I have about 500pcs of 308 brass that has been necked down to 243. I picked up a 308 the other day and now have no brass around for it. I have necked a lot of brass down but have never tried to neck any up. Is it as simple as just using a full length resizing die and some lube or are there any tricks to making it easier. Just wondering about how difficult it is with the price of 308 it might not be worth it if it is a hassle.
243 to 308 brass
- Thread starter B-78
- Start date
What's involved, .243 is 6mm
Anneal and expand neck to 6.5mm or .264"
Anneal again and expand to 7mm.
Anneal again and expand to .308.
Then you hope the cases are still long enough.
Then FL resize to .308 Win.
Then likely need to fire form shoulders.
Using .308Win is much easier.
I had to go the opposite route, from 8x57 to 6.5x58P (real hen's teeth for commercial brass.
First 8mm to .308
308 to 7mm
7mm to 6.5mm
Anneal and expand neck to 6.5mm or .264"
Anneal again and expand to 7mm.
Anneal again and expand to .308.
Then you hope the cases are still long enough.
Then FL resize to .308 Win.
Then likely need to fire form shoulders.
Using .308Win is much easier.
I had to go the opposite route, from 8x57 to 6.5x58P (real hen's teeth for commercial brass.
First 8mm to .308
308 to 7mm
7mm to 6.5mm
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What ever happened to the good old thrifty cheap bastards and buying once fired military 7.62 cases for a fraction of the cost of Lapua?
.308/7.62 - Cleaned, Deprimed & Swaged - LC Only - 500 Pieces $85.00 free shipping
http://brassbombers.com/308-762-Cleaned-Deprimed-Swaged-LC-Only-500-Pieces-7LC-S0050.htm
I just bought a Savage .308 Hog Hunter and have a 1 to 3 power Weaver scope on it and i'm not shooting at 1,000 yards or benchrest competition.
Bottom line, military brass is heavy duty and made of harder brass, meaning made "Ford Truck Tough".
B-78
As stated above the re-forming of these cases back to .308 is not worth the effort. And you would end up with wide variations in neck thickness and lower quality cases.
I found the quality of Lake City 7.62 cases equal or better than new Remington or Winchester brass at a fraction of the cost.
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Thanks for the replies guys. I figured it might be a PITA to do for what 308 brass would cost. I have a couple 243s to make use of the necked down brass but I ended up with a mint shape Savage 99E in 308 and my son has decided he is going to use it for deer this year instead of the 6mm that I bought him. I went down to the local gun shop and they want $47 for a box of 150gr 308 shells. I have about 20pcs of brass and 600+ bullets so we should get by for this season anyhow. Wish I would have kept at least 100 of the 5 coffee cans full of 308 brass my buddy gave me from his dad's collection.
Ya by all means get some once fired milsurp or any other once fired 308 and use that. But it's not worth it and not very consistent to neck up from 243 to 308.
Reuse what you can but if you buy new I find it worth it in the long run to use thick quality brass such as lapua.
You can check your local range for brass also if they allow, just make sure you inspect and full size obviously
Reuse what you can but if you buy new I find it worth it in the long run to use thick quality brass such as lapua.
You can check your local range for brass also if they allow, just make sure you inspect and full size obviously
Aside from the original topic, Cabela's occasionally has the Federal Power Shock (blue box) on sale for about $27. Not the best ammo in the world, but a lot cheaper than $47, plenty good enough for most deer hunting (my Tikka shoots it quite well), and you'll have the empty brass after you've fired it. I'm getting at least 7 reloads out of the Federal brass in my .243, the Winchester has been pretty sketchy in comparison.
If he wants to go with premium bullets, then reloading is about the only economical option.
If he wants to go with premium bullets, then reloading is about the only economical option.
Why??
The amount of availability of 308 Brass and not just[/I308 brass makes the effort seem moot.
But, if one ones to play and maybe learn a lesson in metallurgy and develop skills then have at er.
But, in the end with 500 rounds of down sized brass with a mixed head stamp, what could go wrong or at the very least sideways.
Rob
Had a few minutes today in between cleaning my limit of geese from this mornings shoot and getting kids to dance and hockey practise. Thought would take 4 pcs of brass that have a 308 headstamp but are necked down to 243 and just run them through a die to see what happens. I applied lots of lube to the neck and slowly raised them in the press. The first two came out just perfect and chamber just fine in the rifle. The next two the necks just split wide open. I would think if a guy took his time and annealed them first they would probably come out fine. All this was just to play as I have traded some other surplus brass I had for 308 brass and should be developing loads by the middle of the week.
I have done the exact same thing a few times,just for something to do I guess, with 243 brass to300 Savage just to see if it would work OK. Annealing the brass was the ticket to avoid the split open necks. Worked out OK and in fact I opened a few up to 375 with a tapered expander plug just for the heck of it, not that I would ever recommend this sort of thing as a preferred method to obtain 308 brass with the massive amount of easily obtained and fairly inexpensive proper cases out there.
