Forming 243Win from 308Win Brass

[Chilly807]

This is an old thread..

Doh! Why do I always miss that?

 

[windborne11]

Sorry if this seem odd, I mean no harm. Why not sell the 308 and buy some 243? It seems like more work than it’s worth (to me).

When you have the brass, and the time, and enjoy reloading, why not do the resizing? In my case I had 500 .308 brass, and wanted 40 .243. No big deal.

 

[358Rooster]

Doh! Why do I always miss that?

Old or not, Chilly, it's still pretty relevant stuff. I've done .243, .243AI, .260, & .260AI from .308. One step, two step, sidestep, misstep... Turn, no turn...

The single biggest thing I learned from all that fooling around is that whatever method I used, FULLY sizing the case at each step seems to be the way to go. Using a neck sizing die would always kick the neck off center for me, and leave an uneven donut bulge on one side at the bottom of the neck. Same thing when I used the Ackley FL sizing die instead of the straight .260 FL die - there just isn't enough forward case support with the neck sizers or the larger diameter (shallower taper, larger shoulder) Ackley dies.

Oh, removal of expander balls at every step and running the last expander through in a final, separate step is also very beneficial.... at least in my experiences.

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