Reforming Brass From One Caliber To Another

[huntinggamo]

I reload for .260 remington, i bought 200 pcs of nosler brass and was not very impressed, defiantly not worth the cost. im thinking of necking up .243 win or lapua brass to .260. i know this can be done and works fairly well. my concern is i forsee myself ending up with a .243 in the future.

does anybody form from one cartridge to another?
If so do you own a rifle in the same caliber as the case you form FROM?
If so how do you mark your cases for easy ID?

I cant just use marker it would come off with my cleaning, i already own a 7mm-08 and 308 so just using them is not an option or solution to the problem i already have. HELP...lol

 

[MMCSRET]

I have formed 6X47 International Match from 222 Remington Magnum, 338-06 from 30-06, 35 Whelen from 30-06, 270 from 30-06, 7MM TCU from 223, 8MM-06 from 30-06 and others long gone.
I load them and put them in boxes specifically labeled in serious detail.

 

[huntinggamo]

MMCSRET you dont phisicaly alter the case in any way?

i have heard of people filing a small v in the case head, would this hurt anything?

 

[jfdavis58]

I've done case reforming. Due diligence is how to keep them separate: boxes with copious warnings and notes along with a reloading notebook containing complete details; careful recovery at the range of spent cases.

 

[rcmodel]

filing a small v in the case head

I wouldn't.

A filed V would present a "stress riser" in the most critical part of the case, which could in theory at least, lead to a crack running into the solid case web.
Should that happen, your rifle and you will blow up!

I think if I did anything, I would get me a spring loaded center-punch, grind a dull chisel tip edge on the point, and X out the original caliber markings.

On the otherhand, I reformed about a gazillion GI 30-06 cases to 25-06 years ago, and don't have any trouble telling them from 30-06 just by looking at them.

rc

 

[griz]

I've got a 6X223 and just try to be careful about keeping the cases in one batch. If I shot it a lot I might try something like only using one brand of case for the 6 and everything else for 223.

Out of curiosity, how was the Nosler brass disappointing? I've never used it but was under the impression it's supposed to be better than run of the mill stuff.

 

[BigBob3006]

gamo,

I make cases for other cases not because the cases I end up with are so hard too get, but because I have too in order to fill special wants. I measure the chambers of every rifle I own in the family. It seems the manufactures make their rifles with very long neck. Almost as though the were afraid some one would attempt to use cases that had been fired many times and never trimmed. Perhaps they are trying to lawyer proof their rifles. I want to have the necks of my cases just as long as I can get them. In order to get them I have to make my own. I make 8mm/57 case from .30-06 brass for the longer necks. 8mm cases are also much lighter than I want. I think that 8mm-57 cases are built for lighter pressures than the 50,000 psi that a good Mauser action was made take. Europe made 8mm-57 are loaded for much higher pressures than American made case. I think American made brass would be unsafe to use at the 50,000 psi level. So I make my own with cases I know are safe to use at the higher pressure levels.

.270 Win and the .30-06 chambers in my rifles have necks that are much longer than S. A. A. M. I. specs. Since I am of the impression that longer necks lend themselves to improved accuracy. I could get a longer '06 case neck from .270 cases, but I'd be out of luck for the .270. So I use Winchester .280 Rem. cases. The .280 cases are longer in the body than both the '06 and .270Win so I can size the .280 to the exact head space dimension for both rifles and the longer .280 necks, I can trim to the dimension I want. I trim the cases .005" shorter than the chamber length. I have to trim every time the cases are fired but it's worth it.

 

[Zeke/PA]

In my humble opinion, brass is cheap enough that all this extra work is un-warrented.

 

[DANNY-L]

You could use colored primer sealer,that wouldnt alter anything.

 

[ranger335v]

"Reforming Brass From One Caliber To Another - does anybody form from one cartridge to another? "

Well, yeah. That is what case reforming is all about. And it is easier to use factory than to reform but it's easier to use factory ammo than to reload too. ??

You could neck up .243 brass to .260 but necking down .308/7-08 would be easier and give you better necks.

Perhaps the best way to keep reformed cases identified is to keep them in an ammo box correctly labled.

But, in my opinion, if you can't reliablily identify a reloaded cartridge except by reading the headstamp reforming may not be something you would want to fool with anyway; use factory stuff with the proper headstamp and be safe.


