I was too wondering about making 308 outta 30-06. I have purchased a bunch (200-300) of inexpensive 7.62x51 LC once fired cases that work quire well in my 308. I just clean, FL size, measure and trim if necessary, remove primer crimps and load just like I do my 308 brass (different powder charges reached in a work up). I get several 7/8" groups and an occasional 3/4" group in my Ruger bolt gun, just as good as Hornady or Nosler brass...
Fire Forming Same Cartridge Brass
- Thread starter Yosemite Steve
- Start date
The recommendation to first sort the brass to identify those with the problem,and pitch the short ones might very well be the most practical and the safest choice.
If you don't already know,you can get a hardware store aluminum spacer bushing with a .375 plus clearance hole in it . That and your calipers won't give you a dimension to measure your brass,but you can compare it to other,correct length brass.
Now,as far as recommending "What next?" That's a lot like asking "How thin of ice can I go out ice fishing on?"
The methods you have suggested ,on your own suggest you know what it is you want to accomplish and some methods that may well achieve it. And you have to decide how thick you want the ice to be before you walk on it,because you are the one who will be all alone in the ice water in the middle of the lake if you get it wrong.
If you do decide to try COW,consider you will be spending the money for the COW plus a pound of Bullseye plus primers.
In Ken Waters "Pet Loads",IIRC, Ken suggests about 10% of a normal charge weight in Bullseye,so about 5 1/2 gr.. If I was not getting the results with 7 gr,I'd slow way down.Bullseye is pretty sudden stuff.
You might well have $25 or better in trying to save the brass.
Cheap 30 cal bullets,long seated? I'd guess 170 gr round nose 30-30 might be as cheap as any. Can you get those much cheaper than $18 or $20? A couple dollars worth of primers,powder ? you get about 140 loads for a pound of powder.Thats abouy 18 cents a shot for power,3 cents for a primer,and what?15 cents for a bullet. 36 cents to pull the trigger. How much does new brass cost?
I'm just suggesting do the math on what will be what,three times fired brass?
Good luck!
If you don't already know,you can get a hardware store aluminum spacer bushing with a .375 plus clearance hole in it . That and your calipers won't give you a dimension to measure your brass,but you can compare it to other,correct length brass.
Now,as far as recommending "What next?" That's a lot like asking "How thin of ice can I go out ice fishing on?"
The methods you have suggested ,on your own suggest you know what it is you want to accomplish and some methods that may well achieve it. And you have to decide how thick you want the ice to be before you walk on it,because you are the one who will be all alone in the ice water in the middle of the lake if you get it wrong.
If you do decide to try COW,consider you will be spending the money for the COW plus a pound of Bullseye plus primers.
In Ken Waters "Pet Loads",IIRC, Ken suggests about 10% of a normal charge weight in Bullseye,so about 5 1/2 gr.. If I was not getting the results with 7 gr,I'd slow way down.Bullseye is pretty sudden stuff.
You might well have $25 or better in trying to save the brass.
Cheap 30 cal bullets,long seated? I'd guess 170 gr round nose 30-30 might be as cheap as any. Can you get those much cheaper than $18 or $20? A couple dollars worth of primers,powder ? you get about 140 loads for a pound of powder.Thats abouy 18 cents a shot for power,3 cents for a primer,and what?15 cents for a bullet. 36 cents to pull the trigger. How much does new brass cost?
I'm just suggesting do the math on what will be what,three times fired brass?
Good luck!
Last edited:
Yosemite Steve
New member
HiBC, that's about where I am. As much as I would like to toy with this I really think my money would best be spent on reliability. The thread is here to learn more than it is to do from. Through all of this Q&A I have learned that I will add a new step to my reloading process and that is to fire form the brass "properly". Before I would simply shoot rounds through a gun and dedicate those rounds to that gun and partial length size them. Now that I have been doing some measuring I see that all of those shot rounds have varying case head to datum lengths due to the many variables in powder charges, seating depths, etc. and now my gun is changed.
Moving forward I will use a more defined method to fire form... OR..
What if I fire the round through my Enfield first? It has a larger chamber. I could then partial size until it will just fit in my Savage. I believe that is what Mr. Guffey is eluding to in the stories about how he is sizing downward. I believe I might get more use from all the brass that way. Kind of like handing down clothes to the little brother. The only question is... Where will the shoulder move to when the sized brass from the Enfield is fired through the Savage?
Moving forward I will use a more defined method to fire form... OR..
What if I fire the round through my Enfield first? It has a larger chamber. I could then partial size until it will just fit in my Savage. I believe that is what Mr. Guffey is eluding to in the stories about how he is sizing downward. I believe I might get more use from all the brass that way. Kind of like handing down clothes to the little brother. The only question is... Where will the shoulder move to when the sized brass from the Enfield is fired through the Savage?
Yosemite Steve
New member
Why is it suggested by some to have .002" headspace? What is wrong with having .000" headspace? If set my die to give me a full chamber will that cause me some grief?
Redding's Todd Spotti: http://www.redding-reloading.com/tech-line-a-tips-faqs/145-dealing-with-headspace Says that zero headspace is best.
I have very carefully measured to get a perfect gap between my die base and shell holder so that when I full size a case there is a very slight bit of feel just as the bolt handle gets to the fully closed position. I keep seeing others who say to give .002" of headspace. Can someone enlighten me?
Redding's Todd Spotti: http://www.redding-reloading.com/tech-line-a-tips-faqs/145-dealing-with-headspace Says that zero headspace is best.
I have very carefully measured to get a perfect gap between my die base and shell holder so that when I full size a case there is a very slight bit of feel just as the bolt handle gets to the fully closed position. I keep seeing others who say to give .002" of headspace. Can someone enlighten me?
It is surprising how few shooters know about the mechanisms that used greased/oiled cases.
This is one, the Oerlikon. If the cases were not lubricated, they tore in half. How do you think this mechanism worked? Probably never heard of it, right?
Lightly apply lubricant on the outside of the case, and fire it in a mechanism with a claw extractor. That's what I am doing. No jamming the bullet in the throat, no fillers, no air or air head.
The only way they could get it to work was grease it, Garand did not grease it, Browning did not grease it etc. etc. after that? They did not build another 'grease your bullet' gun, and then there were the beaches, they had to be careful someone did not run by and kick sand in your into their grease box.
F. Guffey