260 brass, RP proper vs WW 243 necked up?

[65BR]

I sold a 243, and have a few bags of NEW WW brass.

Is that brass better than 260 RP brand? Not much to neck up but will I get a donut, or is that mostly with AI and tight neck chamber?

 

[techshooter]

I can't be sure about the WW brass necked up to 6.5mm, but I sure did have donuts with necked up Lapua 243 brass for my 260AI. I believe that you will likely have this condition even with straight 260 as the geometry suggests that the brass from the shoulder has to move into the neck area when you expand. If you do a search on this site you can find an article I contributed about fireforming 260AI brass, and the Lapua donut problem in particular.

Again, I'm not saying that it will definitely be a problem, but I am estimating that it likely that you will get donuts. From my perspective, I'd rather buy RP brass and sort for neck thickness, than fiddle with Lapua and reaming donuts.

HTH!

Cheers,

 

[65BR]

Tells me what I needed to know, thanks much.

 

[memilanuk]

Try option 'C'... WW .308 Win brass necked *down* to 6.5mm

Thin-necked Winchester .308 brass has high capacity, is relatively cheap, is generally pretty hard, and once necked down, you probably still won't need to neck turn,like you might if you used thicker brass like Lapua), and best of all... no donuts.

YMMV,

Monte

 

[65BR]

Actually when I had a 6.5/308, not 260 though nigh identical, WW /08 brass was what I used and did best, sure Lapua would have been better I'd suspect, I don't turn necks, I do know that the necks on '08 down seemed a tad short and the 260 in my view has a short enough neck already, perhaps too short, but the situation is that I sold a 243 and have on hand 200 unfired WW cases........so the question was to choose between using them in 260 or selling them. I also have 200 cases-RP 260 unfired that will give me a lot of shooting.

May be easier to just sell my 243 brass and use proper stamped RP 260 brass and not worry about it. Thanks.

 

[mysticplayer]

Like milanuk, I would recommend necking down Win 308 brass. However, I do the extra step of neck turning and get match quality brass for cheap - minus labour of course. Takes a beating too.

If for a hunting rifle, sure, open a bag of Rem 260 and fly at it. For max accuracy, the extra work will yeild very small groups.

Jerry

 

[65BR]

Thanks to all.

 

[Forum Boss]

Even easier than necking down Win .308 brass is necking down 7-08 Winchester brass.

I had a .260 and shot it with Lapua and Norma .243 brass necked up. Yes I did have significant doughnut problems,made worse by a factory chamber that had a lot of taper in the neck). "Final solution" involved inside reaming PLUS outside neck turning. I got so tired of that I sold the barrel and dies and put on a 6BR, a cartridge that I MUCH prefer.

 

[redrock]

2nd the use of 7mm-08 win brass, no donuts, very easy to size down and the ww brass is pretty good for off the shelf.

 

[RickB]

Of course everything depends upon the neck diameter of your particular chamber, but if it is anything close to the factory figure,0.298" the last I recall) you should be able to use WW .243 cases necked up without a problem. I used to do so with a 0.297" neck. On the other hand, Lapua quality control went down the drain a number of years ago and the thickness of the brass at the base of the neck and shoulder got thicker and less consistent from one batch to the next. I had used Lapua .243 cases without trouble and then got some which would not even chamber!

I have also used 7-08 cases, both Rem and WW, without difficulty.