In George Nonte's book "modern handloading" he shows a drawing of a cutter he had made from a drill bit. He explained that he turned the cutter against the head, cutting a shallow groove and removing the h/s, after which he used a 1/16" stamp to put a new h/s on the case. He claimed he didn't have a problem with cases thus modified.
So many guns, so little time
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So many guns, so little time
_____________________________
You must pay for everything in this life - nothing is free, except for the grace of God.
"Free cheese only comes in a mousetrap"
I convert '06 to 8mm, just because I want to. Mostly it is range pickup brass with headstamps that do not match my regular batches of '06 brass. If you are doing 270 or 25/06, you are going to have a hard time not collapsing the shoulder when you run it over the expander ball. You may have to adapt my process a bit, perhaps remove the expander ball for your initial reforming step.
My process:
1. Flare the neck's mouth silly large on a Lee flaring die. Lube case neck inside and out.
2. Run through a Lee FL 8mm die on a reasonably strong press (in my case either the Lee Classic Cast or RCBS RC).
3. Use a compact pipe cutter (the kind you use for brake lines or 1/4" tubing) to cut off most of the excess.
4. Run the neck through a flare die like a Lyman M or similar to get rid of the "crimp" left by the pipe cutter
5. Trim to length, in my case I use a drill driver and the Lee system
At this point the case is a little long on headspace, which is just right for one of my old Mauser beaters, and the neck is a little large at the base, small in the middle and flared at the end. I suppose I should anneal it at this point... but I haven't bothered. I just FL size it again like a normal case and get on with reloading. So, final step...
6. FL size again
I also dip the bases in Birchwood Casey brass black. That works very well, until you do a vibratory or liquid rotary tumbler run. In a liquid and SS pin media, all the brass inside, dipped or not, will come out uniformly dark. A second run with fresh liquid will remove it. In a vibratory, the black part will get progressively lighter the longer the run, after 2 or 3 hours it's almost entirely gone, depending on how aggressive your media is.
I have never had to ream or turn the case necks, but I'm working with old military chambers.
Last edited by HangFireW8; 02-02-2018 at 11:58 AM. Reason: swapped steps 4 and 5
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
I have taken a fine Dremel burr and lightly obliterated the 30/06 from cases. You don't have to go any deeper than the headstamp, and I never felt like I was removing enough brass to weaken the rim.
Before I loaned my 8MM trim die long distance and never recovered it. I roughly cut and trimmed the 06 brass, a pass through a 8MM sizer without the decapping stem and discarding screw-ups, dents, wrinkles etc. Back again through sizing die with decap and neck ball stem installed, a fine trim to minimum length, champher and deburr neck and you're ready to go. You might be able to get by without a second trip through the sizer. In my experience it saved on discarded brass by not using decap stem the first time. Brass' neck has to go through expander ball to work and fit properly in trimmer. Trimming to minimum length might prevent you needing to trim again prematurely. I use a marking pen on headstamp to keep reformed brass separate. Use different color pen if you also reform others like 7.7 Jap. Do remember to separate before mixing it all in your tumbler.
I could simply buy 8X57 brass but I have more than enough 06 brass to last my lifetime. Besides I'm a cheapskate and have accumulated hundreds of expended US and Canadian GI 06 blanks that have no other use or value other than scrap. Back in the 70's there were no sources of brass other than buying factory ammo or pay more than the price off ammo for Norma brass. I also used US GI 06 to form 765 Argie, 7X57 and 7.7 Jap. Before I foolishly loaned my 8X57 trim & file die. I used it on the first step with the other calibers. My Lyman trim die could be adjusted for 7.7 or use as is for 7MM. I sprang a pre Hornady Pacific 07 press out of alignment reforming 06 brass. I think my shooting bud did it in his ill fated attempt at 6.5 Jap. Thanks to meeting Steve Hornady at a NRA convention after they bought out Pacific. He sent me a new Hornady 007 press no charge.
