Case Forming vs Purchasing?

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I am a sucker for what I find to be unique or fascinating rifles. I recently purchased a Siamese Mauser in 8x52R, and a Portuguese Kroptscheck in 8x60R, not to mention a sweet looking Snider-Enfield. The brass for these rifles is obviously tough to come by and when you do find it, it's either in the States and or its a crazy price.
Is it worth it to pay the price and be done with it or do I look into case forming which in itself looks pretty intruiging? I have been reading "The Handloaders Manual of Case Conversions" and they are talking about needing a lathe for many of the steps needed to create these cases. I really can't see myself spending that kind of money to save a few bucks. Can hand trimmers be used to thin and ream these cases instead of a lathe? Do you folks recommend any books or sites on forming? I will be retiring in a couple of years so another twist to this hobby would not be a bad thing.
Thanks
p.s. sources for obsolete brass would also be appreciated
 
In most cases all you need to do is look in the reloading manual for a case with the same base diameter and slightly longer and try just using a full length die to size the brass down to the size you are looking for.

As an example using 7mm Mauser cases to form 7.65 Belgian Mauser cases is very simple. On other harder to form cases you may be better off just buying cases.

Bottom line if you like to shoot then don't buy rifles that are hard to find brass for, and if your a dedicated collector of older and obscure firearms and time trouble and money are no object then find a machinist and become friends.

P.S. In a Zombie attack the last thing you need is a single shot rifle you can't find brass for........................

Because fast head shots are required if you don't want to be "dead meat".

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If you still want to reload these old and obscure firearms then make friends with the Zombies and hope they are not hungry. (and find a machinist friend with several AR15 rifles and plenty of ammo and reloading supplies)

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I keep getting into oddball old guns too and really find that it depends on difficulty of the case forming and the amount you plan to shoot. If case creation is a fun challenge or if you just want to bang off 10 rounds and hang it on the wall will make it a very different situation for each shooter.

Posting in the antique forum will get the attention of lots of guys who have a variety of experience in this kind of thing.Incredible lengths can be taken to get some old rifles shooting but I usually don't want to get into it much past sizing, trimming and fire forming myself.
 
Thanks VagrantViking, I completely forgot about that forum. I'll head on over there right now.

vagrantviking said:
I keep getting into oddball old guns too and really find that it depends on difficulty of the case forming and the amount you plan to shoot. If case creation is a fun challenge or if you just want to bang off 10 rounds and hang it on the wall will make it a very different situation for each shooter.

Posting in the antique forum will get the attention of lots of guys who have a variety of experience in this kind of thing.Incredible lengths can be taken to get some old rifles shooting but I usually don't want to get into it much past sizing, trimming and fire forming myself.
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