Beaver Scout
03-10-2016, 02:38 AM
I decided that I could make some 6.5CM brass from very readily available LC 7.62 brass. I bought some once fired Hornady 6.5CM brass and am very disappointed in it, from my searches my issues seem to be the same as many others. I think some of this brass was shot out of something with a loose chamber as well. From everything I have read it seems the primer pockets are a bit on the loose side after a few firings even with moderate loads. I have read a lot of people using 22-250 brass and just fire forming to 6.5CM but I found out doing this leaves you with a 0.030" short neck. I bought some LC for $.14/ea that was already swaged, tumbled, and annealed. I just happened to have an extra die and a .310 bushing laying around (have no idea why). I lubed up the casing, ran it through the 308 FL bushing die with the .310 bushing and pulled it out and put it in my 6.5CM FL bushing die with a .288 bushing (the die wasn't screwed all the way down, about 2 turns from caming over). I then screwed the die all the way down to where the press would cam over and pulled out a formed 6.5CM from LC 7.62. I trimmed the case down but not to final length as I thought I had a .264 expander but don't. I'm waiting on it to show up so I can do final work. I need to turn the neck down since the now formed 6.5CM neck is .018" and I want to turn them down to .013-.014" then I'll trim to final length and shoot them.
The brass seems a bit heavier (which I'll weigh once final trimming) so I will start out on the lower side of the data so I don't end up with pressure issues, I suspect I'll lose about 2gr of volume. I will end up with better brass and something that should last quite a while. Here are a few pictures, not final ones as I need to get my expander yet to turn the neck and final trim.
The first picture is the once fired, about 3/4 of the 100 I bought look like that. The second picture is original LC 7.62, formed (not finished) 6.5CM and a once fired 6.5CM.
The brass seems a bit heavier (which I'll weigh once final trimming) so I will start out on the lower side of the data so I don't end up with pressure issues, I suspect I'll lose about 2gr of volume. I will end up with better brass and something that should last quite a while. Here are a few pictures, not final ones as I need to get my expander yet to turn the neck and final trim.
The first picture is the once fired, about 3/4 of the 100 I bought look like that. The second picture is original LC 7.62, formed (not finished) 6.5CM and a once fired 6.5CM.