.260 Rem cases: Resize .243 or 7mm-08 ? Your thoughts?

Hungry

Hungry

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
Rating - 100%
968   0   0
Location
Georgian Bay, ONT
So I've been reading that Lapua will be making .260 Rem brass sometime this spring. I realize many of you .260 experts have been making (resizing, reforming, reshaping, re-trimming) cases from .243 and/or 7mm-08 successfully. :D

My debate is; what's the easiest and stress free way of improvising .260 brass? All kinds of articles and discussions searched with "Google" turn up 50% of advocates pushing the .243. The other half loves the 7mm-08 end of things. Well, frankly, I don't feel like doing any neck turning and all that fancy benchrest operations. :D

Being a lazy dude, I just wanna resize some 7mm-08 cases with my full length .260 dies and then prime, dump powder, then seat some Lapua Scenars! :)

Am I off base, you .260 experts?

Any sage advice would be useful! :ninja:

Cheers,
Barney
 
I had great success with 243win brass, neck up to 260rem. I find winchester brass are the best for this, all those federal or other brand will work fine, this way there no need for neck turning, after about 3 reload, i would need to trim my brass.
 
Hungry said:
So I've been reading that Lapua will be making .260 Rem brass sometime this spring. I realize many of you .260 experts have been making (resizing, reforming, reshaping, re-trimming) cases from .243 and/or 7mm-08 successfully. :D

My debate is; what's the easiest and stress free way of improvising .260 brass? All kinds of articles and discussions searched with "Google" turn up 50% of advocates pushing the .243. The other half loves the 7mm-08 end of things. Well, frankly, I don't feel like doing any neck turning and all that fancy benchrest operations. :D

Being a lazy dude, I just wanna resize some 7mm-08 cases with my full length .260 dies and then prime, dump powder, then seat some Lapua Scenars! :)

Am I off base, you .260 experts?

Any sage advice would be useful! :ninja:

Cheers,
Barney
Click to expand...

resize .308
 
I suggest using Remington brand .260 brass (I got it at Elwood Epps) until the Lapua .260 cases are available. I've used the Lapua .243 necked up to 6.5 and weight sorted Remington .260 cases and haven't noticed any difference in accuracy. Case life may differ, but I haven't reached that point yet.
 
I fireform Lapua 243 brass for my 260 F Classer. Any fast burning powder will do.

For the 200 I did last summer I used 16 grains of Unique and a square of TP tamped down tightly on the powder to keep it in place and perhaps provide a wee bit of resistance.

Out pops a fully formed 260 case with zero concentricity issues. Makes little sense to me to buy premium Lapua brass then neck it up or down in a die.
 
UNless you need them asap, why not just save yourself the headaches and wait a bit longer and buy Lapua manufactured .260 Remington cases once they are released for sale later this spring.
 
Barney,If you're gonna pound them out RP brass is ok,,,but if you're looking for great brass that'll outlast the RP just wait a wee bit and get the Lapua 260 cases due out shortly.
Lapua cases are superior to RP and if looking to produce as accurate a round as possible with minimal brass work...Lapua is the way.
Necking up 243 or necking down 308 requires more work and both should be neckturned.
Gord

Hungry here: I like what you are saying!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RickF said:
I fireform Lapua 243 brass for my 260 F Classer. Any fast burning powder will do.

For the 200 I did last summer I used 16 grains of Unique and a square of TP tamped down tightly on the powder to keep it in place and perhaps provide a wee bit of resistance.

Out pops a fully formed 260 case with zero concentricity issues. Makes little sense to me to buy premium Lapua brass then neck it up or down in a die.
Click to expand...

This makes the most sense to me. I have ben dealing with the same issues, 308 brass always seem to chamber really tight if at all, and 243 brass is good but I have a feeling I will get limited case life out of my brass.
 
Several companies now offering 260rem brass. At long last, the US market has figured out the 6.5 bullets are pretty special.

If you use 243 brass, you may run into the donut.

If you use 7-08 brass, measure the neck thickness after sizing down. It will likely need to be outside turned.

I used Win 308w brass to make my 6.5 Mystic/260AI cases. Great brass and easy to wildcat.

I necked down to 7mm, fireformed using cornmeal/pistol powder, size with a Lee collet neck die, outside neck turn, trim, deburr, load a 6.5 bullet and have at it.

No donuts and with a turned neck, I could set them up exactly they way I wanted without them being too thin. I prep the cases no matter the brand so didn't consider working with 308 a chore.

But the lapua 260 is coming. A bit pricey but saves the time and hassle.

Jerry
 
Crashman said:
This makes the most sense to me. I have ben dealing with the same issues, 308 brass always seem to chamber really tight if at all, and 243 brass is good but I have a feeling I will get limited case life out of my brass.
Click to expand...

Unless you neck turn the sized 308 cases, it will be too thick.

You can outside neck turn BEFORE necking down. will make this easier if using 308 Lapua brass but you should still skim the necks for best results.

Jerry
 
I neck up Lapua 243 and have no doughnut problems, but this is a subject of perpetual debate and disagreement. I have also made brass from winchester 308 and it is ok.

If your purpose is to try to achive maximum accuracy, you will simply have to cull a greater percentage of RP brass since their tolerances are not as good as Lapua (or winchester IMHO) .
 
ONT0001 said:
Barney,If you're gonna pound them out RP brass is ok,,,but if you're looking for great brass that'll outlast the RP just wait a wee bit and get the Lapua 260 cases due out shortly.
Lapua cases are superior to RP and if looking to produce as accurate a round as possible with minimal brass work...Lapua is the way.
Necking up 243 or necking down 308 requires more work and both should be neckturned.
Gord

Hungry here: I like what you are saying!
Click to expand...

A good and straightforward (Hey, I can be very lazy dude) suggestion. I might just buy a bag of Rem brass .260 and pound out some loads and also for LR hunting groundhogs, that happen to be in range of my hilltop perch. :sniper:

And then like you suggested... wait until the Lapua brass shows up and spring for it then! :D I'm trying to avoid all that neckturning work. I warned you that I was lazy! ;)

These are all educating suggestions! Thanks for the feedback so far! :)

Cheers,
Barney
 
I'll be buying 300 pieces of Lapua 260 brass for my upcoming Savage 12 LRP

can't wait for winter to #### off :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom