225 Winchester from .30/30?

[imashooter2]

I have a good friend that inherited a rifle in 225 Winchester. Gun Broker seems about the only source for factory ammo or brass. Prices are… unattractive.

I’ve heard brass can be formed from .30/30. I would love to gift him some if I could manage it. Anyone done this conversion?

[country gent]

7mm waters would be closer start point. It will probably take a form die set I dont think it will be one pass. Also expect to turn or ream necks when done possibly both.

[imashooter2]

Well, that’s a shame. Not going through that. Thanks for letting me know.

[BrassMagnet]

Don't give up yet!

[imashooter2]

I’m not going to buy a set of forming dies, and I don’t have neck turning equipment either. If I can do it with the investment being a standard 2 die set I’m still open to it.

[Toolmaker TN]

There are other issues besides just forming the brass.
The rim diameter is larger on the .30-30 cases and would have to be turned down to match .225.
Then there's also the issue of rim thickness. The .30-30 brass has a rim that's around .016 thicker than a .225.
All that can be fixed with a lathe, but then you run into differences in case wall thickness, strength, and internal capacity.
Don't mean to throw a wet blanket, but there seems to be no easy answer here.

[turtlezx]

tell him he got the gun for nothing he can afford to put some $$$ into it

[imashooter2]

I already told him Gun Broker was his best bet. But it would have been nice to surprise him with a present.

[turtlezx]

see there running 2 to 3$ each shipped some new some fired

[country gent]

220 swift is close for rim dia and thickness along with overall length. The draw back is head dia 220 swift is .445 and 225 is .422 This would need swaged down or turned down in a lathe.

Any way you go this isnt going to be a easy case to make.

There are some companies that are specializing in lathe turned cases ( RCE come to mind) He may be able to get new cases this way but they are on the expensive side.

A wilson case trimmer can be used to thin rims but reducing dia is another issue. Cartridge conversions has a side note that rims may work as is depending on firearm also.

[Kylongrifle32]

Like Tuetlezx said he got the rifle at a good price.LOL. Investing $100.00 on 50 pieces of 225 brass is not a bad idea if you want to enjoy rifle. The 225 brass is tough and will take quite a few resizings. Even some of the common modern rifle brass is going for $1.50 each. Rumor was that Peterson was going to do a run of it back before the pandemic crisis hit. Now all efforts are to getting 9mm are 5.56 cranked out as fast as possible. Who knows how long it will take before we see a new batch of 225 win brass hit the shelf's

[pworley1]

If you have a lathe it is not hard. It is not quick. I would suggest doing the rim work last, Be sure to thin rim from the top if you have to. My rifle did not need the rim thinned.

[imashooter2]

Machine tools… One of the things I would have loved to have had when I was building cars and couldn’t afford them. Now I can afford them, but I can’t justify them.

[Chaparral66]

A friend has a 225 Winchester and I've been looking for load data, brass, casting molds and die sets. About a year ago I found articles on reforming brass to fit 225 Winchester. Just now I did a web search and found this article; https://www.handloadermagazine.com/225-winchester where they suggest a .219 Zipper or .220 Swift as starting points.

Good luck.

[imashooter2]

If new brass needs to be bought for this project, that brass will be 225 Winchester.

[eastbank]

i have found odd or discontiued brass at gun shows-flea markets. ask friends to be on the look out for it when they go to gun shows for him.

[screwcutter]

Before I got too far into this I would section an original .225 case and compare the internal dimensions to the 30/30. The outside maybe the same but the .225 was loaded to a much higher pressure. I make .219 Zipper cases from 30/30 and a form die setup is required for anything resembling success.

[Texas by God]

If a 22-250 reamer would clean up the .225 chamber- that's just what I would do- if I inherited a .225 post 64 model 70. If it was a Savage 340, I'd ship it to Jes to become a 38-55.
But that's just me.

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[Rapier]

I own a 225 Win Mag rifle, just buy the brass. The 225 is a rimmed 22-250, a 65K case. No good wishes or great ideas will ever make a 30-30 case into a 65K performance case, period.

