the shoulder on the 280 is .051 thousands ahead of the 30/06 shoulder, so I would start by necking the 30/06 down to 280 but to do this I would adjust the gap between the top of the shell holder and bottom of the die to compensate for head space, others should adjust the 280 Remington die down to the shell holder for full length sizing to minimum length, necking the 30/06 case down to 280 will create a small (little bitty) shoulder on the 30/06 neck to seat on, something like fire forming 30/06 to Ackley improved by doing nothing but chambering a round and firing because the neck on the Ackley is longer than the 30/06 neck meaning the neck is sized when chambered when the bolt is closed and the shoulder and case body if formed when fired, again, measure before and after to determine if the case got longer or shorter and remember the case gets longer when necked down and shorter when the neck is necked up, not thicker or thinner.
The 280 Remington is my favorite case, for me no other case offers more versatility so there is no shortage of 280 Remington cases here, By measuring before and after I find the chamber is exposed to the hot metal cutting gases so the short case matters to me, I want my cases to cover all of the chamber, all of it right out to the end of the chamber where the throat begins, again when forming 35 Whelen and 338/06 and 30 Gibbs I find the case shortens at least .035 thousands when the 30/06 is used, so I use 280 Remington cases.
I do not use reduced loads, cereal, plaster, wax and or t-paper, I load-em up and blow them out, only to me but there is something to be said about how fast the case moves when being blown out against the chamber, I do not prefer the BG of fast powder, I prefer the BAAAAANNNNNNG of slow burning powder, something about being nice to my cases when forming. Then there is sudden shock and meets and or exceeds and the ability of the receiver to deal with both, my receivers are designed to deal with BAAAANNNNG.
If you are going to use 30/06 cases in the 280 Remington I would suggest you use the companion tool to the press, the feeler gage to adjust the gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder to .005 thousands with the ram up, the gap should give you a slight crush when the case is chambered, what you do not want is a crush fit on the neck of the case, a crush fit between the neck of the chamber and neck of the case could cause problems if the neck can not expand to release the bullet, again measure before and after with a seated bullet.
F. Guffey
The 280 Remington is my favorite case, for me no other case offers more versatility so there is no shortage of 280 Remington cases here, By measuring before and after I find the chamber is exposed to the hot metal cutting gases so the short case matters to me, I want my cases to cover all of the chamber, all of it right out to the end of the chamber where the throat begins, again when forming 35 Whelen and 338/06 and 30 Gibbs I find the case shortens at least .035 thousands when the 30/06 is used, so I use 280 Remington cases.
I do not use reduced loads, cereal, plaster, wax and or t-paper, I load-em up and blow them out, only to me but there is something to be said about how fast the case moves when being blown out against the chamber, I do not prefer the BG of fast powder, I prefer the BAAAAANNNNNNG of slow burning powder, something about being nice to my cases when forming. Then there is sudden shock and meets and or exceeds and the ability of the receiver to deal with both, my receivers are designed to deal with BAAAANNNNG.
If you are going to use 30/06 cases in the 280 Remington I would suggest you use the companion tool to the press, the feeler gage to adjust the gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder to .005 thousands with the ram up, the gap should give you a slight crush when the case is chambered, what you do not want is a crush fit on the neck of the case, a crush fit between the neck of the chamber and neck of the case could cause problems if the neck can not expand to release the bullet, again measure before and after with a seated bullet.
F. Guffey
measure before and after if for no other reason than curiosity, If you size 30/06 down to 280 Remington the first two measurements will indicate the 280 is .047 thousands (+ -or - a few) longer than the 30/06 and the shoulder on the 280 is .051 thousands ahead of the 30/06 shoulder, so I would start by necking the 30/06 down to 280 but to do this I would adjust the gap between the top of the shell holder and bottom of the die to compensate for head space, others should adjust the 280 Remington die down to the shell holder for full length sizing to minimum length, necking the 30/06 case down to 280 will create a small (little bitty) shoulder on the 30/06 neck to seat on, something like fire forming 30/06 to Ackley improved by doing nothing but chambering a round and firing because the neck on the Ackley is longer than the 30/06 neck meaning the neck is sized when chambered when the bolt is closed and the shoulder and case body if formed when fired, again, measure before and after to determine if the case got longer or shorter and remember the case gets longer when necked down and shorter when the neck is necked up, not thicker or thinner.
