Forming 6.5 creedmore from 22-250 ,.308 or ?

[Shiyfire]

6.5 is pretty hard to come by ,anybody do any fire forming ? give me some tips,i have 22-250 and 308 brass to work with.

 

[AnvilArt]

I anneal my 308 cases a little lower than normal, then run them through a modified (shortened about 3/16") 7mm-08 to push the shoulder back and start the neck squeezing. From there I size as normal in my Redding "S" 6.5 Creedmoore die, then trim for length and turn the neck to whatever clearance you need in your chamber. From there I load as normal with about 1 grain grain shy of my standard load and go shoot. The shoulders blow out nice and sharp like they were made that way. I know it seems like a whole lot of work but I have been having really good luck with this process. I have done this with some Lapua and Winchester brass, both have been fantastic. The picture is 308 on the left and finished once fired conversion on the right and all the steps in between.

 

[hunter686]

Simpler way.

 

[rardoin]

I would choose .308 over 22-250. Anvil art and I form the same way with .308...exactly. I have never lost a case during the forming process using Lapua brass. If you use .308 Lapua Palma brass you get the advantage of the small primer and its inherently stronger case head which will take a prety stout load time after time but the standard Lapua .308 brass does very well also. The advantage of using 22-250 is that you just neck up and shoot but the movement of the shoulder draws brass from the neck so you end up with a pretty short neck (which may be a problem or not depending of your freebore and intended bullets). Using .243 is fairly easy from my readings but I only have experience with the above two cartridges and I have a couple of .243's and no .308's so the .308 headstamp is not a safety issue for me. If you want more specifics (although Art was pretty comprehensive in his description of the process) go to 6.5creedmoor.com and search the reloading section down a couple of pages for the thread on forming brass....plenty of experience contributed there with no trolls.

 

[DHD]

I have resized a few hundred 308 cases to Creedmoor just by removing the bushing from my Redding FL S die. It will leave a nice flair to the case mouth so you will "feel" it when you lower your ram on the press. What worked best for me was sizing a little, spin the case, size a little, spin the case, etc. After this, I trim and run them in a standard FL die and turn the necks. Plenty of work but when using Lapua Palma brass you end up with ....... the just released Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass.

I never thought Lapua would make the stuff but glad they did. I doubt highly my barrel would outlast the Lapua cases I made though.

 

[Medium rare]

I did 308 Palma as well. I trimmed brass to 1.927 and lubed w wax. Run it through Redding s-bushing. Turned it and fireformed. Came out a little short but they still work great.

 

[Spike A]

I have done a few 22-250 brass as I had a bunch around... they turned out great a little short but they shoot good.... I did try some 243 but I had some issues with doughnuts and I heard the only way to get rid of them were to modify my dies which I preferred not to do... so I just stuck with the 22-250.... than I stumbled onto some more creedmoor brass at my local cabelas..

 

[rockrat]

I am trying 22-250 brass and converting some 243 brass I have. I had trouble with the shoulder collapsing on the 243 brass. New WW brass, I had a 70% loss rate. Pulled out my 7mmbr dies and ran them thru first, using a neck die, haven't lost a case yet.

 

[SF-Guy]

I have resized a few hundred 308 cases to Creedmoor just by removing the bushing from my Redding FL S die. It will leave a nice flair to the case mouth so you will "feel" it when you lower your ram on the press. What worked best for me was sizing a little, spin the case, size a little, spin the case, etc. After this, I trim and run them in a standard FL die and turn the necks. Plenty of work but when using Lapua Palma brass you end up with ....... the just released Lapua 6.5 Creedmoor brass.

I never thought Lapua would make the stuff but glad they did. I doubt highly my barrel would outlast the Lapua cases I made though.

I have done the same thing and made creedmoor brass from Lake
City, Federal, Winchester and .308 Lapua brass. Rather than just sit and wait on Lapua 6.5 CM brass I made my own from.308. They shoot great. At $8

 

[SF-Guy]

At $87/100 for 308 brass it is easier than buying 6.5 CM from Lapua at $119/100.

 

[Fred B.]

I have resized 300 Lapua 308 Palma. I trimm to 1.940, neck size from .335 down to .292 (in .006-.009 steps), then push the shoulder back.
I do fireform using 17 grain TiteGroup and COW before final trim and neck turning. Takes time but works great.
Keep an eye for doughnuts. Occasionally i get a few.

 

[ngb1787]

Powdervalley has 6.5 in stock. I have had good luck with hornady brass.

 

[Fred B.]

I like the small primer use on Palma brass:
My last group from last year (before Cataract and rotator cuff surgeries ).