Forming 6xc with 6.5x47 Lapua brass?
- Thread starter armaster
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shortgrass
Silver $$ Contributor
Re: 6xc with 6.5x47 Lapua brass?
Norma already makes 6mmXC brass and there's not a thing wrong with it!
Norma already makes 6mmXC brass and there's not a thing wrong with it!
Re: 6xc with 6.5x47 Lapua brass?
I am aware of that as I have some in use, but I would have to disagree that their is nothing wrong with it. Of the 100 new Norma 6xc I had 6 with split necks right out of the box. There were several more that had for lack of a better word chunks of brass in the primer pockets that had to be cut out in order to seat a primer. Now after annealing, trimming, primer pocket uniforming and neck turning the 94 I have left are great.
With all that said, I believe Lapua makes better brass than Norma. Lapua 6.5x47 has a small primer and is easier to come by than Norma 6xc.
I am aware of that as I have some in use, but I would have to disagree that their is nothing wrong with it. Of the 100 new Norma 6xc I had 6 with split necks right out of the box. There were several more that had for lack of a better word chunks of brass in the primer pockets that had to be cut out in order to seat a primer. Now after annealing, trimming, primer pocket uniforming and neck turning the 94 I have left are great.
With all that said, I believe Lapua makes better brass than Norma. Lapua 6.5x47 has a small primer and is easier to come by than Norma 6xc.
I have done it in the past. I had a 6x47L at the same time & wanted to see there was any difference between the small primer & the large primer in the 6xc. That was as close to a hummer barrel as I have ever had so I did not find any difference. The new 6xc barrel I have now doesn't have the accuracy that the old hummer did so I need to do the test over again in this barrel. I am also going to test the small primer 6.5x47 Lapua brass in my 22-250.
It'll work OK but keep in mind it's shorter COL at 47mm / 1.850" where specs for 6XC are 1.898".
I've shot 6XC as short as 1.870" while keeping in mind the likely build-up of powder residue in the chamber neck that needs to be addressed once longer brass again is used.
I've also made 6XC out of Lapua's fine Palma brass so I can explore the merits of using small rifle primers. Takes some doing & results equal that of factory Norma brass on paper out to 1,000 yards. Still waiting for pockets to stretch after five loadings in this batch so I guess the effort was worthwhile.
I've shot 6XC as short as 1.870" while keeping in mind the likely build-up of powder residue in the chamber neck that needs to be addressed once longer brass again is used.
I've also made 6XC out of Lapua's fine Palma brass so I can explore the merits of using small rifle primers. Takes some doing & results equal that of factory Norma brass on paper out to 1,000 yards. Still waiting for pockets to stretch after five loadings in this batch so I guess the effort was worthwhile.
Thanks for the info Clark. I too have some WIN that is 1.870 & I don't like to run it, thinking it will really torch the chamber neck. I really don't want to run them @ 1.850. I guess I was thinking that the 6x47 would form better to the XC chamber, but I guess they really don't grow that much. 
I was just looking for a better brass option. The sm vs. lg primer doesn't matter to me much and I don't think it's an accuracy issue, but rather brass longevity. Oh well I will keep using the Norma Xc brass. It's just a disappointment when I have to throw away 6 out of 100 brand new right out of the box. At $1.00 apiece that's BS.
I was just looking for a better brass option. The sm vs. lg primer doesn't matter to me much and I don't think it's an accuracy issue, but rather brass longevity. Oh well I will keep using the Norma Xc brass. It's just a disappointment when I have to throw away 6 out of 100 brand new right out of the box. At $1.00 apiece that's BS.
Panzer22
Gold $$ Contributor
I love to experiment. I have made some 6xc cases from 6.5 creedmore brass, the 6mm Creedmore, ( gap sells it) 243 brass, 260 rem brass, and I tried to make some from the 308 lapua Palma brass, but I crushed 3 to make one that was so-so useable. The creedmore brass was the easiest, by far, and is longer so you can trim it down to the correct length.
