NECKING DOWN BRASS

[magicman]

Hello,
I am wanting to build a 243 or have one of my rifles re-barreled to the 243. Doing some research I have found no brass available at my go to places, Mid South, Brownells, Mid Way, ect. I do have some 308 Lapua and 308 Lapua Palma (small primer) and was wondering if I could resize some of these down to work for a 243. I have been reloading for a while but have never attempted this process and wanted to hear from some of you that may have had some experience. Your words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Clancy]

You could. But that’s a lot of steps and I’d probably turn the necks. I’ll put some effort into finding you some brass, and in the mean time post a want ad here in the classifieds. Even if you have to register, it’s still going to be cheaper in the long run.

 

[Clancy]

I found some for you, check the PMs

 

[SealT5]

Your such a sweetheart Clancy

 

[357Mag]

Hello,
I am wanting to build a 243 or have one of my rifles re-barreled to the 243. Doing some research I have found no brass available at my go to places, Mid South, Brownells, Mid Way, ect. I do have some 308 Lapua and 308 Lapua Palma (small primer) and was wondering if I could resize some of these down to work for a 243. I have been reloading for a while but have never attempted this process and wanted to hear from some of you that may have had some experience. Your words of wisdom will be greatly appreciated.

Magic -

Howdy !

You can neck down cases like .358Win, 7-08, and .260 Remington; if need be.

Please note:
The larger the neck diam of the brass you start with, the ( likely ) thicker the final neck wall thickness will be on the final calibre case.

If neck wall thickness of your formed .243Win cases is an area of interest, you made need to start w/ .358Win brass...... to get the desired final neck wall thickness. I say this, because of my experience forming some trial wildcat cases for a shooter in New Zealand.
He wanted a new 6.5mm wildcat chambering for a custom rifle to hand down to his son's.
He had friends that shot both 6.5 X 47L and 6.5 Creed moor; and wanted something unique.

The shooter wanted to work off .308 family brass, and both .243Win and .308 brass were
unavailable durin the first Democrat-induced buying frenzy. My initial trials worked off .260 Rem brass ( featuring a shoulder shove and 30* shoulder angle ). The neck wall thickness was thinner than desired ( he wanted .0125" ), so I tried 7-08 brass next. The neck wall thickness of the formed wildcat brass was still too thin.

I then went w/ .358Win brass, which one could readily find. The multi-calibre neck down was sufficient to make the final neck wall thickness thick enough to allow a skim trim of the OD.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Clancy]

Your such a sweetheart Clancy

Thanks Ginger

 

[magicman]

Many thanks fella's!! Clancy found me some and I ordered some Lapua yesterday from Creedmoor, I have a new place to shop now.

 

[DocBII]

magicman,

I did it to several hundred Federal .308 cases once. Not worth the effort or time. You should anneal the brass at least twice, neck turn once each at .308 and .243, and size down in 0.5mm steps. The brass will then have a short case length in the neck of between 0.030-0.050" compared to a .243 case, leading to a big carbon ring in the chamber. Cases were still less precise than neck turned factory cases.

Buy Peterson or Lapua and you'll be way ahead of the game.

HTH,
DocBII