6.5 Creedmoor Brass Forming
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I've done it from FGMM 308 cases. I made 100 and it was a PITA. I'll buy brass in the future. It did shoot well though.
Sized in a 6.5 die using moly powder (all other lubes cased shoulder crush)
Expanded on a mandrel
Trimmed length
Outside neck turned
Sized again
Sized in a 6.5 die using moly powder (all other lubes cased shoulder crush)
Expanded on a mandrel
Trimmed length
Outside neck turned
Sized again
Same here. Shot great but took time to do it right. I have a ton of once fired Hornady match brass (308) that I used. You will most likely need to turn the necks with any brass you use.
why not just use hornady brass? i have had great success with it as have many others. why do you want to make a bunch of work for yourself even though it sounds as though you have zero experience with it?
Don't waste your time. It's more hassle than it's worth and you will see no difference on the target. Only thing you will see is less money in your pocket buying tools and brass to do it and less time on the range as you will be home spending hours to make brass that you could have bought and been shooting.
Here ya go. Don't forget to anneal before you start working those necks and shoulders. Use plenty of lube.
That's a superb pictoral summary of the process of forming 308 into 6.5CM brass there sentry1. Others above have mentioned turning the necks after trimming. Is that also part of your process/what is your experience with neck turning being needed for this particular brass forming process? Is it necessary/always needed? Or, don't bother, it's not needed? Or somewhere in between?/What should be considered/measured? Many thanks!
I'm not Sentry1, but I have formed from Prvi .308 brass as well, and yes, you'll need to neck turn.
M
milo 2.0
Guest
Thanks MarinePMI. That's what I was assuming. I've been handloading for several years now (including 6.5CM) but I don't currently have the equipment for neck turning. Anyone willing to recommend a good, cost-effective set up for turning necks? Or point me to good threads in the reloading forum? (I will search there, but my GoogleFu is weak today.) Thanks.
You've absolutely got to turn the necks. After you've necked down and bumped the shoulders, the neck walls of your new cartridge are going to be much thicker. Poisson's Ratio of strain, and mass conservation, some shit like that. Anyway, neck turn down to an appropriate thickness. Sinclair and K&M both make good neck turning setups.
I turned a bunch of old LC cases into 6.5 creedmoor last year, and used the Forster trimmer with a cordless screwdriver attachment to trim necks. Went fast enough I'd do it again, but it helped to have a TV nearby. None of the other operations were anything too out of the ordinary, although I did use two strokes on the Forster press (along with imperial sizing wax) to resize each case.
John
John
Depends how much money your time is worth. I just finished grad school, so plenty of free time, and the brain stimulation from trying out something new and learning a few things in the process has value, too.
I too, am always amused when folks say "it isn't worth the time", when in reality it should probably read "it isn't worth my time". Different strokes for different folks.
I form it to know I can do it, when it can't be had. I work a lot, but when I come home after a day of stretching my brain nine different ways to hell, I often find forming brass relaxing. Mindless, but not too much, and using my hands after a day of trying to convey complex concepts is very satisfying. Is it worth my time? Which time? The time I'm paid to do something, or the time when I want to use my hands, and let my mind unwind from a busy day?
It's all in perspective...almost everything is...
I form it to know I can do it, when it can't be had. I work a lot, but when I come home after a day of stretching my brain nine different ways to hell, I often find forming brass relaxing. Mindless, but not too much, and using my hands after a day of trying to convey complex concepts is very satisfying. Is it worth my time? Which time? The time I'm paid to do something, or the time when I want to use my hands, and let my mind unwind from a busy day?
It's all in perspective...almost everything is...
I turned 500 pcs of RP 243 brass into 6.5 Creed in two weekends using a Remington BR form die set. I did a thread on it in the reloading section.
The ability to form the brass you need is not a bad skill to have.
For me, it falls into the same category as learning to maintain your own vehicles, grow and preserve your own food, etc.
The ability to form the brass you need is not a bad skill to have.
For me, it falls into the same category as learning to maintain your own vehicles, grow and preserve your own food, etc.
In my view it's much better to know how to do it and not need to, than to need to do it and not know how.