If the guilty person might suddenly remember where he got the trim die I'd really appreciate hearing from you. I was in poor health and bed ridden for nearly a year. Apx two years later remembering it but unable to recall whom or where I sent it.
Last edited by azrednek; 02-02-2018 at 07:26 PM.
TexasByGod -
I just converted some the other night. Found some once fired 30-06 brass in the gunroom and grabbed the 8MM dies and got after it. This is how I do it (and have always done it):
I use Imperial wax and lube the outside of the case. I also lube the inside of the neck with a QTip rolled in the Imperial to ease the expander ball into the case mouth. I then run the case into the 8MM die, which elongates the neck quite a bit. I run a sharpie up the neck of the case in a line. I then take my calipers and run them about plus 5 thousands for OAL case length. Scratch a small witness mark in the sharpie at that length and use a small brake line tubing cutter to trim the excess neck off at the witness mark. I then run the case back through the full length size die (to bump out the slight crimp due to the cutter wheel). I chuck the case up in my RCBS case trimmer and trim to the OAL for the case. After the trimming (which is only about 3-5 thous now) I clean inside and outside of the case mouth with the Wilson tool and then twist the case mouth into some balled up 0000 steel wool to get any burrs off. I don't thin the necks at all and they all shoot just fine.
You can miss fast & you can miss a lot, but only hits count.
TbG,
I see from another thread you got a 270 case stuck in the die. I hope that was not the result of my incomplete instructions.
When I wrote lube the neck, I meant inside and outside with a good lube like Imperial, which I also use. Not just dry lube like mica on the inside.
You still need to lube the outside of the case fully, like you're running MG brass through a small base die.
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
HangFire- no worries! It was completely my fault for not relubing that case after trimming.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
It's always possible that you can use longer necked boolit friendly brass for your mold of choice.
Just depends upon your chamber dimensions, easy to check by fire form a longer length with the extra neck length sized in a smaller caliber die.
If I had 25-06 brass I think I would try to swap it or sell it because it might be economically advantageous. But if I wanted to convert it I think I would anneal the case necks first, then run it into a 270 and then 30-06 die to do the neck in stages.
It's a partial fix at best, but if you have access to a lathe you could use the point of a threading tool to cut a groove in the headstamp. At least that would let you know there was something different about the case without weakening it or introducing headspace issues.
NRA Endowment Member
Armed people don't march into gas chambers.
I color code the base of my converted brass with a sharpie in the extractor ring. It usually lasts through a couple of reloads and tumbler clean cycles before I have to touch up the color.
I Cast my Boolits, Therefore I am Happy.
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https://ammoseek.com/reloading/brass/8mm-mauser
Easy to buy but I have bags of 06 brass. Got my dies on Saturday and it is an easy conversion from 30-06 to 8x57. I take my brass to the sander to wipe the head stamp down.
I wonder if the groove looked like this....
https://www.sgammo.com/product/308-w...-ammo-am2030-r
" however the headstamp has been 'sanitized' by machining out the markings as shown in the picture"
I think it was Nonte that got a large quantity of Browning ammo from the contractor who loaded it for Browning after Browning quit the ammo business. He used a parting tool in a lathe to plunge cut a shallow groove to remove the head stamp.
EDG
want to know? just GOOGLE it. it is all there on how to do it. saves a lot of flak. hope this helps
Toot,
That could be said about any question posted here.
The forum format has its benefits. After all a lot of Google searches lead right back here.
I give loading advice based on my actual results in factory rifles with standard chambers, twist rates and basic accurizing.
My goals for using cast boolits are lots of good, cheap, and reasonably accurate shooting, while avoiding overly tedious loading processes.
The BHN Deformation Formula, and why I don't use it.
How to find and fix sizing die eccentricity problems.
Do you trust your casting thermometer?
A few musings.
More "This is what happened when I,,,,," and less "What would happen if I,,,,"
Last of the original Group Buy Honcho's.
"Dueling should have never been made illegal in this country. It settled lots of issues between folks."- Char-Gar
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BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
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