30-06 brass to make 8mm Mauser

[303carbine]

It's easy to do, one pass through the 8mm fl die and trim, that's it.

[Beagle333]

And that's it? 'Sounds easy. I been buying mine already converted. I figured there was some magic in it somewhere.

[Stewbaby]

Do you mess with annealing? I haven't yet but have only reloaded my resized '06 to 8mm 3x.

I use a trim die for the initial reshaping. Just what I like to do.

[303carbine]

And that's it? 'Sounds easy. I been buying mine already converted. I figured there was some magic in it somewhere.

Yes, it's that easy, you can also adjust the die so you can form the brass a bit longer in case your rifle needs a bit "longer" length brass.

[runfiverun]

wanna see easy?
get a dillion size trim machine, and their 8 mauser die.
put case in shell holder and press handle.
8 mauser case comes out ready to champher and load.
anneal afterwards.

[bruce drake]

One of the main reasons why I like the LEE case trimming pilots is that I can trim the brass while standing over the waste bin so I don't get brass shavings all over my shop.

Do you mess with annealing? I haven't yet but have only reloaded my resized '06 to 8mm 3x.

I use a trim die for the initial reshaping. Just what I like to do.

[303carbine]

I use a small copper tube cutter to get the length close, then size in the 8x57 die.
A small trim and chamfer after and you're done. That is the method I use when I don't have 8x57 brass.
I usually anneal all cases after as well after reforming.

[runfiverun]

hook the vacuum up and zoop done.
I make 7.65 argie brass by running 0-6 brass into the full length LEE die with the deprimer rod pulled.
then scoot it up into the 308 die to get the length, then full length size them in the rcbs die.
I make 7.7 jap brass by just about the same method.

the little shop vac is noisy though.

[bruce drake]

And such a pain to pull off the shelf and set-up everytime I want to trim a case (the shop-vac)

[fast ronnie]

I do anneal mine, before and after. You're moving a fair amount of brass.

[funnyjim014]

Only problem I can see is headstamp. That's y I use mill surp brass and color code with sharpie every reload

[paul edward]

Annealing will make sizing easier and improve gas seal when fired.

Since 1962 I have used range pick up 30/06 to make 7x57, 8x57, 7.7x58, 7.65x53 and 7.62x51.

[nvreloader]

One thing to watch or make sure of/for is neck donuts, since you are converting 06 brass,
you are using some of the shoulder angle for the neck,
which as a normal rule, the shoulder angle/brass with be thicker,
which needs to be removed for safety.

Check some reformed fired brass, not sized,
and see if the bullet will slide into the case freely,
if it hangs up, check the depth of the bullet against the case mouth etc.

That will tell you what you need to known,
and also check the case capacities against standard OEM formed cases,
you could also have less case capacity with the reformed brass -vs- OEM brass etc.

Tia,
Don

[WJP]

And that's it? 'Sounds easy. I been buying mine already converted. I figured there was some magic in it somewhere.

Yup, pretty easy for me as well. Just lube it good and run it through. Hopefully 303 saved you some money. This site is a wealth of information from the new guys to the old sharing information. That's the main reason I joined. Thanks castboolits.

[747 captain]

I use tubing cutter first then size a little at a time thru 8 mm fl sizing die. I anneal before and after sizing

[RogerDat]

I used this die to form and mark, then a harbor freight bench top (2 inch) chop saw with metal cutting blade to cut. Then back into the die for a bit of final file work to get exact length. Followed by 8mm size die as part of normal loading BUT with some extra lube for inside the case neck.
https://ads.midwayusa.com/product/77...SABEgL9V_D_BwE
Die is available a variety of places this was just top of google search.

Anneal then trim as normal.
I have not tried anneal before but am going to. As others noted it can be a stiff piece of brass being worked and I think anneal before rather than only when finished would help.

[fatelk]

I've gotten lazy when trimming that much brass. I set my dial calipers to the correct length and scribe a line around the neck where I want to trim to, then take it to the bench grinder and use the coarse wheel to grind it down close to the line. It's really fast, takes just a few seconds. The I use the Lee trimmer in a cordless drill to finish the last little bit of trimming.

[Eddie2002]

I run the 30-06 brass through a mini metal lathe trimming it to length then resize it to 7.7x58 for my Arisakas. Takes about 30 seconds to set a piece of brass up in the chuck and trim to length.

[charles1990]

Must be cause it's fun ? Privi brass is great and has correct headstamp. An 8x57 made from a case headstamped 30-06 WILL chamber in an 06' ---- KA BOOOOM !

[fatelk]

I don’t really consider that for myself, but maybe I should for others. I have 8mm brass with all kinds of headstamps. I identify ammo generally by sight, not headstamp. I would no more mistake an 8mm round for 30-06 as I would a 45 for a 9mm.

A long time ago for a bit of a joke I gave a friend a box of .243 hunting ammo for a birthday gift. They were reformed from a wide variety of calibers and each had a different head stamp. His dad got upset and told him to throw them away. I assured him they were safe to shoot but he would have none of it. After he explained I saw his point. The extended family all hunted and had quite a variety of rifles. If my friend wasn’t careful, someone who didn’t know ammo by site like we do was bound to get ahold of a round or two and shove them in the wrong gun.

Sometimes I forget that not everyone can tell a piece of 9mm brass from .380 at a glance, in the dirt from 20 feet away!