"... i bought 200 pcs of nosler brass and was not very impressed, defiantly not worth the cost"

Wonder what you saw lacking about Nosler's brass, I've found it to be pretty good. ??

 

[huntinggamo]

Out of curiosity, how was the Nosler brass disappointing? I've never used it but was under the impression it's supposed to be better than run of the mill stuff.

the batch i got was not weight sorted at all, i called nosler and they said that their cases were supposed to be +-.05 grain in a box of 50, mine had as much as 5g differences across a box of 50 and 12g over the entire 200. they offered to replace them but that would have required me sending them back and waiting several weeks so i just ate the cost...

In my humble opinion, brass is cheap enough that all this extra work is un-warrented.

for most chambering i would agree, but it is not about cost, in .260 remington is the only company that makes affordable brass and the quality is just to shoddy to use for competition. so it is a mater of making myself quality brass.

You could use colored primer sealer,that wouldnt alter anything.

it would come off as i use SS tumbling media....



when i was talking about filing a small notch in the case head i was just thinking the very edge of the rim, does this still pose a possible problem with the case cracking?

 

[USSR]

Unfortunately, many guys with the .260 Remington chambering find themselves necking up or down other cartridges, due to the lack of quality brass. It is an excellent cartridge, and I don't understand why better brass is not commercially available.

Don

 

[huntinggamo]

Unfortunately, many guys with the .260 Remington chambering find themselves necking up or down other cartridges, due to the lack of quality brass. It is an excellent cartridge, and I don't understand why better brass is not commercially available.

Don

i talked to a Winchester representative yesterday and he said they had no plans of ever producing brass in the .260, said that they could not afford to produce that small of a quantity of brass for a niche market, my guess is some of the other calibers of brass they are producing now are far more less popular then the .260...

 

[EddieNFL]

I neck down 7/08 brass. One pass through the die and uniform the necks. I don't have a 7/08 so no need to remark.

 

[Jesse Heywood]

when i was talking about filing a small notch in the case head i was just thinking the very edge of the rim, does this still pose a possible problem with the case cracking?

It could, but probably wouldn't. I would err on the side of caution. It is a high-stress area and you want to avoid sharp edges and cuts. If you have a way to support the case, deform the stamped marking. Best if you can use a punch with a rounded end or a small ball peen hammer. A flat round punch can be used, but don't make any ridges. And keep these impressions shallow.

 

[flashhole]

I like to use military brass when re-forming to a different case. One example is I reform "Greek" brass with the headstamp HXP from 30-06 to 25-06. There is no designation of cartridge size so I don't get it confused with brass that is marked 30-06.

In your situation you could use military equivalents of 308 that only have a 2 or 3 letter headstamp with no cartridge markings or the military headstamp of 7.62xxx. That way you could easily distinguish one from the other. I have a few hundred once-fired military equivalent 308 cases for sale if you are interested in buying some.

 

[flashhole]

I agree with ranger, you will be better off downsizing the neck as opposed to upsizing the neck.

 

[cfullgraf]

I form brass for 6.5 x 54 Mauser Kurz, 7mm International Rimmed, and 38-45 Clerke. I keep the ammo separate in boxes appropriately labeled.

No more or less difficult than keeping 204 Ruger or 17 Remington out of the 223 Remington.

I have not felt the need to do anything special to the brass although "X-ing" out the head stamp sounds like a good idea.

 

[USSR]

In your situation you could use military equivalents of 308 that only have a 2 or 3 letter headstamp with no cartridge markings or the military headstamp of 7.62xxx. That way you could easily distinguish one from the other.

The only problem with that is, you are not starting out with high quality brass, and you certainly won't end up with high quality brass, which is what he is looking for.

Don

 

[soloban]

I've reformed .30-06 to 8mm Mauser. I don't worry about marking the resized .30-06 cases since its plain as day to tell the difference between the two.

 

[flashhole]

USSR - what part of the Finger Lakes Region are you in? I'm down at the very bottom in Owego. I shoot at the Tioga County Shooters Association range on Charmichael Road.

 

[USSR]

flashhole,

I'm at the southern end of Seneca Lake near Watkins Glen, and shoot at the Odessa Conservation Club at Odessa, NY. We run 200 yard F Class Matches in the summer months.

Don

 

[flashhole]

You will have to keep me posted on the shoots. I'd like to watch an F-class match. What are the gun requirments for F-class?

 

[USSR]

PM sent.

Don

 

[flashhole]

huntinggamo - what did you decide to do?