Fire forming 257 Weatherby to 7x61 Sharpe & Hart

[Wayne Smith]

Something not yet mentioned - check your case mouths. ANY flaw in the case mouth results in a crease or even a split. Trim your cases so you have a perfect case mouth before sizing down or up.

[Danth]

Great advice guys. Thanks. Now I've just got to fetch a 300 H&H die and spend some time at the grinder. Wish I had a use for the ruined 300 Win mag cases I crushed!

[15meter]

Great advice guys. Thanks. Now I've just got to fetch a 300 H&H die and spend some time at the grinder. Wish I had a use for the ruined 300 Win mag cases I crushed!

Depends on how crushed they are, I've done 43 Spanish on belted magnum cases. All is not lost. At least if you have an old rolling block that needs to be fed.

And I used the 300 Ouch & Ouch die to start the forming because I had it on the bench. Don't have that die, try something else to start the process.

[tward]

When I reform cases I’ve found the lubes on the case makes a big difference. I had the best luck with Lee lube, the stuff that comes in the tube. I dilute it with water or alcohol (faster drying) and apply a thin coat with my fingers, let it dry and then run the brass into the resizing dies in stages to allow the brass to flow slowly. Just my 2 cents. Good luck and keeps safe . Have fun, Tim

[15meter]

The problem with this is the "double venturi" shoulder from the Weatherby, you are trying to drive that radical shoulder almost straight down the case.

It seems to work better to straighten the case back out, then re-establish a new shoulder where it needs to be. This particular case conversion is pretty radical.

Lube is absolutely a critical part of the equation, but I'm not sure there is any case lube that will let you push that shoulder straight down the length of the case.

If it's out there I want to know about it because I'll start using it in a heartbeat.

[Jim22]

I've been promised some 257 Weatherby brass, I have no need for it as 257. I do have a need for 7x61 S&H. The 257 is 3mm longer than the Sharpe and Hart.

Considering full length sizing in the 7x61 die with the de-cap/sizing plug removed. Then powder/toilet paper/plug of some kind and then make a mess of the backyard.

First this is old brass. Should I anneal because of age hardening/unknown number of firings before starting? Definitely going to anneal before loading for the S&H.

Any guesses on a starting load for the fire forming and best powder to use other than the generic fast pistol powder?

Wax plug in the neck or just toilet paper wad? Toilet paper wad worked well for me going 30-30 to 38-55 but this is much stiffer brass, don't know if it's going to need more pressure to get the neck blown out.

Anybody done this? Or a similar case conversion?

15 Meter,

Beware of necking up Weatherby brass. The problem is the curves in the shoulder. I put together a wildcat some years ago - a .400 belted Whelen using .240 Weatherby brass. Even in those days the brass was very expensive and I lost a lot of them trying to neck them up. The rounded shoulders just collapsed, pushing the neck down inside the body. I finally made some intermediate sizing die buttons so I could do it in small incremants. It did help to anneal the brass but it was a lot of work to neck up tha cases.

The belted .240 brass has the same head diameter as the .30-06. But it holds a grain or two less capacity. The belted cases solved the headspace problem that always plagued the .400 Whelan but at a price. I did it on a 98 Mauser action which didn't need any alterations except a new barrel. Killed the biggest moose I ever shot with it at nearly 200 yards. Barnes 400 grain copper tube bullets in .411 diameter.

Jim

[Walks]

First time I've heard of anyone else using steel plates under their presses. I use the same size plate under My RC & L-N-L. Have for 30+ years. And while My bench is fastened to the frame of My garage, I don't have a matching bottom steel plate.
I don't think I'd need that unless I was trying to size 20MM cases down to .17 caliber.
Guess I was lucky that Hornady used the same frame as their Pro-Jector for the upgrade to the L-N-L.

[15meter]

First time I've heard of anyone else using steel plates under their presses. I use the same size plate under My RC & L-N-L. Have for 30+ years. And while My bench is fastened to the frame of My garage, I don't have a matching bottom steel plate.
I don't think I'd need that unless I was trying to size 20MM cases down to .17 caliber.
Guess I was lucky that Hornady used the same frame as their Pro-Jector for the upgrade to the L-N-L.

By the time I mortised the top plate into the bench I was concerned about the strength of the planks.

The top plate is drilled and tapped for all the various and sundry reloading equipment I swap in and out.

Rockchucker, Lyman T-mag, Dillon 550B, SDB, 5 MEC presses, lubri-sizer case trimmer plus a few others.
The plate looks like Swiss cheese.

When I'm not reloading, the bench is cleared for other "stuff".

[15meter]

And the steel plates even have a through hole drilled to allow the 209 primers from the 9000G to drop straight into the scrap steel can under the bench for recycling!

Need to do that for the 650's and the Grabber.

[15meter]

Per my notes that I looked up this evening, knew I need to look up something, thought it was for the 7x61, actually wanted the .256 Mannlicher.

Well, I've got the info, may as well post it for posterity:

Pretty much settled on 7mm Mag brass as the parent case. Other belted magnum cases work but the 7mm Mag is the closest.

1) F/L size with 300 H&H with the expander removed.

2) F/L size with 7x61 die with the expander removed.

3) Check for chambering, if necessary, use a shell holder that has the top ground down to set the shoulder back far enough to chamber. Remember to set the sizer die down for the shortened shell holder.

4) 12 grains Unique, toilet paper wad, cornmeal to fill, use a wax plug in the case mouth. Fire vertically to form.

5) Anneal and trim, or trim then anneal, depends if you like your trimming soft or hard.

6) Load and use as normal.

Lube on body only, go slowly in the forming, in to the die an 1/8", back out and rotate a quarter turn, back in another 1/8" until F/L sized.