The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Reloading 308 brass to 243??Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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one of us |
is it feasable to try and size 308 brass and turn it into 243?? if so what is the best way to do it?? in times when one needs a rifle, he tends to need it very badly.....PHC | ||
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| one of us |
You can just run it through the .243 sizing die. However, that is not where the problem lies. Mike the neck of a once fired .243 round from your rifle. Then, mike the neck of the .308 Win. case you just converted with a bullet seated. If the .308 case is smaller than the fired .243 case, then you should be OK. If it is the same or larger with the seated bullet, the necks will have to be outside turned. You need at least .002" on each side of the case, preferably a little more. If you don't have it, when you fire the round, the neck will not ne able to expane enough to properly release the bullet resulting in much higher pressure and possibly even a KABOOM. This is especially true if you're converting military .308 (7.62 NATO) brass. It's a real PITA to measure those necks, but it beat possibly ruining a nice rifle, not to mention personal body parts. Paul B. | |||
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| one of us |
so let me get this right, I measure a once fired correct 243 case that has been fired in that gun, next I load up a converted 308 case with seated bullet, the outside of the neck needs to be at least .002 total smaller that the once fired unsized 243 case??? yes I am trying to convert military brass. so lets say everything works out and I have the .002 clearance, is it necessary to keep checking the brass in subsequent reloadings?? in times when one needs a rifle, he tends to need it very badly.....PHC | |||
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| one of us |
You can get a sizing die to resize 308 brass to 243. I have one. Peter. Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; | |||
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 I was given a Ruger Varmint in .243 and had little (About 3)pieces of brass. Wanting to try the rifle out I resized .308 brass. rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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| One of Us |
I hope you have a serious press and good sizing lube. You will do well to size in several steps using intermediate dies. | |||
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I take 06 cylinder brass that measures around .465 down to 338 with a 40 deg shoulder in one step. 308 to 243 has not an issue except for neck thickness. As usual just my $.02 Paul K | |||
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One of Us |
I take down 7mm Rem Mag brass to .257 Wby Mag brass. I just lube it well and run it through my Lyman .257 Wby resizing die in one slow, smooth stroke. Works like a charm--shoots great--costs a ton less. You need a pretty heavy press, though. Red C. Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion. | |||
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I din't have any luck sizing 08 brass down to 6.5 in one pass. I had to use a 7mm neck die first (Lapua 08). The necks are then too thick & need reaming. Not worth the effort to me. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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+1.  Bill | |||
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 You guys had me thinking I was suffering from some kind of BRAIN FART!  I took out the .243 dies, Bardahl and reformed some .308 RP and FC cases in one pass. Can't help wondering what you are experiencing.  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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| One of Us |
I concur with bartsche. I've sized many once fired 7.62 Match cases down to .243 in one slow pass. I used a lanolin/STP based lube. The only other considerations are the neck thickness and internal capacity (considerably less with reformed 7.62 cases vs WW cases for instance). However I must admit that there were a number of wrinkled and folded necks if I tried to go too fast. Sizing the cases first in a 7-08 or 6.5-08 FL die usually eliminates the wrinkled or folded necks. I did not get any wrinkled or folded necks with WW or RP cases when just one pass in the Forster/Bonanza benchrest FL Die was used. Note; I am speaking of reforming once fired cases here. If you are getting new cases then get the 243 cases to begin with. I only did the above because I had a large number of once fired 7.62/.308 cases. I shot the barrel out of the .243 I made those cases for and when I started reloading for the wife's M70 .246 I just got new .243 cases. Larry Gibson | |||
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I used to do what cummins cowboy is inquiring about, but found it wasn't worth the extra steps involved (gradual resizing in a .243FL die & inside neck reaming). The finished product was as accurate as factory brass, but it was measurably shorter than the former. Moreover, inside neck-reaming and annealing the brass afterward were practically mandatory. The better way is to sell the .308Win. brass to a recycler and use the $$$ to purchase [premium] .243Win. brass. Just my $0.02. | |||
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In my attempts to make 260 brass, the necks would get a vertical fold if I tried to go in one step. Neck sizing to 7mm then sizing to 6.5 worked ok, but still produced cases w/ thicker necks than I wanted. So I neck 243 Lapua up to get my match brass. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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Fred! Come on over and bring your dies!  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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Your right about the length, Paul. The FC measures about2.020" prior to fireing The Rp is 2.036" before fireing. The 2.036" length is just about a perfect trim length. I'm not propagating the idea it should be done I'm just passing on results. Also the first that were made were outside neck turned which isn't all that bad. rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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I have done 308 LC brass to .243 in one pass. Sometimes it works and sometimes the bolt is hard to close and harder to open. What does it all mean? Not a good idea unless you know what you are doing. | |||
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HORSEPUCKY! it's no more difficult than sizing proper .243 brass. Paul B. | |||
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I used my STP-synthetic lube and do it in one easy pass. I for the life of me dont see all the problems? Yes it is shorter,but you dont have to trim | |||
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 seems about right to me. rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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bartche "My Dad said Talk is cheap it takes money to buy whiskey. Do it and than talk about it. Old age is a high price to pay for maturity!!" I'll drink to that....Canadian whiskey for me:-) Larry Gibson | |||
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So will I, Larry.Last week my cousin gave me an unopened pint of Crown Royal with a 1967 tax stamp on it. The fifth of unopened VO had a 1968 tax stamp on it.  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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The first 243 I ever owned had such a sloppy chamber that 260 cartridges would chamber in it with minimal force. I used to neck size 308 brass down in one pass to 243 and even that didn't help. I wound up cutting 30.06 cases to length and necking them down to 358, then 308 and then down to 243. I then had a 243 neck sizing die opened up to fit them and they worked. Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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