.25-06 from .30-06

[geezerbiker]

I'm getting a .25-06 and right now brass is hard to find.  I'm considering necking down some of my stash of .30-06 cases.  Anybody have any insight on this?

Years ago I bought 500 nickle plated .30-06 cases and I don't think I've used more than 50~75 of them so far and the rest are virgin brass from about 20 years ago...

Tony

[Larry L]

I've done it before when I had a 2506. It's going to depend on your particular rifle if the necks will need to be turned. I'd suggest running the brass thru the die, trim it to length, seat a bullet and gently chamber the round. If it mets resistance just before you lock the bolt (assuming a bolt rifle), you probably need to turn the necks. The Remmy I had didn't require neck turning. If it does need neck turning, I'd suggest doing it like a TNT chamber and take a thousandth off at a time. The first piece of brass is a pain but after that all you have to do is run them thru the neck turning tool. Neck turning like a TNT rifle means more potential accuracy. You can also make the brass from 270 if you have that available as well.


As I reread your post, you have nickel brass. That may give you some issues. You'll need to try it but generally nickel brass is more brittle and you may have split necks. That's a maybe, you'll have to try it to know. Make sure to use a good lube and lube the inside of the neck.

[geezerbiker]

I'll risk sizing down one or 2 cases then make up a dummy round to see how it goes.  It's a H&R single shot so seeing how the round fits is going to be easy.  I really wanted a .25-35 but the cost of getting one made up is more than the project is worth to me right now...

Tony

[Dee]

Geezer, I got my first 2506 in 1972. Talk about hard to find brass. I took a bunch of military 3006 brass, sized it down, trimmed the case length and cut down on the powder charge accordingly because of military case thickness. Wore that brass out shooting it without a hitch.
I since had 7 2506s, and never fired a factory round in one of them. They are inherently accurate, and 3006 brass sized down works just fine.

[Kmrere42]

Hi,


If you really want to make sure of fit.  Take a soft lead round ball of approx .310 - .320 and using a brass punch, knock the ball into the neck area of the chamber and then gently out from the other end with a cleaning rod.  Then you will have a gauge of the neck area of the chamber.  Then assemble your load and measure the cartridge over the bullet.  Clearence should be about .002 min.

I have included a Saami drawing of the 25-06 for reference.



Paul B,

[bilmac]

25-06 was a wildcat before it was ever a factory cartridge. So where did all the cases come from before then?  I had a 25-06 just before it was factorized and never had to resort to neck turning or reaming. They might be making a little tighter chambers these days, but I wouldn't assume a problem before you have one.

[Dee]

25-06 was a wildcat before it was ever a factory cartridge. So where did all the cases come from before then?  I had a 25-06 just before it was factorized and never had to resort to neck turning or reaming. They might be making a little tighter chambers these days, but I wouldn't assume a problem before you have one.

That's good advice, neither did I.

[hillbill]

25-06 was a wildcat before it was ever a factory cartridge. So where did all the cases come from before then?  I had a 25-06 just before it was factorized and never had to resort to neck turning or reaming. They might be making a little tighter chambers these days, but I wouldn't assume a problem before you have one.

That's good advice, neither did I.

i did the same thing. didnt have any prob with the ammo but was not happy with the gun and traded it.
 
just be carefull with 06 headstamped brass loaded for 25-06. sum dummy mite shove it in a 30-06.i dont think it would be much of a problem but mite ruin the brass.

[geezerbiker]

Thanx guys.  I don't have any neck turning equipment or reamers at this time and I was hoping for a simple reform.  One of these days I'll have to get set up for neck turning when I have more cash and my reloading area set up better.

I've reformed 06 cases to 7.7mm Arisaka so I'm familiar with the process.

Tony

[bilmac]

If you have to thin your nickel cases I would think about reaming just for the pretty factor.

[geezerbiker]

I'm thinking about having the chamber reamed to .25-06 AI just for the improved head spacing.  If I do that, I may hold off on resizing the nickel cases.

Tony