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Thread: Making Swedish 6.5x55 brass from .308 thoughts.

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    Making Swedish 6.5x55 brass from .308 thoughts.

    Looking some pointers on forming 6.5x55 brass from .308. I assume that .308 would be better than any of the longer ‘06 cartridges. Have 57 pieces of .308. I also have a Hornady neck turning tool that I bought to use for 300 blkout. Found a nice Carl Gustav 1903 Swedish Mauser on my birthday last month. Have dies, Lyman mould, etc ordered.
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    Boolit Buddy Stewbaby's Avatar
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    Making Swedish 6.5x55 brass from .308 thoughts.

    Swede 6.5X55 is a different animal. Most US made brass is based on the 30.06 case head which is .472 diameter. The Swede requires a case head of diameter of .480! So check the case head diameter before you reload. If it’s the smaller diameter you may experience case bulge then rupture, depending on your reloads and chamber size.

    Using the smaller case head diameter is like firing a .222 Rem. round in a 30.06 rifle, the case will try to expand to fill the chamber but the case head area of the brass is brittle and is not designed to move. If the case head area of the brass does move and bulge it will normally crack on the next reloading. YMMV

    I’d recommend getting some European made 6.5x55 to guarantee the right dimensions. Grafs & Sons has PPU now and it is awesome brass.
    Last edited by Stewbaby; 05-04-2022 at 09:21 PM.

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    Boolit Buddy Stewbaby's Avatar
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    PS: a great option for us cast boolit shooters especially is the m/14 wooden blank rounds were you can pull the wooden bullet and dump the blank powder and reload the Berdan already primed brass. J&G has some and though with shipping it seems expensive, it’s a primed case for less than $0.08 shipped, cheaper than primers are now a days. On top of that is the blank powder that come in them that works well as a ‘use similar to Unique’ cast boolit powder.

    Obviously use the powder at your own risk, but I’m sure Dutchman has a thread on it here somewhere.


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    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    Thanks Stew, good point. I saw that when I initially compared the two case dimensions on line. Just measured the 2 rounds of 6.5 that I fired yesterday and they measured .478 at the base. My fired .308 brass are .472, about .006 diff or .003 smaller. I am planning on using cast lead so I won’t be hotrodding them. I might be using the rifle in a BAM match which requires lead.

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    Boolit Buddy Stewbaby's Avatar
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    Nice m/96 by the way. You’ll love it.

    They have deep throats so don’t try to reach the lands per say (with jacketed bullets, you usually can’t). Don’t try to go too fast. Due to the fast twist, 1600 or so fps seems to be the upper end for typical cast boolits. 2400 is your go to cast boolit powder. R22 and IMR4350 for 140gr bthp jacketed.

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    Boolit Master Cap'n Morgan's Avatar
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    My first attempt on a wildcat was a 6.5-06 based on a worn out 6.5x55 target barrel - because that was all I had. I made a 6.5-06 reamer and used the original 6.5x55 die set for forming the cases.

    This was before chronographs were economically within reach of a green gun nut as myself, and I probably hot rodded my 6.5-06 Swedish Mauser to the max.
    Still, I had no problems with the (Norma) cases, but the expansion of the cases at the bottom junction was never symmetrical, causing the case head to be slightly offset to the body center.
    I may have affected the precision, but as the barrel was far from new (and the rifle was meant for hunting, anyway) I never noticed any problems.

    I would not worry about using 308 for your 6.5x55, but of course proper cases would be better. You'll probably be pleased to know that over here, once fired 6.5x55 brass can be found in the garbage cans at many shooting ranges.
    Cap'n Morgan

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    Quote Originally Posted by Baltimoreed View Post
    Looking some pointers on forming 6.5x55 brass from .308. I assume that .308 would be better than any of the longer ‘06 cartridges. Have 57 pieces of .308. I also have a Hornady neck turning tool that I bought to use for 300 blkout. Found a nice Carl Gustav 1903 Swedish Mauser on my birthday last month. Have dies, Lyman mould, etc ordered.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    You'll end up with a case .150 + too short with a neck maybe .25" long instead of what should be a 6.5x55 length neck. Not a good fit in that nice Carl Gustav for cast or jacketed bullets. Suggest you stick to forming cases from 30-06, 270 Winchester, etc. to get the right size of cartridge case. Might even find some 6.5x55 brass available new or once fired as it's made by numerous manufacturers now.
    Larry Gibson

    “Deficient observation is merely a form of ignorance and responsible for the many morbid notions and foolish ideas prevailing.”
    ― Nikola Tesla

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    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    Agree, duh, for some reason I was thinking .308 was long enough but it ain’t so I just dug up 65 pcs of commercial ‘06 brass to mess with. I use military brass in my ‘03s. Might compare the two to see how they work. As I’m not planning on hunting, long range shooting with this rifle [only 100 yards or less] or scoping it so there might not be a real issue. Still waiting on my equipment to arrive. Ordered Sage’s gas checks yesterday.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stewbaby View Post
    Swede 6.5X55 is a different animal. Most US made brass is based on the 30.06 case head which is .472 diameter. The Swede requires a case head of diameter of .480! So check the case head diameter before you reload. If it’s the smaller diameter you may experience case bulge then rupture, depending on your reloads and chamber size.

