Necking down .280 Rem to 25.06 ?

[dmills]

I have been collecting 30-06 and .270 cases at the range for use in my 25-06 Handi Rifle. Recently, a guy was shooting .280 Rem factory ammo, so I collected his cases also, knowing that the .280 was based on the 30-06 cartridge, like the .270 and the 25-06.

I have read that the ".280 Remington is an offspring of the .30-06 with its shoulder angle moved forward to prevent it from being accidentally chambered in a rifle of .270 Winchester caliber."

I resized, trimed case, and seated a test bullet. Action on the 25-06 would not close. So am I correct in concluding that the .280 will not resize to 25-06? Conversely, can you resize 30-06 to .280, using a .280 full length die?

Thanks, Don.

[Reed1911]

Don,

You should have no problem FL sizing and having the brass fit. Will a FL sized and trimmed piece of brass fit? You stated a loaded round will not; I'm guessing that possibly the neck needs to be turned down.
OR, it is also possible that the head is slightly too large from the rifle it was shot in and the base of the case is not gettting sized down. Where do you encounter resistance and where are the marks on the case showing up.

[beemanbeme]

If you are F/L resizing with a firm cam over on the press handle,  the case should fit.  Resize a case and see if it will chamber.  If it will, then seat a bullet (make sure its not too long) and see if it will chamber.  If it doesn't, probably your necks need turning. 
My guess, if you're already resizing 30-06 and 270 cases and they fit, is you're not getting the shoulders on the .280 set back enough.

[Tom W.]

I took some .280 cases, trimmed them to "trim to" length for a 30-06, sized them with the '06 sizing die and trimmed them again. Thew worked without any problems, bu I was sizing up. I did the same with some .270 cases, as well as some 25-06 cases. You'll need to recheck the length of your brass, because when you set the shoulder back the other brass had to go somewhere. Also, as was pointed out. when you size down the neck will get thicker, causing  some inside and probably outside reaming to be needed, or you could get some dangerous pressure.

[longwinters]

I have loaded 30-30 down to 7mm and 308 down to 7mm.  Never had a problem with neck thickness or any other issure.  But I have not tried 280 to .25 so . . .   But I would full length resize the 280 brass, trim it, and try that without a bullet  to see how it goes. 

Long

[dmills]

Thanks for the responses.  I have been trimming after all resizing.  I have tried a bare case and it still will not chamber.  Have had no problems with resizing the 30-06 or .270 down, so I think it must the a problem with the shoulder on the .280 being moved forward.  I checked the adjustment on the die and it is set up properly.  But maybe the die needs to go down another 1/4 turn to reset the shoulder.  Before I do anything else I will blacken the case and try to determine where it is hitting in the chamber.  I do not plan to spend much more time on this since I have only 20 of these cases and it is not likely I'll be collecting any more of these.

[Reed1911]

Here is a question also that I don't see was raised, Who's dies are you using?

[beemanbeme]

If the die is properly set up for F/L resizing, you can't turn it down another 1/4 turn. 

Run the ram of your press all the way to the top.  Turn the die into the press until hit hits firmly on the shell holder.  Lower the ram and turn the die down another 1/4-1/2 turn and lock the die in place.  Now when you run the ram to the top, it should take an extra effort to get the handle to break over. 

If set up that way, .270, 30-06, .280, 35whelen, etc should all come out the same.