Why do this? I'll tell you why. I also have about 200 pieces of win 22-250 brass as everyone says its THE 6xc brass... I have to say, for me, umm NO. My 6xc chamber is set to run the Norma brass. Which has a 308 type rim and base diameter. The 22-250, has a smaller diameter base, and the rim is thin. Very thin. The word is that older chamber designs Are set up for the 22-250 size, and if you have that then great, they will work quite well...but for the other chamber designs, It's close and yeah it works, but its not the best fit, or the best answer. The cases after forming are plenty cute enough to use, but they are now all "swelled" irregularly near the base, I mean like .004 or so, you can see it, to fit the Norma or 308 type dimensions, and they do not chamber centered up as well as the Norma. Or cases I made from 308 family cartridges. For BS practice, or even HP use, try would be fine and I hear they last forever. But I just want better than ok.
Clark, what did you use to make them from the 308 brass? I could get the others to form using just the 6xc die, starting with the neck bushing out, then trimming a hair longer than desired, then bushing in, size, then trim to length, then final size with the whole die intact. Time consuming but fun. The 6mm creedmore brass was a simple size and trim. I don't have more than a 10 case sample of any of it, but the results are impressive so far. The creedmore brass ends up almost exactly like the Norma. I use it for testing to try to save the life of the very limited amount of Norma brass I do have.
Why do this? I'll tell you why. I also have about 200 pieces of win 22-250 brass as everyone says its THE 6xc brass... I have to say, for me, umm NO. My 6xc chamber is set to run the Norma brass. Which has a 308 type rim and base diameter. The 22-250, has a smaller diameter base, and the rim is thin. Very thin. The word is that older chamber designs Are set up for the 22-250 size, and if you have that then great, they will work quite well...but for the other chamber designs, It's close and yeah it works, but its not the best fit, or the best answer. The cases after forming are plenty cute enough to use, but they are now all "swelled" irregularly near the base, I mean like .004 or so, you can see it, to fit the Norma or 308 type dimensions, and they do not chamber centered up as well as the Norma. Or cases I made from 308 family cartridges. For BS practice, or even HP use, try would be fine and I hear they last forever. But I just want better than ok.
Clark, what did you use to make them from the 308 brass? I could get the others to form using just the 6xc die, starting with the neck bushing out, then trimming a hair longer than desired, then bushing in, size, then trim to length, then final size with the whole die intact. Time consuming but fun. The 6mm creedmore brass was a simple size and trim. I don't have more than a 10 case sample of any of it, but the results are impressive so far. The creedmore brass ends up almost exactly like the Norma. I use it for testing to try to save the life of the very limited amount of Norma brass I do have.
Panzer22 said:
Having a Tubb 6XC forming die helps a lot; the one with the bushings that include the shoulder-forming surface as well as the neck. There's a "gauge" bushing included that's meant to be used for shoulder-bump control, not unlike the Stoney Pointe tool. This bushing has a far larger neck opening than could be used for anything 6mm you'd be loading but was ideal for the major sizing operations to get the 308 neck close to 6mm and the shoulder bumped back.
I ruined a couple Palma cases too at the beginning. Learned too to work the press ram very slowly while running cases thru between screwing the die in 1/4 turn at a time. Annealing helps near the end; any sooner than maybe 90% of the way & case walls can collapse. At that point I switched to my regular Redding F/L neck bushing die fitted with slightly oversize bushings until I got withing .004" of intended neck dia. with the shoulder where I wanted it to be.
Then ream necks, turn to uniform surface, size down a little more & ream again, then trim to length.
I got maybe 40 out of 98 done eventually with no shoulder folds. The rest had some minor folding but this irons out after a few firings & didn't appear to affect accuracy.
It's a labor of love as well as patience to get good results. I've since sold that Tubb die so next time I guess I'll have to start with something else....
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