What was the first brass you converted

[xman777]

Since I'm a young buck, my first conversion was 223 to 300 Blackout. I have tried many others since then because I enjoyed the process so much.

[ratboy]

357 to 256 win mag. took a lot of reading and about a dozen cases before i got the hang of it.
2nd was 22 jet
now i look for contender barrels in odd calibers for an excuse to make cases

[Harry O]

Like the first post on this thread, I tried to convert 30-30 cases to .22 Savage Hi-Power cases, none to successfully. I was 16 or 17 at the time. I had nothing special other than a full length .22 Savage die. Lots of crumpled cases, but I got enough to shoot the gun a while.

Later, I got involved with the 41 Long Colt. This was before Starline and good cases were very expensive. I tried 30-30 cases and 7.62x39 cases, but finally made up some dies to convert a .38 Special case. It worked, was easy, and I never had a failure, but several people cautioned me that I was going to lose my hand someday.

After that, there was 9.5x57 Mannlicher-Schoenauer cases. I tried 8x57 Mauser cases, 30-06 cases, and finally found .35 Whelen cases. That last one worked perfectly.

I bought a wildcat benchrest Ruger #3 from a widow. It had a custom 26" long heavy barrel and was chambered in a reformed 30-40 Krag case. It was necked down to 7mm then blown out in an Ackley-Improved style. The internal capacity of the case is just about identical to a .280 Remington.

Right now, I am forming .32 Long Colt cases from .32 S&W Long cases. This consists of taking 0.335" diameter cases and squeezing them down to 0.315". Not hard, but it does take some time.

[Mk42gunner]

My first case conversion was making 7.65x53 Argentine Mauser from once fired .30-06 cases. A set of Lyman full length dies, a compact tubing cutter and a Lee 7.65mm trimmer and I was set (I thought). I didn't know enough to check for thick necks, or how to trim them if necessary.

First rifle I personally built for a wildcat was a 98 Mauser in 6mmx300WSM. Starting out with 270 WSM brass is much easier. A cobbled set of dies that started out as 243 Win allowed loading and neck sizing the first loads. After I found a set of Redding dies for the 243 WSSM loading became a piece of cake.

Orphan loading dies from gunshows that can be modified cheaply are a definite asset to this endeavor.

Robert

[Geezer in NH]

Thirty Herret, total pain sold the barrel as soon as a 30/30 barrel was available

[Texas Tinker]

7mm TCU from .223

A big step for me at the time (I think I was about 19 y.o.) I went VERY carefully with each step, had excellent results.

[Texas Tinker]

7mm TCU from .223

A big step for me at the time (I think I was about 19 y.o.) I went VERY carefully with each step, had excellent results.

[ballistim]

Thirty Herret, total pain sold the barrel as soon as a 30/30 barrel was available

Cast Boolits are all I shoot nowadays & have considered having mine chambered to leave the entire 30-30 neck as suggested by Mike Bellm for two reasons, one is to allow cast boolits to be seated out further with more of the boolit held by the case neck and more powder capacity, and the other would be eliminating cutting the neck thereby eliminating one step of the process. My 30 Herrett is my second favorite T/C bbl next to my Bellm chambered .357 Maximum and both are very accurate. Years ago at the Rio Salado Sportsman club in AZ getting ready for deer season I was sighting the Herrett next to a few older gentleman each one sighting in a .243 Winchester, and they asked me to help them using my spotting scope. Pulling targets at 100yds. they admired their minute-of-grapefruit groups when one remembered me shooting the T/C and looked at my 1.25" group. He looked at his friend and then back to me and said, "Wow-reach out and touch something!", it was kind of cool after working out my loads and I really felt confident in both the gun and the load.

Tim

[greywuuf]

not the first but the most interesting was 7.62 Nato to .45 acp. Takes a good deal of inside reaming but Man what a load you can develop in them ( kinda tough on the old 1911 but works a treat in the converted Turk mauser I built)

[sawzall]

8mm French Ordnance from 32-20 and then 45 Raptor from 30-06.

[Lee S. Forsberg]

A very long time ago 223 to 17x223.

[gbehrman]

22 Niedner Magnum from 30-30. Later learned to use 25-35, much easier

[Steve77]

The only conversion for me would be 5.56/.223 into 300 blk. Unless you count the occasional 30/06 to .270 or vis a versa.

[Old Coot]

270 Weatherby from 300 H&H brass.

[WRideout]

My first case conversion was making 7.65x53 Argentine Mauser from once fired .30-06 cases. A set of Lyman full length dies, a compact tubing cutter and a Lee 7.65mm trimmer and I was set (I thought). I didn't know enough to check for thick necks, or how to trim them if necessary.

Robert

When I was a youngster hanging out at the gunshop, the owner let me do the same conversion for an Argy Mauser I bought from him. I used the same load of IMR 3031 that was safe in the Norma 7.65 brass, but quickly saw high pressure signs. At the time I thought it was just the thickness of the case reducing inside volume, but now I think I had thicker necks than factory dimensions, which held the bullets really tight.

Wayne

[aap2]

.310 cadet from 25-20. I did not have dies for .310 Cadet so I thinned the rim thickness in a drill press on the 25-20 cases until the breechblock would close, fireform with Unique and cornmeal then trim to length. Used a Lyman mould designed for some boolit that was a thumb-press fit in the case. Worked well.

[TheCelt]

isn't difficult to do but I convert .308 Win to .338-08 (.338 Federal) cause I can't find .338 Fed brass commercially.

[Bob Busetti]

38/56 from 45/70, 22R2 Lovell from 25/20 ss, 219 Zipper from 30/30, 25/35.

[Swede44mag]

My first was from 38 special to .380 I wanted to shoot a .380 charge in my Haws western .357 single action.
I did this as an experiment to shoot rabbits with. I was about 18 at the time.
Since I have made 22-250 from 30-06/308 brass and 243 from 30-06/308 brass using a RCBS form die set with a reamer included for the neck thickness.
What I didn't know at the time was they needed to be annealed so I had neck/shoulder splits and case separation.
I still have the RCBS reform dies may try again some day.

[kutil]

223/30 carb. blanc