Forming Brass?

[PartsMan]

7mm-08 to 243 win or 308 win

25-06 to 270win

How much trouble would be involved in using some brass I have laying around with no rifle?
Would I be better of giving away/trading it off.

[Dixie Dude]

I've formed 30-06 out of 270 by running through the sizing die twice.  It ended up a little long, so had to trim it.  Takes a little effort.  I have a Lyman T-mag turret press. 

[beemanbeme]

A lot of folks want to make a production out of it with annealing and all that but I've never had a problem doing it.  In fact, it's kinda fun.  A learning experience.  I've gone .243 to 7-08. .308 to 7-08. 7-08 to .260. .270 to 30-06.  AND, just to see if I could do it, 30-06 in several stages, down to 22-250. 
You take a born again liar like me with a 22-250 cartridge with a 30-06 head stamp on it at a public range, you can't imagine the tales I could spin to a newbie that didn't know me.

[Dixie Dude]

If you make your brass larger, it won't be as big problem accidentally placing it in a smaller caliber gun.  I see more of a problem going smaller, accidentally placing a 270 round in a 3006 for instance.

[persistentprogrammer]

Hi PartsMan;
I posted a question regarding the safety of resizing as it leaves the headstamp of the original caliber. A few people flung me @rap for asking such a question, but in the end I had a great collection of replies from some very respected folks here on GB. I've surfed up a few articles over the past month or so on calibers that can be inadvertently loaded into another gun and potentially cause damage or harm to the gun, and the people in proximity of it.

Here's just one article on the subject, there are other calibers of concern not listed in here:
http://www.reloadbench.com/ganda.html

[LaOtto222]

I have formed 221 FB and 222 out of 223 cases. I have also formed 30-30 out of 375 Win cases. I have had mixed results. Both of these involed squeezing the necks down. I found the lubing the case is very critical. Too much lube and you get lots of dents in the shoulder area. Not enough lube and you get crushed shoulders and folds in the neck. I did it mostly for the learning of the process and just to see if I could. To do it right with out loosing a lot of cases, involves several time consuming steps. How many steps involves how far down you want to squeeze or stretch the case. If given a choice between forming a case or buying...buying wins hands down in my book. If you have lots of time and nothing better to do or just can not get the case you want, then forming out of some thing else is the way to go. I recently made 223 cases into 221 FB. I have lots of 223 brass and 221 FB is difficult to get right now. I saved about $12- $15 per hundred by forming the cases my self. Considering the time involved, I must be very cheap labor.

[PartsMan]

If you make your brass larger, it won't be as big problem accidentally placing it in a smaller caliber gun.  I see more of a problem going smaller, accidentally placing a 270 round in a 3006 for instance.

I had heard exactly opposite of that.

A bullet too small for the barrel will fire. Just bad accuracy and velocity.
Too big a bullet, if it will chamber, and pressure is VERY HIGH.

I don't know anybody around hear that has a 7mm-08 anyway.
Might have to keep track of my 25-06 stamped 270 loads though.

[Tom W.]

I've made 270, 30/06, and 30/06 A.I. brass from 25/06  brass, .308 from .243, and 30/06 and 30/06 A.I. from .280  and .270 brass. I prefer to go up rather than down, as I don't want to have to turn case necks. As said before, there a lot of trimming to do. It's just something that you "gotta wanna" do.
It's also best to keep the re-formed brass well marked, so there isn't much chance of putting it in the wrong firearm.

[Dixie Dude]

I do not have a 270, so when I pick up 270 brass from the range, I can reform it to 30-06.  I don't have to worry about putting the wrong ammo in.  I would not take it with me on a hunting trip away from my home area though, in case it is lost in transit, or if there is a problem with authorities, etc.  I use it for testing various loads and bullets.  Once it is reformed, it might not last as long.  Haven't got that far yet.  I do not have a 7mm08 or a 243 either.  So, when I find that brass, I can neck up to 308 since I have a 308 also. 

[Sweetwater]

Partsman-

I have a habit of picking up empty brass wherever I happen to be shooting. A few years, I was up in a canyon in Southwest Wyoming where the locals (I was one of them at the time) liked to impromptu shoot. No tables, just lots of places to stick a target or toss a pop can. I picked up a whole bunch of 7mm Rem Mag and noticed some were weirdly shaped. Bulged in places, but vaguely representing the 7mm rem mag. They were head stamped 270Win - the 3rd one I picked up was ruptured at the shoulder with traces of blood. Doesn't stop me from my experimenting but admonishes us to be careful. Larger bullets will cause higher pressures, true, but smaller stuff that allows the powder to burn faster than it is intended and pressures will skyrocket.

I have intentionally fired 257Roberts in my 8mm Mauser, just because, and I did split a few necks, but no hard extraction or other pressure signs, due to the fact that they both headspace at the same place on the shoulder and same shoulder length. The biggest head-turner in my ammo box is a box of 32WinSPCL, all trimmed to 1.285 and loaded for my 41Mag. They work. I necked down some 8mm Mauser to 257 and loaded them for the 257Roberts without issue and necked up some 257Roberts to 8mm mauser, again without issues. I later put them back in their proper sizing and all is well, save some premature neck splits due to the over-stressing in the sizer dies. I like to experiment, but also read everything I can find and get input from as many avenues as are available and above all, be careful. I have some 30-06 cases trimmed and sized for my 6.5Swede. An 8mm Mauser case got sorted into my batch of 356Win, which I found in the sizing process. I decided to proceed, just because. After full length sizing, I trimmed it to length for the 356Win, loaded it along with the rest of the 356Win, and my Big Bore 94 fed the rimless 8mm case right along with all those semi-rimmed 356Win cases without a hitch. That shot didn't spoil my group, either.

Presently working on brass shotshell cases for the 41mag and 45Colt. To me, an interesting concept that I read about in these posts. I've always made 41Mag shotshells from Elmer Keith's recipe with gaschecks and Unique powder. I'm making longer brass cases from 32WinSpcl and we'll see what happens in the 41Mag. The 45's will come from 444Marlin cases as soon as the mailman delivers them.

Regards,
Sweetwater

[Tom W.]

I haven't had any trouble with the reformed brass lasting any length of time, except when I try to use older Nickle plated brass to fire form in my 30/06 A.I. Cheap as I am, I soon learned that older brass isn't what you want to use for that application...Altho once fired brass is o.k.

The 25/06 and .280 brass did a good job, but now that my son is having a .280 A.I. built, I'm gonna have to keep an eye on the headstamps again.

[dakotashooter2]

I have reformed some 308 brass to 243. For the most part I have used surplus brass with no headstamp (caliber).  To date I have not had to turn the necks as they have worked fine with no pressure signs in two different guns.

[PartsMan]

That's what I wanted to hear.
I figure when I get 243 dies I'll just size one and measure it every witch way I can before shooting.

[beemanbeme]

One of the most important ones is acrost the neck.  Fire a proper case in your rifle and measure it acrost the neck. Write that number down or keep the case as a witness. then:

1. Make sure your reformed case will drop into the chamber and the bolt will go home. If it takes a "little" persuasion" that's okay for now.

2. Seat a bullet in the reformed case (no powder or primer) and measure it acrost the neck. If the measurement is smaller than your measurement on the fired case, you are home free and dry. Load 'em up and shoot 'em. 

I like to fire my reformed cases once before I trim them to a uniform length but that's your call.