243 brass sized to 260

[justinp61]

I'm going to start loading for my Savage model 16 in 260. It's a pencil barrel hunting rifle that I may shoot ground hogs or coyotes with and on occasion and punch a little paper too. Let me say this, I'm not going to spend the money for Lapua, Norma or any of the other "high end" expensive brass for a hunting rifle. That being said brass seems almost non existent for the 260, so this brings my question. If I can find some 243 brass, what are the down sides to sizing it to 260? Will the necks hold up after sizing? Any tips?

Thanks, Justin

 

[mikegaiz]

For hunting I have used win 243 brass, expanded using an 6.5 mm K&M expander (lube) with no issues. With a SAMI chamber you will have trouble seating light bullets out to the lands. 120 to 140 no problem.

 

[pdog2225]

I would not use the .243 brass (unless you inside ream it after forming).

I used some new Norma .243 brass and the ones I fired all had a donut in them. I could take a fired case and insert a 142 smk bullet in it base first and it would stop at the neck/shoulder junction.

It's best to neck down, not up. Use 7-08 brass and you will not have a problem. The problem is the shoulder becomes part of the neck and it is thicker than the neck. pdog2225

 

[mikegaiz]

"Neck down, not up", is one mans opinion, not necessarily the right option in all cases. Up levies no doughnut to deal with. But then I could be wrong.

 

[nhm16]

If you're not using the rifle for competition, how many pieces of brass do you need? 100? 200 tops, IMO. In that case today I'd pay the premium for native Lapua brass instead of spending hours necking up/down and neck turning. Also, I found that the batch of (very inexpensive) Remington .260 brass I bought 5 years ago has been excellent, very accurate and on its 7th firing and still going strong, so don't discount Remington brass either. But Lapua would be a sure thing, which to me is worth a premium.

 

[justinp61]

I'd gladly take Remington or Winchester 260 brass if I could find it. For what I'm going to do 100 would last me a long time.

 

[savagedasher]

Necking up is not a problem. Larry

 

[2506]

Necking up is no problem. My buddy got one of the first Rem 700 rifles to be made in 260 Rem. This was before he could ever get any factory ammo and there was not any published load data for it. We treated it like a wildcat and worked up from scratch. We tried 308 cases but they came out a but too short for our liking so we tried 243 Win. necked down and BINGO. Ending up making 100 cases out of Rem. nickle 243 Win. and they did not need reaming. Over the years these cases that we made have proved to be some of the most accurate he ever has used. Just use a tapered expander rod to expand up. Cheapest way to go is get a Lee FL size die because it has a long tapered expander. Hornady dies also have a tapered expander. We had a friend make us a tapered rod to fit the RCBS LF die back then because the expander in that die sometimes caught on the neck of the case and squished it.
By the way 100 gr Sierra HP is WICKED on varmints. 120 gr Sierra SP or Ballistic tips are WICKED on deer. ;D

 

[HTSmith]

http://www.brunoshooters.com/category/brass_lapua.html

These guys will sell the lapua a piece at the time if that helps. I've necked up and down with ok results. My best brass has come from necking down WW 7/08 but good luck finding that. My experience with Remington Factory 260 brass was terrible--or course that was years ago--could be better now. I just use the Lapua 260 brass now. It sure does last a long time.

 

[justinp61]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm not in a big rush as I haven't decided on dies yet and probably wont start shooting until it warms up some. I put out some feelers locally and hopefully someone will have some brass, if not I'll bite the bullet and buy some lapua, then hope I don't lose any of it ;D.

 

[SG4247]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm not in a big rush as I haven't decided on dies yet and probably wont start shooting until it warms up some. I put out some feelers locally and hopefully someone will have some brass, if not I'll bite the bullet and buy some lapua, then hope I don't lose any of it ;D.

I have some .243 to .260 Rem brass fired once out of my .260, for sale on the reloading forum page cheap! There is a pic of the brass in the ad. Also have .260 dies for sale Cheap!

Glenn
SG4247