243 from 308 brass

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tjsudbury

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I've got a ton of 308, but very little 243 brass, and I'm thinking of reforming some of the 308. Is it just a matter of running it through the 243 dies, or will there be some neck reaming involved?
 
Tom, if you have Winchester .308 brass use that, it is thinner than R-P, and in my experience you can simply run it through the die without further trimming/turning, of course annealing will help maintain neck/shoulder integrity. Federal brass is not bad either... with R-P, you probably end up neck turning.
 
hoytcanon said:
Tom, if you have Winchester .308 brass use that, it is thinner than R-P, and in my experience you can simply run it through the die without further trimming/turning, of course annealing will help maintain neck/shoulder integrity. Federal brass is not bad either... with R-P, you probably end up neck turning.
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Thanks Hoyt
I must have 5,000 308 brass in the garage, so I should be able get enough Win/Fed for my needs;)
 
There certainly can be a difference in the neck thickness of different brands of brass. Your biggest concern would be if the neck thickness was so thick that there wasn't enough clearance in the neck area of the rifles chamber to allow the brass to expand. This would result in increased chamber pressure. If you have any such concern I would suggest you load up one round with a starting load of a slow burning powder for that cartridge. Fire that round in the rifle you plan to use the formed cases in. That case is now formed perfectly to your chamber. Take another bullet and insert it in the case with your fingers. If the bullet drops into the case it should be obvious that the neck is NOT too thick. Turning the necks on sized cases will certainly result in consistency in the neck thickness and that should improve accuracy. I have re-sized thousands of military 308 cases down to 243 and have never experienced a single problem. If you have a very tight chambered target gun you want to check that neck clearance.
 
For the fear of interchanging the ammo and shoving the wrong one in 243, I will not do it.

Not trying to stir up but, I witness .243 ammo being shot in .308.

Worst part of being rso and was the first to notice, still the guy didn't realize what he did.

Yes it can be done safely but I would sell the 308 brass or xchange with some one, my .02
 
Heed the safety warning when in use.

I neck down in steps using 7mm then 6.5mm dies.. From there, outside neck turn to get to 10 thou thickness... I do this in several cuts

Fireform, and a way you go. I am sizing down 308 to 243

Jerry
 
tjsudbury said:
I've got a ton of 308, but very little 243 brass, and I'm thinking of reforming some of the 308. Is it just a matter of running it through the 243 dies, or will there be some neck reaming involved?
Click to expand...


No, its much more than one step, and a heck of a pile of work. As said by another poster, sell off some of your good 308 brass to exchange for .243 brass is a much simpler solution with a lot less effort.
 
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