I KNOW already...nobody needs either one, they are both impractical, belts are worse than home-made incestuous sin, etc., etc., etc.

Still I have a project in the early stages which will rely on either a good supply of .240 Wby brass at less than a King's ransom, or the tools to put belts on .'06 brass.

Any recommendations for finding either one?

AC I believe Bent Fossdal had some more or less cylinder 240Wby brass made up for his Fossdal Wildcat. Might try him or searching for his wildcat.

I can't answer your question other than to say bite the bullet and buy 50-100 pieces of 240 WBY brass and be done with it, I did.
That amount will last a long time.

Alberta: Although the .240 WBY is often referred to as a "belted .30-06 case", it has a smaller body than an '06. The rim and belt of the .240 WBY are the same as the '06, but the body ahead of the belt is smaller.

You probably already know this, but I wanted to point it out in case someone might be confused by the old saw "belted .30-06".

Stonecreek is correct about the dimension difference, but it doesn't matter all that much because the body part of the 06 that is larger is the part that actually gets sized down.

With that said CH4D makes a die for forming 06 class brass into the 249 Weatherby.





Two photos above are a 240 Wby Norma case of the right and a formed in the CH die 25-06 Winchester case on the left.

Go 6mm-284, which is an equivalent overbore, or better yet a 6mm Rem AI. Which is still overbore but is only slightly under the 240, the 6mm-06, or the 6mm-284.

Moreover, you can get 6mm Remington brass, shoot 6mm Remington ammo in the AI chamber, and the Sierra #5 manual has plenty of loads for the caliber.

The only reason I recently went with a 243 AI was because I had a short action to work with and could not make it a 6mm Rem AI.

Barstooler

Is this for your .416 project?? roger

I think AC's point is not to get the best ballistics in that caliber, but just to do it. He can chime in if I'm wrong. Many of us want something "different".

I built my 400 PDK on 06 cylinder brass left at 2.65 with a .46" shoulder. In a 24" I can move a 400gr at over 2300 with a hunting load of 2250. Brass loaded over 7 times. A 416 would be easy. Or as Bent Fossdal did go .423. Nothing wrong with the 240 case. As for anything less than a .416 or .423 the belt isn't needed an 06 case would work just as well and probably easier and for sure cheaper.

BUT, if I had to justify every wildcat I built on being better in some way I would have very few. I think a guyor gail should build what ever they want. It is their time and $$.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bartsche:
Is this for your .416 project?? roger [/QUOTE


Yep, Roger, it sure is.

So, as you have already no doubt guessed, it doesn't matter to me one iota what may or may not have "better" ballistics among the 6m/m bores. Interestingly enough, I don't recall asking anywhere for opinions on what I SHOULD be seeking...just where to get a belting tool, or .240 Wby brass....Mike Detorre proven right again, eh??

SmokinJ -

Thanks for the info about CH-4D providing dies for making .240 Wby brass from '06.

I've dealt with them before on a .405 Win wildcat, and found them good folks making good products. I'll have to give them a call.

Think I'll ask them to cut it off as a "shorty" die right at the top of the shoulder, so it doesn't work the necks down to fit .243" bullets...and rthat will be less I have to expand the necks up.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
SmokinJ -

Thanks for the info about CH-4D providing dies for making .240 Wby brass from '06.

I've dealt with them before on a .405 Win wildcat, and found them good gfolks making good products. ill have to give them a call.

My pleasure, Dave Chabins is a great guy running that outfit.

Yes, he is. Having thought about it a little more, maybe he'll also see fit to turn it into a "bushing" die for the neck portion. That way I can use .30 bushings I already have for the neck portion, and if I ever want to make actual 240 Wby brass, I can just swap in one of my 6m/m bushings.

He's pretty flexible to building thing, but they cost money ya know.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
I built my 400 PDK on 06 cylinder brass left at 2.65 with a .46" shoulder. In a 24" I can move a 400gr at over 2300 with a hunting load of 2250. Brass loaded over 7 times. A 416 would be easy. Or as Bent Fossdal did go .423. Nothing wrong with the 240 case. As for anything less than a .416 or .423 the belt isn't needed an 06 case would work just as well and probably easier and for sure cheaper.

BUT, if I had to justify every wildcat I built on being better in some way I would have very few. I think a guyor gail should build what ever they want. It is their time and $$.

