6.5x55 brass forming?

[mkj4him]

Not sure this is the right place, but here goes.
I was given a some 6mm Remington brass by my uncle. I don't have that caliber rifle but I do have a Swedish 6.5x55 rifle that I reload for and it shoots excellent for a 1903 rifle. After looking at the 6mm brass I seems to be "pretty" close to the Swede cases. I had the thought of trying to run the 6mm case up into my Swede dies and form it into a Swede. Has anyone had any experience with this particular task, or do you think I'm headed for trouble. I have plenty of Swede cases, I was just thinking is all.

Thanks.

[frkelly74]

I think it will work, It is not an exact match at the head diameter and brass life may be short. PM sent

[mkj4him]

Thanks. That's what I was thinking. I noticed the head area was a bit smaller. I guess It will just stretch more. Should I be worried about the reformed cases rupturing during firing you think?

[nanuk]

it should fireform well

from my measurements, you should be able to size down the brass just so it is a crush fit, put a small width of tape at the rear to center the base (about 1/8" wide and enough so it just fits in the chamber.

fireform with proper techniques using cornmeal, and then trim to length, as you determine you need.

[HARRYMPOPE]

I tried LC cases formed to 6.5 x 55 and it didn't work well for me.It swelled unevenly.Mine was over .010 Larger.You would be better selling the 6mm and buying new Swede brass IMHO.

George

[44man]

Long ago I formed 6.5 from new 30-06 brass. I used 250-3000 dies to start. Head size is a little off but they shot well enough. 6.5X55 brass could not be found.
I annealed, formed, trimmed, turned and reamed, annealed again and fire formed.
The bad thing was loaded rounds I left sit for a long time had the necks split. :veryconfu

[Bret4207]

Were it me, I'd trade the 6mm brass off for 6.5x55. 6mm brass is harder to find than 6.5 these days.

[jimwill48]

The Cartridge Conversion book says to use .270 brass and just resize in a FL 6.5x55 resizing die and trim to length. I tried this with bad results. The shoulders are not repositioned far enough back to chamber. The one case I was able to convert was the 7.65 Argentine. The case neck is a little short and it chambers a bit hard but does work. With 6.5x55 brass being available think I would just buy new brass and be done with it..

[blackthorn]

My Cartridge Conversion book by George C Nonte Jr. (copywrite 1961 and 1967) says to use 30-06. Trim to 2.157, run into 250/3000 die until the bolt will close, expand neck to .263 and fire form. Use 263 bullets.

[Chicken Thief]

And i have 600+ cases once fired Norma collecting dust until i get them to the scrapyard!
If you arrange with a FFL i can ship to you (stupid war export laws!!!)

[Ben]

I'm with George & Bret4207, ........they speak with wisdom.

Ben

[geargnasher]

Nanuk has the right advice. You fireform the cases with a narrow strip of Scotch tape wrapped around the case head juse forward of the extractor groove. Experiment with tape type/brand/thickness until you get a snug fit in the chamber (centered). The case will swell evenly that way. Keep your loads to sane pressures and don't set the shoulder back any more during normal resizing and the cases will last a while. Ballooning the brass like this tends to weaken the case head a bit and make it super-sensitive to any further stretching, so watch for incipient case head separationg signs.

Gear

[Larry Gibson]

Were it me, I'd trade the 6mm brass off for 6.5x55. 6mm brass is harder to find than 6.5 these days.

+1.

While I've fire formed lots of 6.5 Swede cases in the past 6.5 Swede is pretty easy to come by these days where 6mm isn't. I'd bet you could sell/trade the 6mm cases on the sell/trade forum very quickly. Mailing them off and getting factory 6.5 Swede cases in return will be a lot easier than forming the 6.5 from the 6mm.

Larry Gibson

[MT Gianni]

You need more posts to post in the swap and sell forum but I would sell them and get proper replacements.

[mkj4him]

+1.

While I've fire formed lots of 6.5 Swede cases in the past 6.5 Swede is pretty easy to come by these days where 6mm isn't. I'd bet you could sell/trade the 6mm cases on the sell/trade forum very quickly. Mailing them off and getting factory 6.5 Swede cases in return will be a lot easier than forming the 6.5 from the 6mm.

Larry Gibson

I may do that. I really have plenty of 6.5 brass already, but more wouldn't hurt. If I could get my uncle to give me his 6mm rifle, then this would be a non issue. Then I'd be buying 6mm dies.

I guess I was just thinking about trying something new is all. No real need to form brass from one to the other, other than wanting to learn how to do it. I already form 357 Sig cases from 40 SW, but that is so easy, I don't really count it in the equation.

Can someone point me to the thread link for "proper fire forming method?" I've never done that and figure it might be worth a read. Thanks.

[fredj338]

As noted, case head size is diff so it won't work very well but you may get them to go bang.

[Chicken Thief]

Fireforming is easy!

1) Anneal parent case at shoulder neck level
2) Add 15-20 grains of fast pistol powder
3) Fill the case with cream of wheat/corase corn meal
4) Plug with a dullop of wax
5) Fire.

Here it is 348 Win to 12,7x44R Swedish Remington

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/127x44fireforming1.jpg
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm153/Chickenthief/Skydning/127x44fireforming2.jpg

[Moondawg]

Been there and done that with 270 brass. Yea it worked, but not very well. The last time I looked, 6.5 Swede brass was easy to find, and a whole lot less trouble. Not to mention it works a lot better. Why waste your time trying to reform brass, that will only do a medicore job.

[nanuk]

I received a box of x55 brass from the Thief

fine stuff, and the price was right!

again, Thanks ChickenThief