Anyone know if you can make 6.5x57 brass out of 6mm Remington brass???

I've never done it, but I was considering building a 6 rem improved and did research on making Lapua brass out of 7 x 57. If you want quality, I'd go that route and take the chance on having to neck turn. However, I've heard that it is better to neck up when possible to reduce the possibilities of creating donuts.

quote:

Originally posted by ghostrider272:
Anyone know if you can make 6.5x57 brass out of 6mm Remington brass???

Yes; but .257 Roberts is a little easier and 7mm x 57 is good. roger

Hi Ghostrider ... I don't know about 6mm Rem brass but I make my 6.5x57 from readily available, good quality, .30-06 brass.

Simply purchase a Redding Series D form & trim die #83228 One pass through the press, cut off surplus with a hacksaw and file flat. Next step one pass through a regular 6.5x57 full length sizing die and tidy up the case mouth with a chamfer tool. A bit of work involved but the net result is an endless supply of excellent 6.5x57 cases. Hope this is of some help ...

Yes, you can. The 6mm Rem is nothing but a 6.5X57mm or a 7X57mm necked DOWN, so reversing the process is no biggy... But a Bart says, the .257 Roberts is even closer to 6.5mm than 6mm is. The only real difference between any of these round is their neck diameters and slight shoulder angle variations, which are overcome by FL sizing & the first firing......

quote:

The 6mm Rem is nothing but a 6.5X57mm or a 7X57mm necked DOWN

Well, close, but not quite.

The 6mm Rem has a modified shoulder angle of 24 degrees, compared to the 17.5 degrees of the Mauser/Roberts. This makes the neck a little longer. When you run an expander ball through 6mm/.244 to expand it to .264" I.D., the base of the neck ends up somewhat short of the corresponding point in the chamber. This might cause marginally excessive headspace.

Why wouldn't you simply use 7x57 brass? It is plentiful and no more expensive than any other 57mm brass you might buy. Besides, necking down usually gets you a little more consistency in neck wall thickness and concentricity than necking up does. However, going up from .257" to .264" isn't much of a stretch and the Roberts brass would work like a charm. For that matter, once-fired Roberts brass is almost there, already.

The 6.5x57 has a longer body and a shorter neck than 6mm Rem, not just a larger neck diameter. I think just a necked-up 6mm would have excessive headspace.

Starting with 7x57, you might be able to leave a short 7mm neck to headspace against for fireforming.

I haven't studied the drawings in detail, but here they are:

6.5x57
http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd65x57.jpg

7x57
http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd7mauser.jpg

6mm Rem
http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd6remington.jpg

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

The 6mm Rem is nothing but a 6.5X57mm or a 7X57mm necked DOWN

Well, close, but not quite.

The 6mm Rem has a modified shoulder angle of 24 degrees, compared to the 17.5 degrees of the Mauser/Roberts. This makes the neck a little longer. When you run an expander ball through 6mm/.244 to expand it to .264" I.D., the base of the neck ends up somewhat short of the corresponding point in the chamber. This might cause marginally excessive headspace.

Why wouldn't you simply use 7x57 brass? It is plentiful and no more expensive than any other 57mm brass you might buy. Besides, necking down usually gets you a little more consistency in neck wall thickness and concentricity than necking up does. However, going up from .257" to .264" isn't much of a stretch and the Roberts brass would work like a charm. For that matter, once-fired Roberts brass is almost there, already.

Yes, I stand corrected. To safely use the 6mm case to make brass for the 6.5X57mm, it would be necessary to neck the cases up larger than needed for 6.5mm bullets (with a .277" expander) to create a "secondary shoulder" which would permit you to make a fine adjustment for headspace in your individual chamber as you sized it back down in your FL die to hold the 6.5mm bullets.

This is done by screwing the FL die into the press about 1/4 revolution at a time, sizing a test case, and trying it in your rifle until it will just barely permit the bolt to close. Once this spot is found, the die lock ring is locked in place so all cases get sized down just that amount.... Of course, you can do the same with 7X57mm brass, as it is already big enough for the "secondary shoulder" approach without having to do anything to it except size it down with the 6.5X57mm FL die to give a good crush fit in your chamber.

quote:

Originally posted by bcp:
The 6.5x57 has a longer body and a shorter neck than 6mm Rem, not just a larger neck diameter. I think just a necked-up 6mm would have excessive headspace.

Starting with 7x57, you might be able to leave a short 7mm neck to headspace against for fireforming.

I haven't studied the drawings in detail, but here they are:

6.5x57
http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd65x57.jpg

7x57
http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd7mauser.jpg

6mm Rem
http://stevespages.com/jpg/cd6remington.jpg

Bruce

Not to lock horns with anyone else here...

I shoot a 6.5 x 57.. actually it is my favorite cartridge..

I normally neck up Winchester +P 257 Roberts brass...

however, I have also necked up 6mm Rem to see if it would work also.. and it did just fine with no muss or fuss..

however, since I shoot 7 mm Mauser and 6mm Rem, I use strictly the 257 Roberts brass for it, as I don't have a chambering in the Roberts..

just passing on my experience...good luck..

I should have mentioned that there are 2 different 6.5x57 cartridges.

One is the standardized European cartridge, which I think is the drawing from Steve's Pages.

The other is the US wildcat, popularized in the 1940's-50's as a rechambering for 6.5 Japanese rifles. It was usually described as the 257 Roberts necked up to 6.5 caliber.

If the rifle was chambered in Europe, it is most likely the CIP standard 6.5x57.

It the rifle is US origin, I think it would have more of a chance of being the US wildcat.

Bruce