[imashooter2]

If a 22-250 reamer would clean up the .225 chamber- that's just what I would do- if I inherited a .225 post 64 model 70. If it was a Savage 340, I'd ship it to Jes to become a 38-55.
But that's just me.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

After listening to my buddy wax on about this rifle and the memories hunting with his Father, I would say there is no chance at all that it will be sold, traded, modified or anything other than shot with huge smiles and misty eyes.

I really appreciate all the advice given here. I was hoping I could surprise my friend with some brass or maybe even some loads to get him shooting. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Ah well, such is life.

[screwcutter]

If I was wearing your shoes, I’d buy him a box of new brass off gunbroker!

[Texas by God]

Brass Magnet probably has some squirreled away somewhere!

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[dverna]

I have a good friend that inherited a rifle in 225 Winchester. Gun Broker seems about the only source for factory ammo or brass. Prices are… unattractive.

I’ve heard brass can be formed from .30/30. I would love to gift him some if I could manage it. Anyone done this conversion?

When a gun in inherited, I understand not wanting to touch it. Regrettably, the .225 Win is a prime contender for "a useless caliber", unless the owner had deep pockets. But $100 for 40 cases is not the end of the world either. If your buddy only shoots it a couple of times a year those cases will last a while and can be annealed to last longer.

I would keep an eye on Gunbroker and snap up a deal when the opportunity presents itself. I would not trust "once fired" to be once fired in that caliber.

[Rapier]

Here,
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/920398645 buy now is $125 for 50. $2.5 a pop is cheap for Win 225 new unfired brass.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I would suggest starting with 25-35 brass, but that is also hard to find, maybe easier than 225 though. The rim is the problem. Check to see if the bolt would accept a 30-30 rim. Starting with 25-35 is better than 30-30 as neck thickness is much less and with care, sizing to 225 should work. Such cases would need trimming. Again check bolt face fit first, tinkering with the rim requires some means to turn the rim - possibly both thinner and smaller. Stlll, best is to just buy 225.

[Ickisrulz]

https://www.rccbrass.com/product/225-winchester/

$5.25 per piece. Minimum order 50 cases.

[country gent]

You might give it a try with what you have on hand,start with a 308 die to just bump the shoulder back, then step the neck down in the increments you have available, 7mm 6mm 22. make sure the body isnt getting squeezed down also, then a pass thru the 225 seater and final the sizer die to set body taper and shoulder. check inside dia and final would be anneal. Use a good lube and lube for each step. If the step down sizers are to much then the seaters are usually a few thou bigger.If it dosnt work then your only out a few 30-30 cases. A heavy press with good leverage will make this easier, For lube Imperial sizing die wax is good. You may need to anneal a couple times to reduce this much.

I prefer to neck up when I can as it dosnt thicken the necks. Making 357 herret from 30-30 is 1 pass over a tapered expander rod to .357 caliber then a pass thru the sizer to set shoulder body taper. trim to length .005+ then anneal and load with a fire form load. Making 243 from 308 is more there pass 308 thru the seating die to rough form then the sizer, trim and most then needs neck reamed or turned.

I have a wildcat here I came up with its a shortened 300 wsm necked down to 6.5 mm with a 40* shoulder ( shorter 284 X 6.5 with 10% less water capacity) a short fat powder column. Neck is .350 long. When case is formed it needs both a neck ream and turn. Also 2 anneals in the forming process. this case gets pretty involved to make. But its very efficient and accurate.

Reforming brass cases can be a simple one pass to a vary involved labor of love

[Rfeustel]

If it helps:
293911

[TMB]

Think I have a bunch of old 225 Winchester brass in yellow boxes that belonged to my step grandpa out in the shed. I will look tomorrow to see if I can find it.

[TMB]

Yep, I have some Western superX 225Win brass, idk how many times it may have been fired though.

[PNW_Steve]

I ran into some stray .225 in the shop the other day. PM me if you have any interest.

I sure miss my .225 . it was my first sub-moa rifle.

[jason280]

I hate I missed this thread...local store had 3x boxes of Winchester factory loaded .225 55gr ammo for $29/box. I watched them for a couple months, debating on buying them for a rainy day, but someone finally bought them a few weeks back.

[Jim22]

If I was you and I wanted to do something nice I would find a single box of 20 either cartridges or brass and buy them for him. If he truly loves the rifle he will spring for more. But in the meantime you will get him shooting it.

Jim