forming 7.62x39 brass ?

[nekshot]

I have a old reloading manual that said they used 6.5x54 brass to make 7.62x39, and they really liked the outcome. I have tried everything I know (very limited) and I keep collapsing the body. Has anyone tried this? And yes I can buy brass nowadays but using up extra stuff is what its all about.

[john hayslip]

You can make them from 220 Swift and they'll work in MOST rifles. I expect your problem is doing it with the decapping rod in . If so, take it out and size the untrimmed case. Cut it off a little long and trim to length. If you can find a tapered decapping rod that will start in the mouth of the 6.5 case that will help and you can decap at the same time. It might help to anneal the shoulder and neck of the 6.5 also. Get a five gallon bucket and fill it about half way up with water. Take a propane torch and hold case by base rotating the neck and shoulders in the BLUE flame (if the small white inner core just off the tip touchs the brass you'll get a dead soft copper-colored spot and a ruined case)until the case gets too hot to hold and just drop it in the water. Steel anneals by slow cooling - brass by rapid cooling - doesn't make a lot of sense but that's the way it is.

The above should solve your problem.
Good luck.

[45 2.1]

I have a old reloading manual that said they used 6.5x54 brass to make 7.62x39, and they really liked the outcome. I have tried everything I know (very limited) and I keep collapsing the body. Has anyone tried this? And yes I can buy brass nowadays but using up extra stuff is what its all about.

Yes, they work OK, but the rims are thin and beat up quickly. Several of us did this when you could hardly find boxer primed brass (other than the LC military stuff) and also used the old 7.35 Terni to reform also. Modern boxer primed brass is superior to reformed now.

[nekshot]

Drop it in water!! Thats what I was not doing! I was bringing to cherry ready and allowing to cool slowly. I am sure glad I am a part of something much bigger than myself! Thanks for the input.

[KYCaster]

Drop it in water!! Thats what I was not doing! I was bringing to cherry ready and allowing to cool slowly. I am sure glad I am a part of something much bigger than myself! Thanks for the input.


CHERRY RED IS TOO HOT!!! Drop it as soon as you see the color start to change.

The body is collapsing because you're getting the brass too soft.

Jerry

[swheeler]

You can make them from 220 Swift and they'll work in MOST rifles. I expect your problem is doing it with the decapping rod in . If so, take it out and size the untrimmed case. Cut it off a little long and trim to length. If you can find a tapered decapping rod that will start in the mouth of the 6.5 case that will help and you can decap at the same time. It might help to anneal the shoulder and neck of the 6.5 also. Get a five gallon bucket and fill it about half way up with water. Take a propane torch and hold case by base rotating the neck and shoulders in the BLUE flame (if the small white inner core just off the tip touchs the brass you'll get a dead soft copper-colored spot and a ruined case)until the case gets too hot to hold and just drop it in the water. Steel anneals by slow cooling - brass by rapid cooling - doesn't make a lot of sense but that's the way it is.

The above should solve your problem.
Good luck.

I don't think that is correct, the brass will anneal cooling slowly just as it will by dropping into water. The reason you drop into water is to stop the heat from transfering to the head/web portion and annealing it too, which will ruin the brass.

[nanuk]

up here, 6.5x54 brass is around $1.00 each, and 7.62x39 LOADED ammo is about $0.25 each...

[leadman]

Cherry red is way too hot. I use Templaq heat paint to anneal brass now after ruining some 7.62 X 38R brass. I mark the shoulder with the paint and when it melts tip the brass over in the pan of water it is sitting in. The stick is 450 degrees.

[Larry Gibson]

up here, 6.5x54 brass is around $1.00 each, and 7.62x39 LOADED ammo is about $0.25 each...

+1.

Suggest you sell the 6.5x54 to someone who needs it and simply buy some 7.62x39. You'll probably get 2-4 times as much brass pluss you'll get the fun of emptying it for reloading. Much better and a lot more pleasant than forming cases!

Larry Gibson

[Ed in North Texas]

I don't think that is correct, the brass will anneal cooling slowly just as it will by dropping into water. The reason you drop into water is to stop the heat from transfering to the head/web portion and annealing it too, which will ruin the brass.

Exactly.

[swheeler]

Exactly.

These cyber myths need to be quelled before the become cyber gospel! On this very site I've read that brass anneals with quenching, lead off gases at 800*F, and Ackley improved chambers can be reamed without setting the barrel back;0 what next?