What was the first brass you converted

[missionary5155]

Greetings
My first venture was in 1978 reducing caliber .308 Winchester down to the .243. Learned a lot about neck thickness and clearance in a chamber.
Mike in Peru

[flint45]

.30wcf TO .357 Herrett.

[Lever-man]

My first was 5.56 to 300 AAC., then 308 to 358 Win

[Cosmiceyes]

1st,. 308 win to 308 inch and a half


2nd. 30-30 to 30 Herrett

[edctexas]

30-30 to 30 Herret. I have made cookie cutters for pan lube out various cases. First anneal the case then expand or size down. Anneal after each process and lube, lube lube. Work and was fun.

Ed C

[snowtigger]

My first was 338 Win to 308 Norma. Still have that rifle. Later learned that 7mm Rem mag is a lot easier. The necks run a little thin, but 7mm brass is plentiful in my area. I make 280 rem brass from 270 Winchester. Even made some from '06. Used to make 350 Rem mag from something, can't remember what. No matter, brass is now available. Made 300 H&H from 375H&H. Daughter got rid of that husband, so don't make that any more.

[Engineer1911]

223 to 222 for a TC Super 14, next was 30-30 to 30 Herrett. Both were deadly on prairie dogs in the 1980's. Oh those were the days!!

[rintinglen]

Back in 1984 my best pal Rick bought a French 1935 A. Knowing that I was a hard core (or hard-headed) reloader, he enlisted my help in making brass. After measuring his one cartridge, I went to my 4th edition of cartridges of the world, and discovered we needed a rimless 32 S&W Long case which we did not have. But since I had a bunch of old Korean war vintage 30 Carbine brass, we decided to make do. The 30 carbine cases measures (supposedly).3548 at the head which was too big. to reduce them to size, we drilled a hole in a piece of half inch steel using a 21/64th's drill and then polished the holes out by hand, using 220, 320, 400 and finally 600 grit sand paper wrapped around a piece of 5/32nd dowel rod. After lubing the cases with STP Oil treatment, we drove them through are sizer using a 5/32 flat punch and a hammer. Then we trimmed to length using my old Forster trimmer.

A wicked problem arose.
The inside wall thickness was so great we couldn't seat a boolit that would chamber, so we had to drive all the cases back into our "sizer" and ream them, one at a time with a custom reamer that he dug up. I believe it was a 5/32 reamer that he stoned down to size. We cleaned up the extractor grooves and the rims by chucking the cases in a drill and using a triangular file. However, once reamed to a depth of about a quarter inch, we were able to cobble together 50 cartridges using RCBS 32ACP dies, Lyman 84 grain boolits, (I think they were 313-249's, but I'm not sure. We used Unique, but I don't recall the load.
I do recall we spent the best part of two weekends nearly a month apart making those darned cases.

[Point-Man]

First was 270 to 7.7 Jap- 30-06 to 8x57 and 8x50 lebel to .41Swiss .

[tndrfttom]

It was either 7.62 Nato to 7.92x33mm or .348 Winchester to 8mm Lebel.

The 7.92 Kurz was done for a friend that had an MP44. (I made him 1,000 rounds and he gave me a very nice M1903A3 for my efforts). Reaming the necks by hand on a thousand pieces of GI brass was a chore!

[Electric88]

223 to 300 blackout. I started simple

[jrap]

8mm mauser from 30-06. probably the simplest conversion out there. Just run it through an 8mm sizer and trim

[james23]

35 remington to 6.5 Japanese

[kutil]

9x19 - 7,65 MAS
9x19 - 8 Roth Steyr 07
38 Special - 9x19 Blanc
38 Special - 8 Rast Gasser
7x64 - 8x57 Blanc
308 - 8x33
308 - 8x33 Blanc

[kjorgy]

My first was 45-70 t0 38-56 3 steps
1. Anneal case
2. Resize in 40-65 die
3. Resize in 38-56
4. Trim to correct length 2.10" case length

[dryflash3]

308 to 300 Savage, learned about neck thickness from that.

30-30 to 7-30 Waters.
223 to 300 blk.

[cliff55]

6.5x57 to 9.3x57
would have been easy if I could have found some 8x57.

[jrap]

I also tried 6.5 jap from 35 rem but it collapsed into itself

[Steve E]

My first was 444 Marlin to 309 JDJ.

Steve........

[AllanD]

The first ones I ever did were converting military 30-06 cases own to 25-06, before I discovered that 270 case made it all easier...

Later on my brother bought a rem700 varmint rifle in 6mm Rem which came with an RCBS case conversion die set
and a bag of 7x57 brass

I stubbornly worked through all that brass t have them all split necks or shoulders when fired... then said something unorintable
and bought virgin 6mm rem brass...

Loaded up all that 6mm brass with 75grain HP varmint bullets only to discover that when seated out 0.010" short of the rifling that they were 1/4" too long to fit in the magazine...

