What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
- Henry S. Haskins in “Meditations in Wall Street”
"Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rapidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end." ...Unknown
First conversion was .44 Special to .44 Russian.
Since then:
.30/06 (and a variety of range pick brass) to 7.65x53
.30/06 (and a variety of range pick brass) to 7x57
.30/06 (and a variety of range pick brass) to 7.7x58
7.65x53 to .308 Winchester
Split neck .44 Magnum to .44 Special
Guess it would be 348 Win to 10.4x42... then 45-100 to 8x58R, 24 ga Magtech to 577/450
If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.
Thomas Jefferson
Not sure if it counts as a conversion, but necking up 375 H&H for 458 Lott.
What I'd consider a real conversion was making 350 Rigby brass from 375 H&H. The belt has to be turned off, the rim cut down and the extractor groove cut deeper. Then the shoulder pushed back and trimmed to length. Hopefully the shoulder goes back far enough as it's 45 deg and tough to push back. If you don't get the shoulder back far enough, cases won't chamber and all the lathe work is for naught.
It was a labor of love. Betram brass was over priced garbage, so I didn't have much of a choice. I did end up selling the rifle and getting a 350 rem mag. The novelty of wildcats and esoteric rounds has mostly warn off.
I was re-thinking and the 357 Herrett might have been the first round I converted, just don't recall if I got that before or after that first 458 lott.
Just started working on my first one, .223 to .300 Blackout. There will be others, I'm certain of it. This one is for a Christmas present for my wife, as I am building her a 10.5" Blackout.
30-06 formed/made into 9.5x57 Mannlicher Schoenauer , mostly from ranger brass spit out by deer hunters during firearm deer season sight-in sessions...
7mm TCU from .223
Wish I still had that barrel (and Contender) most accurate handgun I've owned so far.
25-35 or 30-30 to 219 zipper Ackley improved.
22 fireball to 17 mach IV. Easily done if you follow info from Varmint Al's site. Just a bunch of steps. I eventually built 600 cases from 223 all the way to 17 mach IV. Awful lot of dies from Redding in the process. Had to trim a bunch off in length and neck turn to a tight chamber. After fire forming, wipe down the brass, decap, prime, and reload. Brass barely moves when shooting. 4-5 times around through the batch with no more prep than that. .5 inch groups @ 100 yrds is easy off a bag, Varget is very nice in that package. Shooting out of a Bullberry barrel Encore.
Last edited by Merman66; 11-17-2015 at 11:49 PM. Reason: Rifle info
First was 220 Swift to 6mm Lee Navy -- the neck was slightly short but it shoots well
Then 30-06 to 256 Newton
Lately it is 25-06 to 6.5-06 Ackley
Barstooler
Beverage O' Choice -- Jeremiah Weed
Weapon O' Choice -- 30 mike mike gatlin gun
My first were:
577/450 Martini-Henry from BELL Basic brass.
11mm Mauser from BELL Basic brass.
8mm Kropatschek from 348 Winchester.
8mm Lebel from 348 Winchester.
My first was 444 Marlin to 375 JDJ
308 to 45 ACP shot shells.
My first and only was just a few weeks ago and it was 32-20 formed to 25-20. I have to admit, it was a dog that first night trying to do the learning curve. If it wasn't for Grampa and his advice, do t think I would have gotten to far. I still would rather buy it, when it's available but at least I know now I can make/form it it I have to. Thanks again Gramps.
All I have tried is a 100 LC to win 243 and it fixed the problem I was having with a big neck chamber . I was going to order some lupa for my old m 70 243 but thought it was worth a try . And it worked like a dream tightend up the groupes nicely and the brass is not sootie after firing. Next bought some 300 win fed mil brass and it was as good as the norma at a 1/3 of the price .so I have decided my new guns will all be able to use mil brass. Just picked up a savage 223 and am going to use ' you gussed it ' mil surplus .I love io play with my brass so I dont mind , heck I enjoy working my brass. I am looking at 308to a 308=35 but one at a time. I SHOULD HAVE STARTED WHEN I WAS YOUNGER got a lot of catching up to do.
401 wsl from 7.62 x 39
Looking for Ideal mold 419181 (44 Evans Long)
"Joined Dates" are deceiving if you factor-in "lurk" dates.
First brass I converted was .45-70 to .33 Winchester. Since I had no forming die set (and I'm cheap) I used my .40-65 die to get them down to that point. Then ran them into a borrowed .38-56 die, and finally into my .33 Win. die. Checked them for length, and trimmed. I still doo most of my reforming by using other dies I have, rather than spend big money on reforming sets.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |