Forming .308 Win brass to .243 Win brass

[223Rem]

How do you value your time?

IMO, neck sizing brass from a standard cartridge to another is a waste of time and resources.

Ever thought of trying to trade your 308 brass for 243 brass? Sell your 308 brass and use the proceeds to buy new 243 brass?

Too much work or too many things can go wrong to re-invent the wheel for a standard cartridge.

 

[Clark]

Hi Clark...what kind of rifle were those ctgs. fired in ...the square ejector has me puzzled.....???,,,Roger

That was 10 years ago in a 1938 Turkish Mauser, that I trued the action, lapped the lugs, bend the bolt, drilled and tapped, did a trigger job, glass bedded, and rebarrelled to 243.

After the last shot, I gave up and went home.
I was pushing the bolt closed with ~ 100 pounds of force in the bolt knob.
I don't think I have shot it since.
Ok, I pulled it off the shelf. Heavy gun with a bull barrel.
I took a pic of the bolt face.

 

[Ackman]

cheecko, you ar right i was mistaken they both have 20%, the body length is shorter, my goof

apologies fellows

Bob

Body length is also the same.

 

[Cheechako]

As I said in an earlier post, the 308W and 243W were conceived at the same time. In fact, the very first cartridges that would become the 243W were made in the exact same way that this thread is discussing - a 30 caliber case was necked down to 6mm. The only thing that was changed is that .030" was added to the case length to get a longer neck. Otherwise, the two are identical.

And, I didn't misspeak when I said "6mm". The first 243W ammunition was headstamped 6mm Winchester. The Big W sales people didn't like the idea of being the first US cartridge with a metric designation so they convinced the big boys to re-name it.

The first 308W was not called that either. But, that's a story for another time.

Ray

 

[RHux]

Just did some Lapua 308 ...first to 260 ...then to 243. After shooting to iron brass , all good.

 

[snoopy001]

Just did some Lapua 308 ...first to 260 ...then to 243. After shooting to iron brass , all good.

Since few years i only use Lapua Palma brass for 22-250Rem and .243 Win. .243 is easy but 22-250Rem need a interim step thru the .250 Savage full die ,thereafter stright to the .243 Win Redding body type.Don't know why Lapua guys are sleeping and not make the 22-250Rem SRP version

 

[butchlambert]

Unfortunately Cheechako, Ray Meketa, has passed on. Ray was somebody that I knew would give me good info on cartridges. He was the guru.

 

[Madang185]

I've done a bunch. I use a 7mm08 die first. Loose about 1 out of every 50.

 

[Madang185]

Use a 7mm/08 die initially and imperial wax. Anneal after the 7mm die-no problems

 

[Jimmycee]

Can LEE dies be used instead of RCBS or others?

 

[Homerange]

Can LEE dies be used instead of RCBS or others?

For shits and giggles I tried a LCD to make 7mm08 from 308 brass. Worked just fine.

 

[Jimmycee]

Thanks, I want to try going down to .243, thought i might try going to 7mm08 first but very concerned about the thickness of the neck.

 

[fkimble@charter.net]

Resize to 308, then to 7-08 then neck turn and then go to 243. And adjust neck thickness as needed for your chamber.

Of course in the past 12 years I sure he figured it out!

Frank

 

[Jimmycee]

How do you adjust the neck thickness? I do everything by hand or with a 3/8" drill.

 

[Bill Norris]

How do you adjust the neck thickness? I do everything by hand or with a 3/8" drill.

Turn the necks.

 

[Jimmycee]

And Thanks to all!
What do I need to turn the necks?

 

[Bill Norris]

Several companies have neck turning tools and accessories. Just have to check them out and see which one fits your fancy.

 

[Jimmycee]

Ok, I sized 30 cases of mil 308 to 243 in 1 step and didn't lose a case except for 1 i tried in 243 lee collet, crumpled it like paper. The rest went great in the Lee FLD. I just decided on the RCBS hand turner and placed my order. Thank you all for the help. PS Bill, I am a former Bassist too (50 years retired).
Thanks again

 

[Jimmycee]

Oh, One more question.. Should I turn them or anneal them next? Or does it matter?

 

[searcher]

Back during one of the brass shortages, I resorted to necking down several hundred commercial Federal .308 cases to .243. I annealed first, took the necks down in two stages using neck bushings in a full-length .308 bushing die, checked for not exceeding trim length, loaded one up a dummy round to be sure the OD of the neck was not too large for the SAAMI neck (factory rifle), chamfered, fireformed, then trimmed and turned the necks, then annealed again. Turned out to be excellent shooting brass that I'm still using today in that rifle after a number of firings - even though I can now get .243 brass. It is easy and not problematic.