I still plan on owning a rem varminter in 6mm but I'm building the damned thing on a long action....

[Chris24]

I think it was .40S&W to 357 Sig. I know it's not recommended, but I had some boxer primed steel cases and did it on a whim. It worked, and I probably had the only steel cased 357 Sig in existence! They worked well.

Now I just use once fired 357 Sig brass. Since then, I've reformed .223 to .300 AAC, among others.

[NavyVet1959]

I think it was .40S&W to 357 Sig. I know it's not recommended, but I had some boxer primed steel cases and did it on a whim. It worked, and I probably had the only steel cased 357 Sig in existence! They worked well.

Now I just use once fired 357 Sig brass. Since then, I've reformed .223 to .300 AAC, among others.

I've reformed steel .223 to .300 AAC before, just to see if it could be done.

[Ohio3Wheels]

First was 30/06 to 6.5mmx06, I too learned it was easier with 270 or neck expand 25/06
then came 30/30 to 357 Herret, then 223 to both 7mmTCU and 6.5mmTCU and lastly so far 45-70 to 40-65, but I buy Starline 40-65 cases when I can.

Make smoke,
Curt

[357Wheelgunner]

My first was 221 Fireball cases to .17 cal. Mark V for a custom 14" Contender barrel. Made the sizing dies and a outside neck turner myself in the machine shop in college, bet you could not do that today with the teachers blessing! That was back in the early '70s and 17 cal was just starting up. A real hoot to shoot.

[Grapeshot]

The first cartridges I converted were .45 Colt to .45 Schofield for my new Schofield revolver. The next conversion was .45-70 Government to .45-60 WCF. Lately it has been 9mm Luger to 9mm Makarov and .303 British to .30-40 Krag.

[crashguy]

30-06 / .270 win to 8mm

[NavyVet1959]

Just acquired an old Arisaka Type 99 that had been sporterized, so it looks like I'm going to be converting some .30-06 to 7.7x58...

[obssd1958]

NavyVet1959,
Do a chamber cast first...
I bought a type99 that had a beautiful sporter stock on it, and I was excited to get it shooting, but had been told that it was possible that it had been converted over to a .30-06 - sort of. I did my first chamber cast on that rifle, and found that a previous owner had run a .30-06 reamer into the chamber. So now I had a .30-06 with a 7.7 bore.
No problem!! I cast my own boolits. I'll just cast 'em large enough for the bore, load 'em in '06 cases, and have a blast!!
Would have worked fine, but after all that work, when I went to the range, nothing happened when I pulled the trigger. I would get a "click", but no "bang"...
Turns out that the firing pin was broke off half an inch back. Before I could replace the bolt assembly (cost as much for the whole assembly as it did for just the firing pin), a friend offered me as much as I had paid for the whole rifle, for just the stock - I sold him the whole thing.

[mtnman31]

Not sure, I think my first conversion was 41 swiss from 8mm Lebel.

[NavyVet1959]

NavyVet1959,
Do a chamber cast first...
I bought a type99 that had a beautiful sporter stock on it, and I was excited to get it shooting, but had been told that it was possible that it had been converted over to a .30-06 - sort of. I did my first chamber cast on that rifle, and found that a previous owner had run a .30-06 reamer into the chamber. So now I had a .30-06 with a 7.7 bore.
No problem!! I cast my own boolits. I'll just cast 'em large enough for the bore, load 'em in '06 cases, and have a blast!!
Would have worked fine, but after all that work, when I went to the range, nothing happened when I pulled the trigger. I would get a "click", but no "bang"...
Turns out that the firing pin was broke off half an inch back. Before I could replace the bolt assembly (cost as much for the whole assembly as it did for just the firing pin), a friend offered me as much as I had paid for the whole rifle, for just the stock - I sold him the whole thing.

I had read that it was physically possible to chamber a 7.62x51 in a rifle chambered for .30-06 AND it will even fire as long as the rifle holds the 'rim' securely, so I was curious what would happen if I tried to chamber one in the Arisaka. Apparently the Arisaka's chamber is slightly smaller in diameter since even though it looks like it chambers, the bolt cannot be rotated to lock. So, that leads me to believe that it is still chambered in 7.7x58.

[obssd1958]

I had read that it was physically possible to chamber a 7.62x51 in a rifle chambered for .30-06 AND it will even for as long as the rifle holds the 'rim' securely, so I was curious what would happen if I tried to chamber one in the Arisaka. Apparently the Arisaka's chamber is slightly smaller in diameter since even though it looks like it chambers, the bolt cannot be rotated to lock. So, that leads me to believe that it is still chambered in 7.7x58.

Very cool! Good luck with the project!

[paul edward]

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

[craig61a]

Guess it would be 348 Win to 10.4x42... then 45-100 to 8x58R, 24 ga Magtech to 577/450

[paul h]

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.

[NavyVet1959]

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.

Hell, that's not "converting", that's nearly building from scratch! :)

[paul h]

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.

[yellowfin]

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.

[Tedly]

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...

[Texas Tinker]

7mm TCU from .223

Wish I still had that barrel (and Contender) most accurate handgun I've owned so far.

[douglasskid]

25-35 or 30-30 to 219 zipper Ackley improved.

[Merman66]

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.

[Barstooler]

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

[Xlntae]

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.

[221fireball]

My first was 444 Marlin to 375 JDJ

[Happyguy]

308 to 45 ACP shot shells.

[Hooker53]

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.

[toallmy]

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.

[maxreloader]

401 wsl from 7.62 x 39

[zuke]

Latest are 24ga to 577 Snyder

[marlinman93]

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.

[44magLeo]

I didn't read the whole thread but the first forming of cases came with a recent project. I've always wanted a 250 Savage. Buying a new rifle has become impossible, so I built one. Bought a savage Model 11 and screwed a 250 Savage barrel from midway into it.
Searched for weeks online and every local shop I could find and finally found a box of factory loads. Finding brass was even harder. I searched and found two options Necking up 22-250 or necking down 6.5 Creedmore.
Tried both. Works fine.
Leo

[minimax357]

7mm tcu from 223 very easy and first one going to try 357 herrett soon.

[Dakooz]

French 7.5 MAS from 6.5 X 55 swede. Easy to do. Only needed to neck size. I still have a bunch around here somewhere.

[earthquake]

.308 win to .44 Auto Mag
30-30 to 6.5mm Bullberry
30-30 to 30 Herrett

Casey

[tdoyka]

my first was the 270win from 30-06 brass.
second is the 20 vartarg from 221 rem fireball brass

[clodhopper]

My first was 7mmTCU from 5.56, that was my first cast boolit experience too.
Bought the lee 130 grain mold, and a lee lube and size kit. Back then it was a hammer die. The lube was 50/50 alox beeswax came with a flat bottom steel pan and cake cutter.

First load worked real good h322 POWder. What a rabbit hole I fell down!

Okay, okay clear the cobwebs away, my tip for you 35 Whelen fans, brass made from .270s finish a little longer than brass made from .30-'06. Having some brass to trim off after stretching the neck gives you such a nice square mouth, and cuts away any micro cracks that may of formed.

My method is, size the brass in RCBS 35 Whelen size die, which came provided with very nice tapered expander ball.
Then run .375 "M" expander into neck.
Then resize again with .35 Whelen die but a 7/8 washer is under the die lock ring.
The resulting bump in the neck makes it hard to close the bolt on fire forming. But forces the head tight against the bolt.
Case formed this way have a much longer life, and much better ignition reliability than cases formed with one trip through the size die.
Yes I used plenty of lube inside the neck.
I have not annealed before doing these steps, but probably will If I ever need any more cases.
My loss ratio due to split necks was 4-5% using .270 range pickup brass, and 3-4% using .30-'06 range brass. Gentile feeding would most likely reduce losses to near zero, so would an anneal.

[Bad Water Bill]

Lots of great info there sir

Thank you

[221fireball]

444marlin to 309 JDJ

[OeldeWolf]

270 to 7x57 for an 1855 ?Chilean. Then 30-06 to 7.65 Argy for a 1909 Argy.

[lobogunleather]

My first experience came with a .25-06 rifle. Having several thousand rounds of Frankford Arsenal .30-06 Match brass on hand I proceeded to take care of that need quickly and easily.

Later a nephew purchased a new .270. A couple of hundred '06 cases provided him with everything he needed to make .270 ammo.

About 20 years ago I found a pristine Winchester Model 43 in .218 Bee. Could not find any ammo or brass for it, but I did find some .25-20. Short learning curve resulted in a usable supply of brass for loading .218.

An old friend has his father's captured Japanese rifle, which was converted to 6.5-.257 Roberts. His ammo gets produced in my shop.

Another old friend persists in using a 8mm German Mauser that was converted to 8mm-06 years ago to allow its use with .30-06 brass (before European ammo was easily had in the US). He brings brass and beer over and we make it happen pretty easily.

When a .243 Winchester came my way I had hundreds of rounds of once-fired 7.62X51 (.308) on hand, so I converted a few hundred for use.

Most of it has been simply resizing or changing neck diameters. But a good case trimmer with neck reaming cutters has been needed more than once. I can't claim a 100% success rate, but I doubt that I ever lost more than 5% of the brass I started out with.

[7-30 Waters]

30-30 to 7-30 Waters
30-30 to 357 Herrett
30-30 to 25 Remington Rimmed
444 Marlin to 9.3x57 Mauser Rimmed

[AKbushman49]

7 X 57 to 6mm Remington
270 Win to 280 Remington
30-06 to 35 Whelen
30-30 to 7mm International Rimmed
bushman

[montanamike]

223-300 blackout. with the harbor freight chop saw. got tired of that really quick and went to a dillon 1500 trimmer

[tdoyka]

30-06 to 270
221 rem fireball - 20 vartarg

[Boolseye]

32-20 to 7.62 Nagant.
.223 to 300 AAC
9mm Luger to 9mm Mak.
All easy ones!

[marlin39a]

My first and only, 30/06 to 8x57.

[GONRA]

GONRA dimly remembers 6.5 Jap from 35 Remington (I think) with an Ideal hand die,
Dad's large basement vise. Wot a pain / mess.....
Then made 8mm Nambu from 35 Remington (I think) with my home made dies
in a Hollywood Senior press. That verked out OK.

[Bad Water Bill]

Welcome to our happy home.

Pull up your favorite chair and grab a mug of your favorite brew and enjoy.

[Greg_R]

First was 8mm from 30/06. Made a bit of 300 Whisp-R out of 357. 7.62 Tok from 223/5.56 and lots of 300 blk from 223/5.56. I use 308 to make 45acp shot shells.

Most recently I made 280 Remington from a bit of 270 that was given to me. Ran them through a 30/06 die then back down in a 280 die. Still need to fire form those. Hope they turn out well.

[clearcut]

First was 30-06 to 250-3000 I only got 1 to chamber, then 270 to 7.65 they work great, then 22-250 to 250-3000 easy, next 223 to 300 blk, They are all easy to do when I anneal them first.

CC

[BucolicBuffalo]

308 Win LC brass. Pre-annealed. To 358 Win. Simple matter of lubing well and running though the 358 Win die. End up just a bit short. But should lengthen with use.

[AZBronco]

30-30 t0 .41 mag. sh0tshell

[ironhead7544]

308 to 358 for a Winchester M88.

2nd: 357 Auto Mag from 308. This one is a lot of work.

[midnight]

My first was 338 Win Mag to 30-338. This is what we expected the 300 Win Mag to be, but it hardly counts cuz it's so easy. Next was 30-30 to 219 Don Wasp. Now that's a real conversion. It teaches you about most things that need to be done to a case.

Bob

[texasnative46]

.358WCF from 7.62NATO for my Sako FinnWolf, in 1970 when I was stationed in K-Town Germany.
(I bought the FinnWolf DIRT CHEAP from the Ramstein AFB Rod & Gun Club because they had NO ammo for it & for some unknown reason couldn't get any.)

yours, tex

[ibgp3]

first was .222 mag to 7x47
..then .221 to 7x37
..then .308 to .375 Automag (wildcat)
lately 6.5 creedmoor from
.....30-06 and derivatives
.....308 and derivatives
.....7x57 and derivatives.
and 6.5 creedmoor rimmed from
.....7x57 rimmed
.....444 Marlin
.....307 Winchester.

The time to solve a problem is before you have it.

184793

[map55b]

Here is what I remember in an quality in the order I've done them. doing#1 30 Remington to 25 Remington
#2 9mm Win Mag to 30 Mauser
#3 30-30 to 25-25
#4 348 Winchester to 10.4x38 (42mm) or 41 Swiss: I made mine a little long.
#5 257 Roberts for 30-06 GI blanks

[fjruple]

Here is a listing of the ones that I have done.
1- .30-06 M1909 blanks to 8mm Mauser
2- .30-06 to 7.65mm Mauser
3- .45 Schofield to .455 Webley Mark II
4.- 5.56mm NATO to 5.45x39mm Russian
5. 8x56Rmm Austrian to 7.62x54R Russian
These are just several that I have done.

--fjruple

[Trophy Tom]

I'm currently working on a handi rifle based. 17 Bumble Bee
It's a 218 bee casing with the shoulder set back. Then necked down to 17 cal. Then shortened.


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[longbow]

.30-06 to 7.65 Mauser... and I wish I had never sold it! I was under the illusion that .303 boolits were too rare. Maybe in "J" bullet form but not in cast boolits! I find myself with four .303's nowadays and watching over one for my son. Whoda thunk it? That 7.65 Argentine Mauser would have fit right in.

[myg30]

One and only was 32-20 to 25-20. Saving other brass for "future" endeavors !!
I love this forum, so much knowledge that all have shared makes shooting, casting and reloading a pleasure to enjoy.

Mike

[tankgunner59]

Only thing I've ever converted is .270 Winchester to a .30-06 Springfield. No problems.

[Johnny_V]

219 Zipper from 32 Winchester Special. Nary a problem....

[Texas by God]

In 1980 when the 7mm-08 came out my brother bought a Rem 788. He necked down some .308 and found the necks too thick because he couldn't open the bolt after firing without a wood block. I had a box of .243 loaded ammo so I just shot them in the 7mm-08 and out came good brass. We did the same with surplus 30-06 in a .35 Whelen Imp. Yes, we wore goggles. Best, Thomas.

[M-Tecs]

30/30 to 357 Herrett in 1975.

[Texas by God]

I've converted a lot of 30-06 to 25-06 and .308 to .358 recently. As easy as it gets. Best, Thomas.

[johnnysespresso]

I have converted both .223 Rem. and .222 mag. to 7mm TCU. Recently I have sorted Fed. Am. Eagle .223 brass for length and used the longest ones for 7mm TCU. Lest you think that was a waste of rare .222 Mag. brass, that was 25 years ago when it was available.

[Drm50]

It was forming 243 Win from 7.62Nato match brass, when I was in teens. Later as I accumulated
many rifles of different cals, I only formed brass that was obsolete and hard to get. I always
colored head of cartridge with a red marker if it was a reformed brass. I have never personally
seen a bad happening with a wrong cartridge in wrong gun. Did see 270s fired in 30/06s and
30/30s in 303sav by accident. Both cause problems but not damage.

[laveritt]

.270 to 25-06 when 25-06 brass was unobtainable.

[OlDeuce]

My first real challenge was forming 30-40 brass to 44-56WC ..........the easy way out for this task was .444 brass.....:-) ....

OL Deuce186313

[Moonie]

30-30 to 7-30 Waters for my first pistol, Thompson Center Contender. Isn't that what every one starts with?

[Desertbuck]

24ga to 577/450 last year

[Moleman-]

223 to 6x45 around 1990. Just a simple run through a 6x45 sizing die. Used Nickle cases so that they wouldn't get mixed up with 223 cases.

[bugs1961]

At 14, I had been reloading for a year for my .222 Rem. A friend's dad gave me a box of 500 mil 5.56mm brass so I went to work converting. Wish I had that Model 600 back!

That was 41 years ago.

[ibgp3]

186548
​444 Marlin to 6.5CMR

[Harter66]

186549
Just recently 308-358-45 Raptor

[Trophy Tom]

I will be converting 225 Win to
6.5 JDJ when I get some dies.


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[marshall623]

30-30 to 7-30 Waters for my first pistol, Thompson Center Contender. Isn't that what every one starts with?
Same here

[ga41]

30.30 to 35 Herrett

[modified5]

My first was .444 Marlin to 7mm L&L for my Contender pistol.
The second is .44r Marlin to .375 JDJ.
Much easier than the L&L. :D

[bigolsmokebomb]

Just converted my first pieces of brass today. I picked up a ruger american predator in 6.5 creedmoor and found out that you can reform 243 win to 6.5. Had a bunch of 243 win laying around from my dads rifle (he doesn't reload) and spent the past few hours converting and reloading for my first range trip out with it. Most of the cases would fit in the chamber and I just tossed the ones that wouldn't in the scrap bucket.

[Texas by God]

30-06 to .35 Whelen Imp. .243 to 7mm-08. I just fired milsurp 06 in the Whelen & questionable .243 reloads in the 7mm-08. I wore eye & ear protection and banged away!

[Gunners Mate]

Well I joined this forum for info on case forming and just finished my first endeavor in converting 7mm Rem Mag to 6.5 Rem Mag. Left to Right 6.5 Creedmore / 6.5 Rem Mag / 7mm Rem Mag




188472

[Gunners Mate]

If anyone would like a write up on the 7mm mag to 6.5 rem mag let me know

[texasnative46]

7.62x51 NATO cases to .358WCF about 40 plus years ago in BRD at the RAFB Rod & Gun Club.

yours, tex

[kmrra]

first were 30-06 to 6mm06

[Ithaca Gunner]

Way back when, it was .348 Winchester to .43 Spanish for a mint Argentine Rolling Block I had acquired.

[Greg S]

First time was easy, 8mm Rem Mag to 7mm STW. 4-5 years ago, 300 factory new 223 Winchester to 221 Fireball complete with turning necks. Now Lapua 221 is available. Worth the money.

[Norske]

7X57 or range-scrounged 6mm/244 Rem to 257 Roberts. Recently, it's been 308W to 358W.

[15meter]

First was 30-30 into short 38-55, couldn't tell the difference in accuracy between my homemade and Starline. I used a forgotten load of powder, toilet paper wad followed by grain dryer screenings with another toilet paper wad. Found out that holding the rifle vertically got you very nicely formed cases. Holding the rifle horizontal got you a case that was not fully blown out on one side. But I did make the backyard look like a confetti factory explosion.

Latest is 30-06 into .318 Westley Richards.

A bunch of different ones in between.

[Sur-shot]

In 1967 I bought my first 6.5x06 cat (Heart bbl, commercial Mauser action) and made my first brass that very night. I have owned at least one 6.5x06 from then until now. Geez, that is 50 years, time flies when having fun.
Ed

[GONRA]

Decades ago, "kid" GONRA made 6.5x50.5 mm Japanese brass from .35 Remington brass
with my boyhood Craftsman Lathe Model nr. 109.21270
and Lyman/Ideal 6.5x50.5 mm Japanese HAND die.
A real adventure in case forming!

Soon after, Norma began making the brass - HUGE deal for me!

[Newtire]

Not counting shortened shotgun rounds, a .32-20 from a .357 case.

[shafer44]

43 Egyptian from 11mm Beaumont lots and lots of trimming

[gwpercle]

7.5 Swiss from 284 Winchester.
Funny how back in the late 60's you couldn't find boxer primed 7.5 Swiss ammo , all the stuff was Berdan primed but the 284 Winchester was easy to find , boxer primed and a trip thru the sizer got you a reloadable case. Now 7.5 Swiss is common and the 284 Winchester the hard find !

[Lloyd Smale]

30 herrett back in the day and about the same time 257 roberts out of 757

[knuckleball]

44 Special from 44 Magnum.

[Soundguy]

8mm nambu from 30 Remington.

[Soundguy]

7.5 Swiss from 284 Winchester.
Funny how back in the late 60's you couldn't find boxer primed 7.5 Swiss ammo , all the stuff was Berdan primed but the 284 Winchester was easy to find , boxer primed and a trip thru the sizer got you a reloadable case. Now 7.5 Swiss is common and the 284 Winchester the hard find !

Same with my 8mm nambu from 30 REM, 8nambu is easier to find than 30rem now. Luckily 6.8spc is a child case from 30tem, and can be cut down to make 8nambu on the same forming die set.. You just have less scrap to throw away when trimming.

[Smk SHoe]

7mm TCU from .223 rem. For a TC contender. Was just learning how to reload so was nervous as heck. reading everything I could. Still have two boxes of that ammo loaded on the shelf. Got rid of the barrel 20 years ago.

[omgb]

I made .358 win from .308. Then 2 9/16 16 ga from 2 3/4 16 gauge

[eljefeoz]

Half a sackful of 30-06
made upto 7x57, 9.3x62
opened up .375 RUM to use with CB for .404J
.303Br to. 410
.300 WSSM to an Aussie wildcat .458 JCE

[leadhead]

357 max to 30 max
Denny

[whtsmoke]

219 Ackley Improved Zipper from 30 30 brass. Single shot 98 action with a douglas bull barrel, bought it from an estate sale.

[Jack Stanley]

.38 special to .30 Badger . Easy to do for a beginner .

Jack

[Tracy]

.30-06 to 8x57.

[sparky45]

Standard stuff; 223 ►300 BO; and 308 ►45 shotshell.

[frankenfab]

50AE>440 Cor-Bon

[jrmartin1964]

.30-'06 into 7.65x53mm, for an Argentine Model 1891 Carbine

[ravelode]

30-06 from 270 Win had just gotten th gunafter finding 36 .270 brass at the range

[CaptainCrossman]

45-70 to 33 Winchester

[bjmurata]

8X57 Mauser from 30-06 brass, pretty easy one to start with.

[dhenry132]

22 cheetah from 308 br

[The_Doctor]

Hi guys.

My first experience was forming 6.5 x 55 from 30 '06. A long time ago. Being inexperienced, I neglected to

check neck thickness after trimming and before loading. ( I thought those were a little tight to seat!!)

Went to the range and fired a single round from my AG42B, with unpleasant results, but the rifle and myself were unharmed.

The cartridge did spit out its primer due to excessive pressure, and gas went everywhere. With enthusiasm.

Lesson learned, and as I said, there was NO damage to that fine Swedish rifle!

Next I will be forming 25-35 Winchester from 30 - 30 brass, since I inherited my Grandfather's 94 SRC that he carried in the Northwest

Mounted Police, and I intend to shoot, just a little. Ammo up here in Kanada costs about 80.00 a box IF you can find it,

and brass cannot be imported for some stupid political reason. LOL

Just my .02!


The_Doctor

[omgb]

If I had a set of dies for that gun would you be interested?

[The_Doctor]

Hi, omgb! Thanks, I have loading dies - or were you suggesting that you have boolit molds?

In any case, I don't intend to shoot the 25 - 35 all that much; I'll buy 50 or 100 cast lead boolits

and that will last me the lifetime of the gun. Or myself, for that matter! Too many other calibers

to play with!

Cheers!

The_Doctor

[RedJackson]

LC NM 60 into 25-06

[artu44]

8x56 MS from 8X57JS and 7,65 argie from 6,5 swedish.

[Little Oak]

When I first purchased a S&W 25-5 (long before UK banned honest people from having pistols) it was very difficult to obtain 45 LC ammo or cases in UK but 44 mag was plentiful so I machined up an extra long expander and converted 44's to 45 LC. They worked fine with the light target loads I was mostly using but I didn't try any heavy loads in them.

[Duckhunter]

My first effort was converting 7.62x51 blanks to 6mm Remington. Interesting looking cartridge way back then with the false shoulder and military head stamp. This one required fire forming and I never trusted these with full power loadings. Then came 30-06 and 270 to 6mm. I did 338-06 before it became a standard loading and I convert 35/30-30 from 30-30 and 375 Win brass. I convert 444 Marlin to 260 Bellm #2 and 308 Bellm and 308 Win to 358 Win. I just got an 8mm Mauser so brass for this comes from 270 Win. I have also made 8mm/338 from both 7mm Rem Mag or 338 Win.

