I have access to some 308 brass cheap and was thinking about forming it into brass for the 260 Remington.

Will this likely be a simple one-trip through the 260 sizer die operation? Would it require the use of a intermediate step such as going through a 7mm-08 sizer die and then the 260 die?

Am I likely to run into neck thickness issues by doing this and have to turn necks?

Thanks,
Mark in GA

The problem with 308 brass in a 260 is it ends up 0.01" short on the neck. Yes it will work but the neck length is not optimum. As far as a one pass resizing, it just depends on the manufacturer and the thickness of the brass. Winchester 308 brass can be sized to 260 in one pass.

IMO if the "bargain brass" you're referring to is military I'd let it go.

Military brass has quite a bit less capacity as commercial brass and must be kept separate for reloading. It'll work ok....but don't try to load it like any other brass.....you must develope loads for it separately. It's never recommended that we mix even commercial brass.....but mil surp brass carries this warning in spades.

I used to form .25-06 from 30-06 but since I had the .270 die I always run the brass thru that first. I never had to turn necks.

If the brass turns out .01 short it's not a problem to be concerned about at all. I routinely trim cases .03 short of the manual as I never have to trim them again. It's never caused a problem of any kind.

When you can buy 500 pieces of new Remington brass for around $116, why bother?

One pass through the die is all that it takes. I've formed thousands of them this way -- way back before the .260 was a commercial round (mine were stamped 6.5x.308).

Yes, the brass may come up ever-so-slightly short, but it is inconsequential.

If the brass is in good condition, you should have no problems at all.

I tried making some for my .260ai from new Fedear & IMI but failed trying in one pass. By necking to 7mm in a Horandy neck sizer I was able then to go to 6.5. Necks were a bit thick so I just decided to keep the .308 match brass I have for a future project & just get RP260 or neck up Lapua .243.

Fred-You need to make sure you are using a tapered expander.

Actually the brass I am looking at is mostly Remington.

Thanks,
Mark in GA

Starts at .308, then down to .284, then down to .264 and the necks should finish more consistant. Use the 7mm 08 die.

I would just buy remington brass, it's very good, i have used three different lots all OK.

My biggest trick to necking something up or down is to use Imperial Sizing Wax! Life became much easier after that! So much so that I'd recommend using Imperial before seeing if you need to use an intermediary size die.

quote:

Originally posted by ricciardelli:
When you can buy 500 pieces of new Remington brass for around $116, why bother?

I would rather buy 500 lapua cases from Sinclair for $175$

Cheers
/JOHAN

Bobby, my Redding die has a tapered exp. but the neck kept folding. It's just a lot easier using the 7-08 die first. I did it as an experiment. The necks are too thick for my .260ai & require turning. Too much work when I can get good .243 brass or just use the cheap RP.260 brass.

forming cases= brain damage.

Fred-My dies were RCBS. Not sure of the group number designation, but they were custom as the 6.5x.308 had not yet be commercialized. I don't recall ever losing a case due to the situation you describe. I used all sorts of brass back then, from IMI .308 Match to Win. 308 WCF, Rem. 243 WCF and Rem .308 Win.

For lube, I used a lanolin-based spray (messy) but later changed to Hornady One-Shot aerosol, which I still use today.

One thing you can try: back off the die 1/4th to 1/2 turn so that at the height of the stroke, the die doesn't come in contact with the shellholder -- pretty much as you'd do for a partial resizing.

But like you noted, with inexpensive .260 brass around, there's no need to mess with it unless you have a significant amount of other brass suitable for the cartridge.

The ways mentioned above work.. but I do this all the time, since Remington is not my first choice in brass.. and when I do use it, I prefer the nickel brass... strictly for cosmetics....

I also don't own a 308, but I do own a batch of 243s... so the simple alternative is to use 308 brass for my 260 brass....

I size it in the 260 RCBS or Lee dies, with the expander plug removed... then I resize it with the expander plug in....

what this eliminates is getting that little rim around the base of the neck that is so common...

I also sized down a batch of Lake City 308 brass for someone else who had a batch of it.. and it all worked just fine doing it the way that I did it above.. the friend rebarreled his 308 target rifle to 260 Rem....

cheers
seafire