Converting 308 to 7mm-08 or 30-06 to 25-06

[Buckskin]

I'm trying to decide which caliber I'm going to get next, 7mm-08 or 25-06.  I was leaning toward the 7 because I already have it as an Encore pistol barrel and am set up for reloading that caliber.  Is there any advantage for necking down either of these calibers from the 308 or 30-06 brass?  I see that you can get military brass for each of these calibers pretty cheap.  Or am I better off just buying some new brass with the correct headstamp and not messing with the necking down?

[LONGTOM]

To each there own buy I would just buy the correct factory brass and save the work.




LONGTOM

[SHOOTALL]

new brass is always better to work with . Both the 708 and 25-06 will kick less and shoot lighter bullets and faster than their parent cart.
It depends on use for rifle really. A 2506 I use for deer and ground hogs giving me year round use of the gun. I tried it with the 3006 but feel the 25 is better suited .

[necchi]

I sure do like my 7-08.
Anyways the 308 brass is shorter by .020 not sure if necking down will streach it that much.
 I shoot both 308 and 7-08 so I just bought the 7-08 brass for the head stamp an the ease of keeping them seperate.

[huntswithdogs]

I'd buy the brass.
If you own a 308 and 06, there'd be too much of a chance of oversight and slipping the wrong cartridge in the wrong chamber by glancing at the headstamps.

HWD

[Lloyd Smale]

nothing wrong with necking down brass. I couldnt see mistaking a 3006 round for a 2506 round. Its pretty obvious which is which. You will run into to things you have to address though. One is obviously you have to check the lenght and trim them. The other is case neck thickness. Most of the time when ive done it it has required me to not only trim but to turn the necks down a bit.

[shot1]

The neck turning is almost a universal need if you use military brass because it is thicker than commercial. I would just get new cases and save all the work.

[Buckskin]

I've never seen the need to neck turn LC 223 brass, and in my opinion it's some pretty damn good stuff for the price.  My R-15 blows me away at how accurate it is with military brass and a 60 grain VMax.  Three coyotes have felt it's wrath since thursday and all between 250 and 300 yds, 2 of 3 dropped in their tracks.

Well I guess I'm definately leaning toward the 7-08 and likely will just buy new brass.  I have about 100 once fired from my Encore barrel so that gives me a decent start.  I do have 2 sons and a daugher so there will be more needs in the future anyway...

[necchi]

That 7-08 is a sweet round for kids. That's actually why I got it, for my teenage son. He harvested a WT at 300yrds with it a few years ago.
With 120grn ammo you can shoot that thing all day. Barnes 120 TTSX gives me sub-moa at 200 with a 1-10 Handi no less 

[Buckskin]

That 7-08 is a sweet round for kids. That's actually why I got it, for my teenage son. He harvested a WT at 300yrds with it a few years ago.
With 120grn ammo you can shoot that thing all day. Barnes 120 TTSX gives me sub-moa at 200 with a 1-10 Handi no less 

That was going to be my next question.  How are the lighter bullets in the 7-08, ie 120's.  I really like the Accubonds and they go down to 140's in the 7mm, so I will likely shoot those to start anyway, see how he handles the recoil and adjust accordingly.  I think he will be fine though.

[Lloyd Smale]

if your just hunting deer standard cup and core 120s will work fine at any velocity a 708 will produce. Ive shot a couple crop damage deer with 120 ballitic tips out of the 280 at about 3000 fps and they worked just fine.

[shot1]

The context of the post was necking down 308 or 30-06 military brass. I can't really see any difference in most military 5.56 cases and commercial cases either.

[crossroads]

I have an old Ruger M77 that I converted from 243 to 708 last year. My wife has a REM. 770 in 243. Both my wife and 12 year old daughter prefer to shoot the 708 with 120 gr tsx because it "bucks less" .  They are both small, my daughter is 4'8" and 82#. We haven't shot anything with it yet, but like the numbers well enough that I've already bought another barrel blank and started looking for an action with a junk barrel for my ten year old. Kevin

[jhalcott]

 There IS a bit of extra work in necking up/down, but it CAN be worth it. IF you can get several hundred cases from the SAME lot it's better than a smattering of cases from different lots. I have weighed fired cases from different makes and lots. The difference can be surprising.  There can be a large difference that can only be caused by the thickness of the brass.Working up from a LISTED starting load is the ONLY way to go. As far as overall case lengths are concerned,I have shortened some cases for the 7.08 to the same length I've gotten from resizing Military surplus. I have seen no problems from doing this. I will not grab range pickups and use my WORKED UP LOADS for them. I segragate the cases by weight,load them appropiately and keep them separate. Sure it is extra work but I enjoy reloading almost as much as shooting!

[Buckskin]

I'm with you on the enjoyment of reloading almost as much as shooting.  Part of the reason I'm getting the gun now instead of 2 years down the road.  I need a new reloading challenge.  I pretty much have all my other calibers as good as they are going to get.  Although I do have a pile of test ammo waiting for a calm day, just for the fun of it..

[yooper77]

Necking up and down is no problem.

I resize 308 Winchester to 7mm-08 Remington &

30-06 Springfield to 338-06 A-Square.

You might have to turn the necks of the 25-06 Remington after downsized, also no big deal. I don’t need to turn the necks on the 7mm-08 Remington, they all work perfectly.

yooper77