.30 Luger from .223

[brstevns]

Once owned a Mauser pistol, did the same as you did. I also made up some from 38 spec brass. I had no lathe so used a little needle file to change the rim and make a ejector groove.

[Brassmonkey]

LOL, this thread bring back memory's.

Back in the mid 1970's Dad came across a 5 gallon bucket of fired 5.56 blanks.
I was the person who got to crank the press handle and use the hacksaw and case trimmer
We had several guys wanting 30 Mauser ammo, so Dad bought a RCBS file trim die, and extended shell holder.
He set the press up so I could use a hacksaw to trim the case maybe 1/32" too long.
I then swaged the primer pockets on all of them.
Ran them all thru the FL size die
Dad made up a reamer to inside neck ream and overall trim at the same time on the Forester case trimmer

I also had to cast all the boolits, and lube/size them.

Then set up and loaded all those cases.
Spent a lot of time that winter working on them and I was paid about 10 cents a round but it made several gun owners happy.

J Wisner

Thanks for sharing, I love reading old stories like this. I had neighbors when I was a kid that made 4x8 signs for a construction company, dad mom and two boys all worked together. They would buy the plywood paint them then layout the letters and paint them too, the money from that bought them nice vacations.

[CraigOK]

Nice write up but why bother? Commercial brass is readily available at a modest price plus published loading data will not be valid for the reformed cases as internal volume will be radically different creating higher pressure with a given load.

Good way to save powder

[Bill*B]

Thanks, guys. I love those stories. Brings me back to the days when I grew up dirt poor, in Northeastern Tennessee. Then, this sort of stuff was have to - now, its just for fun. If your time is money, then give StarLine $115 for 500, and be done with it! But, if you can afford to play around ...

[tucumcari_kid]

Forgive me for reviving an old thread, but there is a better (still cheap!) way.

Chuck the formed case in your drill press. Push the chuck end of your reamer into a piece of hardwood with a hole drilled in - just large enough for a tight friction fit, to hold it erect. Lower the case onto the reamer. It wants to self center - you will almost always get a nice clean job. The case is tough, and the drill chuck won't hurt it at all.

Details: expand your formed case neck before doing this. An 8mm reamer will then give a neck thickness that is just about right, after final full length sizing/expansion.

I might give that a try and see where it goes! Thanks