The 280 Remington is my favorite case, for me no other case offers more versatility so there is no shortage of 280 Remington cases here, By measuring before and after I find the chamber is exposed to the hot metal cutting gases so the short case matters to me, I want my cases to cover all of the chamber, all of it right out to the end of the chamber where the throat begins, again when forming 35 Whelen and 338/06 and 30 Gibbs I find the case shortens at least .035 thousands when the 30/06 is used, so I use 280 Remington cases.
I do not use reduced loads, cereal, plaster, wax and or t-paper, I load-em up and blow them out, only to me but there is something to be said about how fast the case moves when being blown out against the chamber, I do not prefer the BG of fast powder, I prefer the BAAAAANNNNNNG of slow burning powder, something about being nice to my cases when forming. Then there is sudden shock and meets and or exceeds and the ability of the receiver to deal with both, my receivers are designed to deal with BAAAANNNNG.
If you are going to use 30/06 cases in the 280 Remington I would suggest you use the companion tool to the press, the feeler gage to adjust the gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder to .005 thousands with the ram up, the gap should give you a slight crush when the case is chambered, what you do not want is a crush fit on the neck of the case, a crush fit between the neck of the chamber and neck of the case could cause problems if the neck can not expand to release the bullet, again measure before and after with a seated bullet.
F. Guffey
The 280 Remington is my favorite case, for me no other case offers more versatility so there is no shortage of 280 Remington cases here, By measuring before and after I find the chamber is exposed to the hot metal cutting gases so the short case matters to me, I want my cases to cover all of the chamber, all of it right out to the end of the chamber where the throat begins, again when forming 35 Whelen and 338/06 and 30 Gibbs I find the case shortens at least .035 thousands when the 30/06 is used, so I use 280 Remington cases.
I do not use reduced loads, cereal, plaster, wax and or t-paper, I load-em up and blow them out, only to me but there is something to be said about how fast the case moves when being blown out against the chamber, I do not prefer the BG of fast powder, I prefer the BAAAAANNNNNNG of slow burning powder, something about being nice to my cases when forming. Then there is sudden shock and meets and or exceeds and the ability of the receiver to deal with both, my receivers are designed to deal with BAAAANNNNG.
If you are going to use 30/06 cases in the 280 Remington I would suggest you use the companion tool to the press, the feeler gage to adjust the gap between the bottom of the die and top of the shell holder to .005 thousands with the ram up, the gap should give you a slight crush when the case is chambered, what you do not want is a crush fit on the neck of the case, a crush fit between the neck of the chamber and neck of the case could cause problems if the neck can not expand to release the bullet, again measure before and after with a seated bullet.
F. Guffey
280 Rem from '06 brass
I have shooting Rem. Model 721 in 280 for about 40 yrs. and have tried the conversion several times. None were a real good replacement. I have found that the Winchester brass is excellant, especially after formed to the barrel in my old gun.
She is getting on, but with Sierra 160 SBT's, and if I do my job, best groups to date are under .350", five shot group from rest at 100yds. Bifocals are making that nearly impossible now, but the baby son comes close, about .450"
I have shooting Rem. Model 721 in 280 for about 40 yrs. and have tried the conversion several times. None were a real good replacement. I have found that the Winchester brass is excellant, especially after formed to the barrel in my old gun.
She is getting on, but with Sierra 160 SBT's, and if I do my job, best groups to date are under .350", five shot group from rest at 100yds. Bifocals are making that nearly impossible now, but the baby son comes close, about .450"
Clark
Member
I have done 30-06 to 270 and it works.
I have done 8mm to 257 Roberts and it works.
I have 308 to 260, and it works 90% of the time. Miserable over pressure the other 10% when the bullet gets pinched by a thick neck.
A set of pin gauges is nice for measuring actual chamber neck size.
I have done 8mm to 257 Roberts and it works.
I have 308 to 260, and it works 90% of the time. Miserable over pressure the other 10% when the bullet gets pinched by a thick neck.
A set of pin gauges is nice for measuring actual chamber neck size.
ranger335v
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I've done a good bit of case reforming but not making .280 from -06. Looks easy to me, no way is the neck going to thicken enough to matter. The false shoulder the .280 die will leave will insure you don't have a lot of case stretch IF you back your sizer out a tad so the neck-shoulder gets pushed into the rifle neck pretty hard. Play with your sizer until you can only close the bolt on the formed cases with a bit of force.
I've never seen any reason not to form new cases with anything much lower than the charges I've been using in that rifle but I don't like to use compressed charges on anything. And I form with lighter bullets seated will off the lands, 30 thou or more.
I've never seen any reason not to form new cases with anything much lower than the charges I've been using in that rifle but I don't like to use compressed charges on anything. And I form with lighter bullets seated will off the lands, 30 thou or more.
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