    Using the smaller case head diameter is like firing a .222 Rem. round in a 30.06 rifle, the case will try to expand to fill the chamber but the case head area of the brass is brittle and is not designed to move. If the case head area of the brass does move and bulge it will normally crack on the next reloading. YMMV

    I’d recommend getting some European made 6.5x55 to guarantee the right dimensions. Grafs & Sons has PPU now and it is awesome brass.
    While what you say is absolutely correct, US manufacturers use the 'standard' .473" head .30-06-size brass to make their 6.5X55 Swede brass. I questioned this back when the Swedes were common and inexpensive, and was repeatedly told 'I haven't had a case rupture yet.' This, after decades of RCBS et al telling reloaders NOT to form Swede brass from anything based on the .30-06 because they would shoot out their eye! Wonder how much Norma brass they sold during that time?
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    Boolit Master
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    I used .308's back when Swede brass was unobtainable. The neck length was only a wedding band. The shot okay, but mechanical durability while going through an action would be an issue, I'd expect. .308's are only 51mm long while the 6.5x55 is .16" longer. Head diameter is also different, but not a problem in my experience. I also made them from .30-06 (7.62x63mm and they worked well once I trimmed all that extra neck off. I had no power tools at the time.

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    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    My rcbs dies, shell holder and lee trimmer have arrived so I can start forming brass. I’ve run the cleaned ‘06 brass through the sizer minus deprime rod. I wrecked a few before I figured out the proper amount of lube to use, just a little dab. Used my chop saw to cut them shorter and then the fancy lee trimmer to trim them to length. I found some old .25-06 brass that I’ll reform too. Still waiting on the fleabay mould. After I get them trimmed I will run them through the die again and deprime and expand them. Im curious how tight they will be at the neck? Measured a resized factory case at the neck with my tubing mic-.015, the .30-06 brass was .017-.019. Just tried to chamber a few and only a couple would chamber. Thinking the shoulder needs to be bumped back a hair. Get back on it tonight. Going to my granddaughters recital in a few.

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    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    The domestic 6.5x55 brass that I have come across measures suspiciously close to 30-06 dimensions. That said, I formed 6.5x55 for several years from 270 before even seeing true 6.5x55.

    I used 270 because I don't own or shoot a 270. With typical cast boolit loads, I doubt you can blow up a 270 case in a 6.5x55.

    It took me 20+ full house loadings in my 220 Swift to get case head separations.

    Has anyone had a documented problem using 06/270 cases as the donor case? I'd really like to see the photos.

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    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    And 100 pieces of real 6.5x55 just appeared in the S&S section.

    The key to life is timing.......

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    Boolit Buddy
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    Years ago I went online and found a shooter in Sweden and traded his range brass for range brass I picked up. I gave him a ratio of 5:1 40 S&W for one of his cases at the time.. He sent me military brass that's pretty heavy like Lake City brass with Norma and Lapua brass too. All were boxer primed. Range brass is free so the cost is shipping.
    Last edited by BJung; 05-08-2022 at 11:28 AM.

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stewbaby View Post
    Swede 6.5X55 is a different animal. Most US made brass is based on the 30.06 case head which is .472 diameter. The Swede requires a case head of diameter of .480! So check the case head diameter before you reload. If it’s the smaller diameter you may experience case bulge then rupture, depending on your reloads and chamber
    As for .30-06 having a base diameter of .472, the largest I personally measure was .468 and some like W-W and R-p are more like .465. A .465" base is small even in a .30-06 camber. The closest brass to 6.5x55 diameter that I know of is PPU 9.3x62.

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    Boolit Buddy Stewbaby's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BJung View Post
    Years ago I went online and found a shooter in Sweden and traded his range brass for range brass I picked up. I gave him a ratio of 5:1 40 S&W for one of his cases at the time.. He sent me military brass that's pretty heavy like Lake City brass with Norma and Lapua brass too. All were boxer primed. Range brass is free so the cost is shipping.
    I did this some also until I found out unfortunately it’s illegal for a US individual to now ‘import’ brass.

    27 CFR § 447.21 - The U.S. Munitions Import List. III(b)

    https://atf-eregs.18f.gov/447-21/E8-23178#447-21

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    Boolit Buddy
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    That is terrible. The next thing they'll do is ban brass bullet molds. I happen to have a few boxes of Remington, Winchester, S&B 6.5x55 brass. If the OP wants to trade for them, send me a message. I have bullets too.

  18. #18
    Boolit Master Baltimoreed's Avatar
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    Bjung, I've sent you an email.

    I found that my reformed brass would not chamber in my rifle even with the unaltered ‘06 shell holder was camming against the sizer die. [Factory ammo chambers fine]. Figured out my die wasn’t setting the shoulder back far enough. I took some material from the top of the shell holder and now I'm getting cases that chamber ok. I still might take .005 off the bottom of the sizer as there should be a small space between them. Guess the die is a hair too long.
    Last edited by Baltimoreed; 05-08-2022 at 09:05 PM.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master 15meter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Baltimoreed View Post
    Bjung, I've sent you an email.

    I found that my reformed brass would not chamber in my rifle even with the unaltered ‘06 shell holder was camming against the sizer die. [Factory ammo chambers fine]. Figured out my die wasn’t setting the shoulder back far enough. I took some material from the top of the shell holder and now I'm getting cases that chamber ok. I still might take .005 off the bottom of the sizer as there should be a small space between them. Guess the die is a hair too long.
    Not unusual to get spring back when setting the shoulder back. Try grinding a couple more thousandths off the shell holder and forming the brass.

    You may not have to modify your die.

    A little dwell time with the case fully in the die can't hurt either.

    Load and shoot normally and you should be able to go back to an unground shell holder for subsequent loadings.
    Last edited by 15meter; 05-12-2022 at 08:46 AM.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master Char-Gar's Avatar
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    Back in the old days, when making 6.5 Swede cases from 06 head sized cases, folks would use an O ring or a wrap or two of Scotch tape on the case head to keep the case centered in the chamber while fire forming.
    Disclaimer: The above is not holy writ. It is just my opinion based on my experience and knowledge. Your mileage may vary.

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