Crooked ammo

[rickt300]

I made some cases for my 260 from some Federal 308 brass wanting to experiment with thicker necks. Well Federal brass sucked. Had to use a 7-08 die and then a 260 die and I still had partial shoulder collapse problems. I ran PPU 308 brass through a 260 die one pass no problems. The loaded federal rounds all had 20-30 thousandths runout! I shot all fifteen into the same group to see how bad it was going to be and the group ended up being just under 1.5 inches. Could have used it for hunting. The PPU rounds were perfect so I didn't shoot them up to straighten the cases.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

What is the question here? You knew bulk brass was going to be crooked, hard, horrible runout, etc.- nothing new for sure. Those cases will require turning and annealing before necking down

 

[Iowa Fox]

Sometimes its just fun to mess around doing things like that. That's why I like to pick up junk range brass for experimentation. One thing I have found for sure is that it takes good lube when squeezing cases. Some of the good lube for everyday reloading won;t hack the mustard for case forming. If anyone is really serious about ever forming cases they should get a p bike forming die set.

You can learn a lot with junk brass which helps when you lay into a fresh box of brass costing you a buck a piece or more..

 

[rickt300]

What is the question here? You knew bulk brass was going to be crooked, hard, horrible runout, etc.- nothing new for sure. Those cases will require turning and annealing before necking down

I did anneal a couple and tried to neck them down, the cases collapsed at the shoulder and destroyed the cases. The chamber is a standard not tight neck so in reality I was hoping to get less clearance not more. That said the real point is the ammo could have been used as is for average range hunting. The Federal cases were too soft to begin with, the PPU had no issues.

 

[rickt300]

Sometimes its just fun to mess around doing things like that. That's why I like to pick up junk range brass for experimentation. One thing I have found for sure is that it takes good lube when squeezing cases. Some of the good lube for everyday reloading won;t hack the mustard for case forming. If anyone is really serious about ever forming cases they should get a p bike forming die set.

You can learn a lot with junk brass which helps when you lay into a fresh box of brass costing you a buck a piece or more..

The brass is slated for a reduced load planned for night hog hunting. And yes this was a test that showed two things, Federal isn't as well made as PPU and accuracy was not reduced beyond usable. However the Federal brass will still fulfill it's duty now that it has been fireformed to the chamber. Time to clean the barrel and shoot a few rounds. This evening will be bowhunting for deer and night rifle hunting for hogs.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

Waste of time and money. Brass is the cheapest part of the equation and fireforming puts additional wear on a good barrel, plus a waste of powder and bullets.

 

[rickt300]

Waste of time and money. Brass is the cheapest part of the equation and fireforming puts additional wear on a good barrel, plus a waste of powder and bullets.

Yep but I am trying to wear this barrel out. It was only 15 cases.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

When you neck them down they get too thick. Its not that you have a tight neck its just that a necked down 308 is too thick for a no turn chamber

 

[JimSC]

When you neck them down they get too thick. Its not that you have a tight neck its just that a necked down 308 is too thick for a no turn chamber

this.

by reducing the diameter you are reducing the amount of surface area by appx. 1/4 square inch. That extra brass has to go somewhere and it cannot go outward becasue of the die walls so it flows in the path of least resistance which would be inward and or toward the case mouth or both. Use a expander mandrel to get the ID of the neck correct then trim to length and turn the neck as needed. If you just seat a bullet the necks expands but makes the round hard to chamber.

I made a few .260 from .308s before I started neck turning or had expander mandrels and learned the hard way.

 

[searcher]

Back in the 'Bama brass shortage, I necked down a bunch of Federal .308 Brass to .243 Winchester, then turned necks, leveled pockets, reamed flash holes, etc. and with 58 VG-Max, shot a few 5-shot groups that my 6BR and PPC would be envious of (sub .20" and one under .10). Not too shabby for varmint bullets in budget brass. I found that the 1x fired brass I was using was best when NOT annealed prior to necking down - which was also best done in two steps. Once taken down in steps, then annealed, necks turned and fire formed - that Federal brass is not bad stuff. If you chrono each fireforming shot and sort - you have brass that can be more capable than many shooters. Won't last like Lapua - but it will get the job done and nice to know you can get this done when you need it.