I am contemplating buying a .280AI and want to form my brass from either .270 Win. or .30-06 brass. I am fully aware how to do it and know that the .270W brass would be the better choice but I have a lot more .30-06 brass than .270!
I would like to know how it worked out for other shooters. I realize that the .30-06 will come out with a pretty short neck but will it be too short!



Thanks!
Hip

Form a shoulder on the 06 load and fire. Easier than 270. Neck will be fine

The question of case length is interesting.

I take it cases tend to lengthen when necked down but shorten when necked up.

Presumably the 280 AI also comes from the .30-06, so there must be potential in that brass to lengthen by one-plus mm in being necked down to .284". So, if anything, it would seem that 270 brass necked up would be more likely to shorten slightly.

Not that it would matter - it would just delay case trimming a reload or two.

The best choice would be the 280 Remington case, the 280 Remington case and the 270 Winchester case is the same length. Both cases are 2.540 long.

If you measure the length before forming and again after sizing to a improved chamber the case will shorten by .040" at least.

The 30/06 case is 2.494 long, Once the case body is increased in diameter and the shoulder is moved formed at the case body/shoulder juncture and moved back at the neck/case body juncture you will have a case that does not cover the chamber.

At one time I keep-up with Remington Cylinder brass but found there was no appreciation for the effort. Long brass made it possible to form Gibbs brass because the Gibbs had short necks.

F. Guffey

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
The question of case length is interesting.

I take it cases tend to lengthen when necked down but shorten when necked up.

Presumably the 280 AI also comes from the .30-06, so there must be potential in that brass to lengthen by one-plus mm in being necked down to .284". So, if anything, it would seem that 270 brass necked up would be more likely to shorten slightly.

Not that it would matter - it would just delay case trimming a reload or two.

That's true, IMHO but one needs to add the fire forming to the mix and whenever that happens, the brass shortens regardless of the parent case.

Hipshoot,
I don't have the personal experience with '06 brass for the 280 AI so hope someone else has real-world experience.

Zeke

I have quite a bit of experience with Ack. Imp. cartridges as I have a .257 AI, an 8mm/06AI and an .375 H&H AI. All the cases when fireformed shorten! Just concerned with them being TOO short.
Just trying to get a head start on my thinking before I start.

Thanks All!

Hip

If fireforming shortens the cases so much, where did Ackley get his donor brass from?

I didn't say it shortened the case too much! I said it shortened the case!

Hip

quote:

I didn't say it shortened the case too much! I said it shortened the case!

I suggest the reloader measure the length of the case before firing and again after firing. And then there is sizing the case; measure the length of the case before sizing and again after sizing.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
Form a shoulder on the 06 load and fire. Easier than 270. Neck will be fine

My experience exactly. A slightly short neck is not a problem. It will grow after firing, but you'll likely never need to trim it. Use your '06 cases with confidence.

quote:

Originally posted by Hipshoot:
I didn't say it shortened the case too much! I said it shortened the case!

Hip

...and I didn't say you did. Two other posters shared the view that fireforming shortened cases but I can only see three uses of the word TOO in any of these posts - all made by you - and my 'so' does not mean the same thing.

Dpcd might have a beef, though, because I ended a sentence with the word 'from'

quote:

If fireforming shortens the cases so much, where did Ackley get his donor brass from?

It is very difficult to keep up with and then some assume. In the beginning the barrel was set-back to assure the old chamber was removed. And then like magic the 30/06 case worked.

And then there were those that did nothing to the chamber but use a new reamer to cut the chamber. That made it possible to use 30/06 cases in the new chamber because the shoulder of the case would headspace on the shoulder at the neck/shoulder juncture. Ackley could not make all the smiths happy.

I could have cast the chamber, problem, there are only two people that can cast a chamber from the shoulder to the bolt face.

F. Guffey

I have reloaded 280AI since 1998. Those were the days I had to develop my own loads by micrometer measurement of case head expansion.

Any brass will work fine. A couple of mm lengths in the neck is not going to make a difference. 280 Rem brass is best. 30,06 brass may do better with outside neck turning, particularly if your chamber is on the lower tolerance level.

FIRE FORMING: I just use 20 gr of shotgun powder and a square of toilet paper to keep the powder down. Fire them and avoid the cost of bullets and the time on the range. I've used this method for various hard to find calibers like 9.5X57MS. Works perfectly.

Thanx! Naki

Hip