Yeh, I wish this was a spare barrel right at .408" groove diameter...then I'd pretty much copy your case but with a neck for bullets .003" smaller, and headspacing wouldn't require a belt. I'd also throat it for 300 gr. bullets, and have a real gentle little hummer. Floats like a butterfly, stings like a whole swarm of African killer bees!

quote:

I wish this was a spare barrel right at .408" groove diameter...then I'd pretty much copy your case but with a neck for bullets .003" smaller, and headspacing wouldn't require a belt.

As I said I built a 416 version first and it is still in use no headspace issue. Since it built from necked up 280 brass it was thin and the neck reamer cut accordingly. It did give as much or more than the .02 of a belt. However it was 40 degree angle not the 90 deg of a belt. Looking back I think the second effort in 411 was a better choice.

Looking at the 425 Fossdal I think it would look cool in .416. Checking some history it looks like Bent had Quality Cartridge build him some brass.

What 416 300gr bullet? I know I was pushing the 300gr Hornady way to fast and turning them to gray mist on impact. The 350 speers I've drawn to 410 seem to be working well.

A member of my silhouette club in Anchorage built a .416 on the .240 case over 20 years ago. He thought that swaging down cheap '06 brass would be the way to go and he got a set of dies to make the belt (don't remember the brand). This was not easy to do with a 'standard' reloading press, he had to borrow a bullet swaging press. It takes a lot of force to swage hardened brass, he was afraid he'd warp his RockChucker doing a lot of it. He ended up using factory .240 brass.



.

quote:

Originally posted by TX Nimrod:
A member of my silhouette club in Anchorage built a .416 on the .240 case over 20 years ago. He thought that swaging down cheap '06 brass would be the way to go and he got a set of dies to make the belt (don't remember the brand). This was not easy to do with a 'standard' reloading press, he had to borrow a bullet swaging press. It takes a lot of force to swage hardened brass, he was afraid he'd warp his RockChucker doing a lot of it. He ended up using factory .240 brass.



.

I figured it might take a right smart of mashing to swage that belt onto an '06 case. Something like the Redding Ultramag (with a two foot length of pipe for a cheater handle) would probably do the trick, but your run-of-the-mill bench press is likely a bit light for such an operation.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:

quote:

Originally posted by TX Nimrod:
A member of my silhouette club in Anchorage built a .416 on the .240 case over 20 years ago. He thought that swaging down cheap '06 brass would be the way to go and he got a set of dies to make the belt (don't remember the brand). This was not easy to do with a 'standard' reloading press, he had to borrow a bullet swaging press. It takes a lot of force to swage hardened brass, he was afraid he'd warp his RockChucker doing a lot of it. He ended up using factory .240 brass.



.

I figured it might take a right smart of mashing to swage that belt onto an '06 case. Something like the Redding Ultramag (with a two foot length of pipe for a cheater handle) would probably do the trick, but your run-of-the-mill bench press is likely a bit light for such an operation.

I think my RCBS A-3 press will do the job (same design as the A-2, but made of steel, not cast iron). If not, I'll fire up a home-made hydraulic one.

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinJ:
He's pretty flexible to building thing, but they cost money ya know.

Well, this isn't my first waltz at the "Youz pays" ter dance" Hall. I have over 50 custom-made dies now but, dang, I didn't know they wuz no longer givin 'em away for nothing.

Seriously, though I have an innate abhorance of overpaying for brass, I don't mind paying for a good tool which will last a lifetime.

A shoulder 3/4" from base end of cartridge can easily be done with bushins that now exist. The one just made has a case dia. at shoulder case junction of .465" at shoulder reduced case junction it is .435". Don't know what combination of reamers you have ; might have to buy one for this dance. roger

Roger - Sometimes you amaze me by your ability to think outside the box.

Of course one does not need to put the headspacing shoulder at the muzzle end of the case, though almost all of us act and think as if that was a chisled-in-stone law.

In fact it might be easier to make a case feed well sometimes if the shoulder was at about mid-point of the case length. Might solve headspacing problems on ocasion too.

That is something for me to think about, my friend. I've got over 100 different reamers, so will have to look at what I could cobble up by running one in for an inch or more, and another for the rest of the way and finishing up with a .416 neck/throat reamer.

Might not look conventional, but so what, eh?

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

In fact it might be easier to make a case feed well sometimes if the shoulder was at about mid-point of the case length. Might solve headspacing problems on ocasion too.
Might not look conventional, but so what, eh?

It "WILL" facilitate head spacing adequately ; better than the 45acp or 30 carbine. I once designed a whole series of wildcats using this technique but never really went farther than making some dummy cases. roger