Which is better to use .7mm08 or .243, and do you just resize with the .260 die? Very hard to find .260 brass so I resolved to make some. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx,

I prefer to size up.

Run it in the die the neck will be a touch short.

Midway has it in stock.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewP...uctNumber=1601149910

Not sure why you can't find 260 brass....Midway, Midsouth, Cabella's, and Graf & son has it in stock.

But you CAN use both listed cases to get where you want to go...I like to use larger caliber and go smaller - 7-08 to 260(6.5-08 in the wildcat parlance B4 standardization )...you get a bit extra length that way...going from 6mm(6-08 or 243) to 6.5 and you might get some shortening and thinning...the only way to know for sure is to do it.

Either one is just a pass through the sizing die and trim to size. The 6.5-08 is an old wildcat and people used whatever case they happened to have on hand to "get their brass".

Luck

Wow, Midway must have just got it, I checked earlier today and they were out of stock.

Thanx,

If you can wait a month or two, Lapua brand 260 REM brass will be available here in the US.

Kevin

Right on, Big Stick...I'm impatiently waiting for the 260 to start showing up...I have several iterations on the '08 case and Lapua/Norma brass is the best.

Yeah, John...you have to continuously dig around to find "things". Midway is not always well supplied. Most of the time tho' if I can't find brass at Midway I check Graf's next...Buffalo Arms is another good source.

Luck

Glad your problem is solved. However, if you do find the need to reform some other caliber of brass, like Fubar, I prefer to form from a case with a larger neck than a smaller one.

This is for a couple of reasons. The first is that most rifle chambers are very generous in dimension, and the slight thickening of the neck when forming from a larger caliber helps the brass better fit the chamber. Sometimes this is too much of a good thing, requiring you to use a reamer or turn the case neck to thin it a bit, but that has been a very rare occurance for me.

The second reason is that when you expand a smaller neck, it doesn't tend to expand quite as uniformly as when you size it down. In other words, expanded necks tend to exhibit less consistency in neck wall thickness. Their neck walls are also thinner than that from larger brass, so you don't get the benefit of heavier necks (in instances where this is a benefit.)

Either of the examples you give will work (.243 or 7mm/08 to .260), but I would probably choose the very common (and potentially cheaper) .308 brass. I've often taken .308 brass down to .243 with a single stroke of the press handle, and with the exception of some military cases have never needed to thin the necks.

If there is a drawback to necking larger brass down it is that it usually lengthens it to the point that it requires trimming. Smaller brass actually ends up a bit shorter than it started out, provided your neck insides are well-lubricated and the expander ball doesn't stretch them as it drags outward.

I prefer to neck up. You don't have to worry about thick necks. With a factory chamber, that probably wouldn't be an issue but I have a 7-08 with a pretty exact chamber and .308 brass sized down has to be neck turned; opened up .243 brass doesn't.

I go whichever way is cheaper. If I have some 308 lying around I use it. If 243 is cheaper, then it is the way to go. Either is cheaper than 260 factory brass and my factory chamber can't tell.

Thanx all, I did get some Rem. brass from Midway, but now its nice to know I have an option.