.30-06 to .25-06 Brass

[DGP4]

Wouldn't you have to trim just as much from the 30.06 cases after reforming? I can understand that the op already had the 30.06 cases.

 

[KMart]

Wouldn't you have to trim just as much from the 30.06 cases after reforming? I can understand that the op already had the 30.06 cases.

Trim length of 270 Win...............2.530"
Trim length of 30-06/25-06......2.484"

 

[DGP4]

Kmart, thanks for the explanation

 

[Old Navy]

I did exactly what you want to do. Use Lapua brass in my 25-06.

The steps I took were:
- size in a FL 30-06 die with the expander removed
- size in a FL 280 die, didn't bump the shoulder, no need to
- size in a FL 270 die
- size in a FL 25-06 die
Expanded the case neck for neck turning
Turned the case necks

I played with using bushings, but I didn't have them in the correct diameters. The opening in the bushing doesn't have much of a radius, so you are limited how much oversize a diameter it will accept. My experience is the smaller steps you take the move consistent the neck thickness remains. YMMV

The first 50 I did I neck turned them as 30-06 brass. The neck shoulder junction now is part of the shoulder and it looks unusual. So the second 50 I turned the neck after I completed sizing them down.

Here is what they looked like. None were lost and no shoulder wrinkles.

View attachment 1296414

Great photo!

 

[B. Anderson]

Hello everyone. I see that some of you are curious about me starting with the .30-.06 brass. The main reason is that I just have my heart set on trying what the majority of folks believe is the finest brass available. Unless I missed it, Lapua doesn't make brass for the .25-06 or .270. I have plenty of Winchester and Remington brass in .25-06, but I didn't like the way they looked after turning the necks. The rifle now has a new match barrel with a tighter than factory chamber of .285. I wanted the loaded rounds to be .283, and I got there, but the necks were more "touched up" than turned, and they had shallow dimples. Now, that might have been just fine, but I worried about varying neck tension. The Federal brass was thicker, and it solved that "problem", but as I explained before, that brass, even on the 1st reload, didn't hold primers snug. So, all that said, I know the resized .30-06 will have thicker necks, but that's exactly what I want. (Well... at least I think it is). So long story short, I did not just have a bunch of 30 06 brass. This was intentional. At the good advice of a previous poster, the new cases are in the tumbler to remove the annealing oxidation. I should have some results to share soon.

Thanks all,
Brian

BTW - is anyone here from around Central Texas? I live in a suburb about 20 miles NW of Waco.

 

[mike mccormick]

Resizing in one pass work hardens the brass less, and in my experience, gives better results. Ymmv

 

[DGP4]

Thanks for the clarification OP. It would be interesting to see how well the new brass works versus some of your factory .25-06 cases.

 

[Burnt Powder]

I’ve done quite a bit of wildcat chamberings and brass forming over the years. Do not overlook the bullet seating die as an intermediate sizing die to reduce necks and move shoulders back. Remove the seating stems and associated adapters and use the bare die body as a sizing die. Seating dies are always several .001s larger than sizing dies. Sometimes a completely different family of cartridges die will do the trick too. Run just the 30-06 neck into a 7/08 or maybe a 260 Remington sizing or maybe seating die to shrink the necks and then finish the job with your full length 25-06 die. It’s simple really. Depends on what tooling you have on hand and a little ingenuity to get the job done.
POI. I wonder how many pieces of .243 brass I’ve made out of .308/7.62x51 with just one pass through a .243 full length sizing die? Many, many hundreds if not thousands. Same with 260 and 7/08 as well as a couple other wildcat cases I’ve built off of .308.
Imperial Die Wax is your friend!

 

[B. Anderson]

Burnt Powder,
Now that is a new one for me. I will definitely give that a try. The cases are all cleaned up and in the blocks - just have to find time to start experimenting. I've had a little bit of stress, and I have learned that being aggravated or rushed is not a state of mind for precision work.