[joatmon]

As many others 30-06 to 8mm mauser.
Aaron

[Gunfreak25]

30-06 to 8mm on a Lee hand press! I was 17. :)

[HATCH]

223-300bo
Also did 223-22 tcm and then 300 BO to 22tcm

[54bore]

30-06 —> 25-06

Same here!

[izzyjoe]

My first was 25-06 to 8mm, I had plenty of 30-06 and 270 cases, but I had rifles in both so I spaired them. Since then I've converted 308LC to 35 Rem, which is a little work!

[2152hq]

In the early 60's, I made 7x57 from range pick-up Military 30-06 which was all over the place. 8mm was all over the ground too but it all berdan primed stuff.
The rifle was a Lowe/Berlin mfg '93 Mauser. All matching including the bayonet in about new condition for IIRC $15.00.
I ripped a few rims off of the '06 cases trying to form them in my Lyman Spartan press before I realized I needed to use real case lube, not 3&1 oil,, and not to be so cheap with it too!
The rifle is long gone,,the press & dies live on with a family member still cranking out ammo.

My latest are 256 Gibbs Magnum for a Mannlicher Schoenaur sporter built on a Greek 1903 by Geo Gibbs of Bristol, Eng.
Also making 401WSL from 7.62x39mm which is actually quite easy using one shop altered 45acp expander and a set of 41magnum loading dies.

[OldManMontgomery]

First conversion was .303 British to 6.5x53R (Mannlicher). Mainly requires shortening and neck sizing case a bit. Annealing helps, too.

Current - second - conversion is changing .45 Colt brass into .455 Webley Automatic brass. Involves shortening case, turning down rim somewhat and cutting an extractor groove. Says here.

Oh. Started making .30 Scott's Improved from .30-06 cases. Requires fire forming. I was so impressed with myself.

[byrd45900]

45-70 to 40-65,then 45-90 to 40-82 much more patience needed.

[beltfed]

As per The Doctor, my first reforming was 6.5x55 from 30-06 brass.
Same results. Lots of pressure, tho, my conservative loads, I did not blow primers.
Then found out about neck reaming. That was in my teens.
Recent: Form 38-72W from 405H Hornady brass and Form 32-40 Rem Hepburn from 303Brit brass- to Include annealing and
Neck Turning ( learned something from my early days).And 22-3000 R2 Lovell from 25-20 SS brass
beltfed/arnie

[308Jeff]

223 to 300 BO.

I may attempt 308 to 260 Rem some day. I know 243 works better, but I have 8-10K pieces of 308 brass.

[3006guns]

40 S&W to 8mm Nambu...........worked!

[Drifty4]

256 Win Magnum from .357 Mag

[Bumslie]

9mm luger to 9mm makarov

RIP Blitzburgh

[TXCOONDOG]

223 to 22 TCM and 223 to 277 Wolverine

[15meter]

First was 30-30 into short 38-55, couldn't tell the difference in accuracy between my homemade and Starline. I used a forgotten load of powder, toilet paper wad followed by grain dryer screenings with another toilet paper wad. Found out that holding the rifle vertically got you very nicely formed cases. Holding the rifle horizontal got you a case that was not fully blown out on one side. But I did make the backyard look like a confetti factory explosion.

Latest is 30-06 into .318 Westley Richards.

A bunch of different ones in between.

Added 375 H&H into 300 H&H last week. Tried without annealing first, then anneal then reform. Anneal and then reform is definitely the way to go.

Great bell ringer cartridge with cast.

Didn't annoy the wife, no confetti in the yard.

[CASTER OF LEAD]

.223 -> .222 REM. I know........yawn,but It is my first reform attempt . However it will not be my last. Got a list!!!! Lol - CASTER

[rintinglen]

30 carbine to 7.65 long. Difficult and time consuming.

[Rcmaveric]

7.62 x 39 to 6.5m Grendel

[oldsalt444]

308 to 243, 30-06 to 270, 9mm Luger to 9 x 18 Makarov, 308 to 45 ACP Shotshell

[3Gunnah]

.223 to 300 blk I know it's an easy conversion but we've all got to start somewhere right. And so far that's as far as I've gone.

[747 captain]

308 to 300 sav

[747 captain]

30-06 to 8mm mauser

[Mr_Sheesh]

.308 MilSurp brass to .243 - back in about 1968 or 69. 3k rounds or so; I find reloading sorta meditative, and fun. Which is good since it can mysteriously run the clock forward by a dozen of hours between times you look at the clock!

