Forming .256 win. Mag brass

[donald duck]

I have recently formed 200 .357 cases to .256 Win. Mag. Starline Brass seems to be better than Remington. First lube cases inside and out with Shaler Rislone, then use a .30 Mauser sizer die, then into a .256 Win. Mag. sizer die. Lost a few cases of Rem, but none from Starline. All cases were new unfired brass.

[GRUMPA]

When I do those I anneal them lightly first, then just form with the 256 Win mag die pretty much skipping over the 30Mauser die. Thing I found out about those is when using 357Mag brass the cases gets about .025-.030 under spec length.

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http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=95848&d=1391708635

If you use 360DW brass a person would be much better off, everything is the same except it has a beefier web. Gives a person lots of wiggle room for the length.

[Blackwater]

I've done the same as Grumpa, with the same results. I also anneal after the sizing of .357's, too. Seemed to make the brass last a good bit longer. Got too many cracked necks on first to third firings if I didn't. It's a really neat caliber, and probably the best thing going for bobcat, fox and coyote hunters. Nice and powerful, but not too hard on the ears as the .22's can be, and little recoil. Sure was a fun gun to shoot in my contender with the 10" oct. barrel! And flat shooting as well out to as far as I'd ever get a chance to shoot at a varmint, too. Can't really beat it. I especially liked the 75 gr. Speer FSP's. I don't think I'd be afraid to shoot a deer with that bullet, if it's standing and doesn't know it's being scoped out. Easy to place a good shot like that. But the deer in my neck of the woods rarely reach 200 lbs, too, though, so that's a factor as well. Darn good caliber, IMO.

[cuzinbruce]

First case I tried reforming. Went OK. I do have the case forming dies and a set of loading dies. Came with the gun. I don't remember them coming out shorter than spec. I trimmed them with a file trim die as I recall. Lubed with straight lanolin, just a bit on my finger tips. I haven't annealed them but have only loaded them a couple times. Cases were just some fired ones I had on hand. Gun is a Marlin Levermatic. Pretty neat gun. I wish Ruger would make the 77/357 in this caliber. It would only take a barrel as far as I can see.

[GRUMPA]

First case I tried reforming. Went OK. I do have the case forming dies and a set of loading dies. Came with the gun. I don't remember them coming out shorter than spec. I trimmed them with a file trim die as I recall. Lubed with straight lanolin, just a bit on my finger tips. I haven't annealed them but have only loaded them a couple times. Cases were just some fired ones I had on hand. Gun is a Marlin Levermatic. Pretty neat gun. I wish Ruger would make the 77/357 in this caliber. It would only take a barrel as far as I can see.

Keep in mind that when folks do things for themselves......things are different. When a person does things for other people a person has to think of it as if there's a problem, discrepancy of any kind......your going to know about it.

What procedures a person takes to make a final product varies, and sometimes dramatically. It's the end result that matters, next to the final price, which as time goes by seems to be a major factor.

People in general are happy with what they pay for, but there are times where a person gets something and will pick it apart looking for something to gripe about and then the fun begins.

The length of the case is as it is on the drawing, when I do things it's to spec whenever possible and I've always done things that way. When things aren't to spec I make it known the best way possible. With a length of 1.281 -.020 the final length of the finished conversion is at 1.250-1.255 avg. Things like that must be pointed out to folks, sometimes they're picky, sometimes they aren't, but that decision is there's and not mine. A lot of folks don't like working with brass that the OAL of the case is already under spec and want it either on the high or a little over so they themselves can trim to fit there own chamber.

[GRUMPA]

I got in some 360DW brass today, so I figure I would show the steps I take to do those. First I anneal them rather gently, and I mean just that.....GENTLY. Then I lube them up and run them through the 256Win Mag die, I have a gauge to hold the proper gauge dimension for those, then it's trimming to the PROPER trim length of 1.281.

The last 2 on the right.....that's using 357 mag brass and those are at 1.250. So take a close look at the 360DW converted and with the naked eye there's .030 difference in length.

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Using 357Mag brass is what I call a "DO-4" ( Do For Now) and if you want the proper length you have to use 360DW brass and trim to the proper length.

[MarkP]

I form 222 Rem brass into 256 Win just change the extractor in my T/C 256 WM bbl. Also form from 357 Mag brass similar procedure as Grumpa

[tward]

The last batch I formed I used Magtech 357 cases and they came out at 1.281". By the way I form the cases in hornady 256 dies annealing and using Lee case lube diluted with water. Tim:bigsmyl2:

[trooperdan]

I just got 300 .360DW cases to try, sure do love my Levermatic in .256! Also have one in .30 Carbine. Still looking for a M-1 Carbine chamber in .256, I think they were made. I have a Johnson M-1 Carbine in .22 Carbine (5.56 Spitfire) that is also much fun.

[hornetman]

I just bought a pristine Contender in .256 complete with Leupold scope, RCBS dies, a full Box of Factory Win Ammo and 300 pieces of new unprimed factory brass. I'm sure that's a lifetime supply , but I decided to form some anyway. I ran some un-plated once fired .357 Federal and Winchester brass into a carbide .30 Mauser die and then into the .256 sizing die-lightly lubed with Imperial wax. The formed cases were not too short. The factory brass measured 1.281-the formed Federal brass was 1.293 and the Winchester was 1.294. Neck thickness was .003 thinner than the virgin factory brass. Didn't try any other .357's since that was the only unplated brass I had. Think I'll use my homemade stuff and save the factories which are almost impossible to find I'm told.

[cuzinbruce]

Cheaper Than Dirt seems to have new Jamisons in stock. I have used Jamison in other calibers and they were fine. My homemades work fine. The old Winchesters I have, (new brass) collapse at the shoulder when I try to seat a bullet. Haven't figured that one out.

[nvreloader]

I make my 256 cases from 223, FF sized to fit the shoulder length and as long as neck possible for the chamber,
both in my Ruger Hawkeye and TC 10" bbls.

Work just fine, and no shortage of cases.

Tia,
Don

[jhalcott]

I used '223/5,56 cases to make .256win mag cases. They were range pickup brass that was new once fired. I watched the shooter open the boxes. I had to change the extractor of my 14" contender. I did ruin a few cases, but since they were FREE, I did not care. I used the seater die first. Then the regular size die. I now use a form/trim die to start.