Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

[mattsnuked]

I have seen it talked about but not in detail. I can't find factory brass anywhere and Hornady says I'll have to wait 60-90 days until they do another production run.

Hopefully you all can answer a couple of quick questions for me.

1. What is the best most commonly found brass to resize? .308 .243 7-08 ect..
I know the 30 TC is the parent cartridge but would prefer more easily found brass.

2. Resizing up or down, which is better and why?

3. What is the trim to length and max case length for the creedmoor?

4. After resizing and trimming what MUST be done? I see talk about annealing and neck turning, is this required? Dimensions?

5. Anything else I am missing?

Thanks.

 

[Adam B]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

necking up is always easier, I made some out of a box of 308 lapua brass that I had and it was a real pain in the ass. I would try it with 30TC brass if I were to do it again

 

[mattsnuked]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

what did you trim it to? I did a couple with some old .308 brass and it wasn't a great time.

 

[Adam B]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

I really dont remember

 

[*Nine]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

I'm interested in this as well. I just picked up a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel for my LR-308.

 

[*Nine]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

It seems from the research I've done today that people like to neck .243 cases up to 6.5mm

Other than that, I'm not too clear on exactly what die you need to neck up the case and form it for the Creedmoor.

 

[krlemas]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

I am also getting ready to build one and it seems that the 22/250 / 250 Savage case might work easier than the 243/308. It is only .008 shorter than the Creedmoor.

Ken

 

[One-Eyed Jack]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

Suggestion: Buy 50 factory rounds and reuse the brass.

 

[264shooter]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

Powder Valley has factory 120 Amax for $22.48 a box.

 

[MLC]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

If you can form them from 243 brass, have Hornady make you a hydraulic forming die.
You could trim to the appropriate length and form your own brass from Lapua, Winchester etc..

 

[*Nine]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MLC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you can form them from 243 brass, have Hornady make you a hydraulic forming die.
You could trim to the appropriate length and form your own brass from Lapua, Winchester etc.. </div></div>

Is that something that Hornady will do?

 

[mattsnuked]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: One-Eyed Jack</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Suggestion: Buy 50 factory rounds and reuse the brass. </div></div>

Thanks, but I'd rather have a lot more on hand.

 

[MLC]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

6mmBR article.

 

[mattsnuked]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

I resized used .308 Remington brass and it worked well but when trying new Winchester .243 brass last night every one I did pushed the shoulder into the case body ruining it. I even sized the .243 brass to .308 and then back down but no go.

Off to try some new .308 brass.

 

[krlemas]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: mattsnuked</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I resized used .308 Remington brass and it worked well but when trying new Winchester .243 brass last night every one I did pushed the shoulder into the case body ruining it. I even sized the .243 brass to .308 and then back down but no go.

Off to try some new .308 brass. </div></div>
I wonder if it would work if you annealed just the top shoulder area of the brass first?

 

[krlemas]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

I think you might be able to take a 260 rem die grind about.141,using a lathe would be better, off the bottom of the die so that you could could push the base to neck/shoulder distance down to match the Creedmoor then trim to length and fire form. By using the 260 die the shoulder angle would be the same as the brass so I think you would have less of a chance crushing the neck into the shoulder.You could also use a 308,243,7/08 die.

Ken

 

[MLC]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

Did you try 22/250 or 250/3000 brass?

 

[BobinNC]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

Although I don't know for sure, I suspect that successfully forming 6.5 Creedmoor brass from other cases may require a specialized case forming dies, such as made by RCBS.

The 6.5 Creedmoor is too new yet, and factory brass regularly available (before the current run on 6.5 Creedmoor brass), to have warranted the development of dedicated case form dies, yet.

RCBS develops case forming dies based need, and there are many case forming dies, for many obsolete, obscure and rare cartridges. They also develop dedicated case forming dies for easily obtainable brass, like #15565 308 Winchester from 30-06, for example.

I again suspect if 6.5 Creedmoor brass shortages becomes an issue, or there is a demand to form 6.5 Creedmoor from 243 or 308 Lapua brass dedicated case forming dies will appear from RCBS.

This is because forming 6.5 Creedmoor from 243, 7mm-08 or 308 brass, seems to be difficult if not impossible using the available 6.5 Creedmoor FL dies.

 

[crashandburn]

Re: Revisiting 6.5 Creedmoor brass forming

Took. .308 winchester used fired brass, Neck sized in .308 die then trimmed to 1.910 (creedmoor trim length). Removed the expander ball from the creedmoor full length die and ran the .308 case through it. NOTE* lube well, (I use "One Shot").Replaced expander ball and ran the .308 case through it again. Seems to have worked very well. The neck is a little thicker so it should probably be trimmed down. As for the rest of the specs it was almost identical (a little under actually) to a fire formed Hornady case from my old DPMS. Thanks for the idea Matt. As long as it chambers fine It should work great.I have about 1k rounds of used .308 brass (4x's fired) which should give me plenty of trigger time a cheaper cost. I plan on using reduced loads to fire form to the chamber and work up. Then full length resize to bring the case back down to final spec. I'll let you know how it goes.