Dear all

I have a question regarding .25-06 brass.

Would I be able to neck up using .25-06 brass up to .280 Rem?

I am considering a new rifle build and the barrel on the rifle in question is currently chambered in .25-06. I have a lot of brass for this rifle and wondered if it was possible/sensible to neck up?

All info gratefully recieved.

Possible but not particularly sensible IMO. Headspace at the shoulder is considerably longer on the 280 and so IMO you'd hafta first neck up to 30 or 32 cal and then neck down only the front part of the neck to the 280 dimension to achieve a crush fit in the chamber. By doing it this way you'd be taking a chance on having head separations if you didn't take some extra precautions during the first firing. And don't forget to anneal the brass before doing any necking operations.

OTOH it's not a big expense for 100 new 280 cases. I recommend this new-brass approach VERY HIGHLY, and I speak as one who has owned several 280s including my current plains-caliber bolt gun, a small-ring Mauser. It's a splendid cartridge but it does have a few uh-oh areas for the unwary handloader.
Regards, Joe

Can you adapt a .25-06 case to successfully and reasonalby safely go "bang" as a .280 finished cartridge? Yes, with some luck.

Is it practical to make the .25-06 case, which is both shorter in the base-shoulder dimension and in overall length, into an appropriate .280 case? No.

Thanks Fellas

Just the info I was after.

I will start afresh with the correct brass from the out start.

Thanks

JB