What brass can I use to make this brass? .270, (looks like the neck is a bit long and the point where it headspaces is not in the right place in comparison to the reamer (ptg)) 25-06 or 30-06. If I use 30-06 will I have to turn dowm the neck thickness? Any advise would be great, Thank you Joe

The 30-06, 25-06, 270, 338-06 etc all use the same headspace guage. I would take 25-06 expand the neck and not look back. The 270 brass is longer and will get even longer when you neck down.

unless your 6.5-06AI reamer is a tight neck reamer, say .292" NK or so, then you can use either 25-06 or 30-06 brass. If the neck is a larger dia neck type, then I would use 30-06 brass to take up the extra dia to reduce overworking. I have used both to form with no issues.

When I was shooting mine, I used the 30-06 Lapua. I have a tight neck reamer anyway, but you can't beat the Lapua quality.

If you want some with the correct headstamp, try http://www.qual-cart.com

You will still need to fire it in your chamber for the best fit, but at least it will have the correct stamp.

I have some of their 400 Whelen brass, and it seems pretty decent.

I'm not praising them over some other particular types of brass (I like Norma alot), but it's fun having some wildcat brass that looks correct for the rifle.

Garrett

I use 270 brass for mine. I had some neck splitting trouble with 25-06, and with the 270 I can control the neck length easier, especially if your chamber neck is cut a little long. I have also used 30-06 brass with good luck, but I used an interim 7mm neck size die.

It's generally better to neck down instead of up (although going from .257 to .264 inside diameter isn't much of a problem). If you neck down you will (1) usually have a more concentric neck (2) make the neck thicker and thus enable you custom-fit the chamber dimensions better and (3) allow you to make headspace perfect (nice and snug) BEFORE the first firing. Using .270 (or .280) brass will make your neck long enough that it will need trimming; .30-06 brass may or may not need trimming after resizing. You can use a .280 die as an intermediate step, but it's usually not needed if your brass is new and appropriatly ductile. Be sure to bevel the insides of the necks of the resized brass.

If you use 280 brass, remember that it is actually longer (shoulder dimension) than the others in the 06 family, and will need a significant bump to get it back to proper headspace.

I think the easy way is to use a pistol powder forming load and a wax or soap plug in a 25-06 case.