[leebuilder]

Just tried 3030 to 375win. Had a few issues but learned alot. Started out with 30 finished up with 12 good ones, the next batch will be much easier. It was pretty easy and straight forward with the advice and knowledge shared here.
Thanks to all
Be well

[whtsmoke]

30/
30 brass formed to the 219 Ackley Improved Zipper

[10gaOkie]

7TCU was my first from 223. The toughest was 45/75 from 348. Currently making .351SL now, not a piece of cake.
Chris

[Mgvande]

First was 50-90sharps to 43 Beaumont.

[DangerousDave]

I have a few hundred new 401 cases if you would like to trade buy...

[Ed in North Texas]

Back in the 60s cheap USGI .30-06 to hard to find 8x57mm Mauser and even harder to find 7.65x53mm Mauser. I seem to think I was paying a penny or two per case back then.

More recently .270 (don't own one) to 7x57 slightly long cases for an M-1910 Mexican Roller. And .357 Sig to 8mm Nambu. And the easy one, all my .308 commercial cases to .300 Savage. In all these I make sure that I don't convert the same donor cartridge to more than one other cartridge to avoid problems with headstamps (e.g. if it is .270 Win, it is a 7x57mm for the RB, if it is .308 Win, it is .300 Savage and if it is 7.62 NATO that and .308 Win is what it is). Hope to avoid problems for the kids/grandkids/great grandkids when I'm gone either physically or mentally. :???:

[Sawdust]

30-06 to 25-06. This was back in the late 70's

[M_59]

256 win mag from .357 mag

[nun2kute]

223 > 20 Practical

[toot]

30/40 KRAG to .303 BRIT.

[kmrra]

2506 to 6mm06

[scooterdavr56]

7mm TCU back in the early 80s,and then moved on to the 30 Herrett. I still load for both and a couple others.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[Cheeto303]

1) .303 British to 2" .410 for an Ishapore No.1 Mk III Lee Enfield.
2) .348 Win. to 8mm Kropatchek.
3) 24 ga. brass Shotshell to .577 snider to .577/450 Martini Henry.
4) 6.5 Carcano to 7.35 Carcano.
5) .30-30 to .375 Win.
6) 5.56 to 6x45.

[Cheeto303]

Does this count ? Way back around 1989 I was a grunt in 2/327 Inf, 101 Abn Div. AASLT. We were out in the back forty of Ft. Campbell, Ky and had just gotten issued the then new Beretta M9's ( I'm still P.O'd, M1911A1's rule). I had some 5.56 blanks a Swiss Army knife and lots of trees. I opened up some blanks saved the powder and measured the blank case appx 19 mm and cut it with the file/saw blade of my Swiss Army knife.The file was used to square up and deburr the case mouth as best as possible. I used the barrel as a case length gauge. Once the cases had been prepped I found an Oak tree got some thinner branches and set about whittling boolits. I just kind of dumped powder back in my cases, pressed in the very snug fitting wood boolits. They worked well out to 25 feet or so. The funny part was around 0200 hrs. I woke up startled because I heard crunching noises by my head, grabbed my flaslight and was face to face with a Bobcat. I shot him in the face. Kilt him to.

[wistlepig1]

30/06 to .270

[Clark]

16 years ago
8x57mm Rem brass -> 7x57mm Lyman vise die -> 257 Roberts Wilson vise die -> 257 Roberts Ackley chamber fire form

[Rapidrob]

.32-20 to .310 Cadet- 1965

[DDriller]

.308 blanks to .243

[uscra112]

.223 to R2 Lovell.

[Shooter6br]

220 Swift into 6.5 Jap. Size the 220 and trim case neck.lenght.Turn neck to .014

[afish4570]

Made 765 Arg. from 3006 brass....next time I will try to make 6.5 Jap from 35 Rem brass I have been picking up. afish4570

[poppy42]

9x19 (Luger) to 9x18 ( Makarov). After fire forming out of my 9 mm it’s just required trimming the case of that 1mm. To date I’ve made about 2000 cases for my Bulgarian Makarov and My Polish P64

[pertnear]

.30-06 -> .270 Win
.250 Sav to .22-250
.30-30 -> 7x30 Waters
6.8mm SPC -> Six5

[firefly1957]

Not much of a change but i turned 30-30 into 32 special for a friends grandfathers gun .
They were fire formed is all as he loaded with a Lee pound die i was still in high school at the time .
Last case conversion was 5.56 NATO to .221 Fireball .

[MDC]

7-30 Waters from 30-30. Was nervous as heck to pull the trigger on the first one.
Then 256 Winchester from 357. Bought a Contender carbine barrel from a member here and he included a set of forming dies. I had been been using the 256 seating die as a step but the forming dies eliminated ruined cases.

[firefly1957]

I have found with the 5.56 (223) neck down cases were ruined (when forming to .221 Fireball, then i removed the decapper neck expander and never ruined another case . The cases were ran in full length , rough trimmed in band saw, neck reamed in sizing die , annealed , then sized decapped and trimmed properly.