I would not use nickeled cases, I necked up 50 30/06 cases to 35 Whelen, 40% of the cases split at the neck.
I would not form 8mm57 cases from 30/06 cases without a forming die. trimming is a matter of cutting the neck to length with a hack saw and finishing with a file. A bad habit when forming starts when the reloader chooses 30/06 cases that have been worked harden. I have purchased 1,000s of cases from Jeff and Pat that were pull down, new unfired. Perfect for forming, I paid .07 cents to .10 cents each for match and cases with matching head stamps.
I would suggest a reloader own one forming die, I would suggest the one forming die be the 308 W, I know, it is short, for me? Not a problem. I use the 308 W forming die to form 7.7 Japanese, 8mm57, 7mm57, 257 Roberts etc. etc.. For the reloader that understands the concept of forming I suggest the 243W forming die be their second forming die. I have 18 forming dies, there are times 3 forming dies are necessary.
F. Guffey
