making 6.5 x 55 brass, what cas did you use

roscoe69

roscoe69

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this is aimed at the old hands on here. I have some 6.5 x 55 brass , probably have about 40 norma from 1980 and about 20 wichester from a year ago. I had run a range pickup 270 Winchester through a 6.5 x 55 die, trimed and tried a 140 bthp. measured the same as a loaded Winchester 6.5 on neck. only fired one in my 1916 model 96.fired ok but didn't get to measure it yet.
what have you experimented with and what were your results.
 
I believe the web is where the .270/30-06 brass will let go if/when it does.............not recommended practice.Why not just buy 6.5x55 brass? Harold
 
Back when 6.5x55 ammunition and brass were not readily available, I converted quite a number of other cases. .270, 6mm, what ever was longer than the 6.5x55. FL size and trim. However, the diameter of the '06 type brass is somewhat smaller than the 6.5x55 case at the base. You will notice that the expansion ring just in front of the extraction groove is more pronounced on the converted cases than on genuine 6.5x55 cases. I never had a problem. BUT, should a case fail in that area, there could be serious consequences. I have not converted cases in a long time, and would not do so now. Proper brass is readily available.
 
tiriaq said:
Back when 6.5x55 ammunition and brass were not readily available, I converted quite a number of other cases. .270, 6mm, what ever was longer than the 6.5x55. FL size and trim. However, the diameter of the '06 type brass is somewhat smaller than the 6.5x55 case at the base. You will notice that the expansion ring just in front of the extraction groove is more pronounced on the converted cases than on genuine 6.5x55 cases. I never had a problem. BUT, should a case fail in that area, there could be serious consequences. I have not converted cases in a long time, and would not do so now. Proper brass is readily available.
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thanks for the info. I expected to see some expansion, how many times were you able to reload brass that you converted. I haven't seen 6.5 brass on the shelves for over a year. I don't use this rifle much so was just working up a load to get it ready for some target shooting.
 
If I was going to use 270, 30-06 or any other case in that family of cartridges to make 6.5x55 I would keep my loads sane and neck size only after the first firing.

I've done it with other calibers but I also tend to load on the lighter side of things when I'm dealing with converted cases.
 
Rechambering a 6.5x55 to 6.5-06 will result in a chamber that is a bit oversized at the breech, unless the barrel is set back far enough to allow the reamer to cut full length.
 
thanks guys, I will neck size if I ever build more from the reformed 270 case's. used 37.5 of h414 in 270 case and with norma brass it looks like a node at 39.1 ish and again at 40.2 ish with no pressure signs
 
Tinman204 said:
If I was going to use 270, 30-06 or any other case in that family of cartridges to make 6.5x55 I would keep my loads sane and neck size only after the first firing.

I've done it with other calibers but I also tend to load on the lighter side of things when I'm dealing with converted cases.
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This I did for years when you couldn't find proper brass, low loads and neck size. Watch the head area closely I got about 5 firings before I tossed them
 
I used .30-06 once just to see if it would work (I had lots of proper 6.5x55 brass at the time but I'm a tinkerer). It worked but like others mentioned I really didn't like the expansion just above the web. None of the cases failed with a moderate load but it looked really bad. Scrapped the cases and stuck to using proper 6.5x55.
 
If you guys measure north american 6.5 and compare it to euro 6.5 you will find out the american manufacturers are already cheating by using 30-06 brass blanks!
 
tigger said:
If you guys measure north american 6.5 and compare it to euro 6.5 you will find out the american manufacturers are already cheating by using 30-06 brass blanks!
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Measured some Winchester last night and it was the proper size for 6.5
 
That would be a new thing. US made 6.5X55 cases have (used to be, if not, then it's a new thing), like Peter pointed, a case base of 0.473" (and they very often are much closer to 0.469"). I scrapped batches of brand new W-W brass because of this.

But I personally can't see why one, today, would use the wrong cases when correctly sized ones are widely available for a very reasonneable price. You can get S&B aand PPU brass (PPU is VG bras BTW) for very little money or for more money, you can go with Lapua bras, which will last forever or Norma.
 
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