Form 6mmBR cases from 308 brass, can it be done?

J

jimfinn

Guest
Is there any technical reason why I couldn't form 6mmBR brass from 308 brass? I know it will be a bunch of work. I have a forming die with a series of bushings so I can neck the 308 brass down and push the shoulder back. Then it is a matter of trimming and turning. A possible drawback (or perhaps advantage?) is that the case near the shoulder may be thicker than in 6mmBR brass. This could possibliy reduce the case capacity.
I ask as I am having a hard time finding any 6BR Lapua brass.
Thanks
Jim
 
Jim

Jim
I have done it with Remington URBR brass.If you look inside the URBR brass it is relieved all the way around the primer pocket and gives you more performance than a straight 6BR.
I think Stu Harvey at Stu's Precision may still have 10-15 boxes of the URBR brass for sale but I'm not positive.It is only 20 rounds to the box but it also has the small primer.
Lynn
 
Hi Lynn,
I just sent Stu an email. I'll let you know what he says.
Jim
 
Jimfinn

Jim
You might ask Stu if he has any regular 6BR brass for sale as well.He shoots a 6BR a Dasher and his own design called the Comet all based on the 6BR case.Its worth a try.
I ordered Varget from Powder Valley on December 2nd and got a notification yesterday that it is now shipping UPS ground.
We have a match this sunday and I am down to my last cups worth of powder.
Lynn
 
A 6-250! I bet it is a heck of a dog cartridge!!
Now for my dumb question. Just what is the URBR case? I had never heard of it until today.
Jim
 
I just realized that there is another big problem.
The 308 case uses a large rifle primer :(
Bummer.
Jim
 
Be aware that the URBR case does use the small primer but it has a huge (.085?) flash hole. This IS NOT a good combination. This is the root of the problems with the original CHeetah (Carmichel/Huntington) round.

For the small primer brass to work effectively it must have a small FLASH HOLE to go along with the small primer, IMO. ;)

I've got wildcats built on .308 Lapua, .308 URBR, 6X47 blown out to .308 (30X47L) and 30BR (6BR blown out to .308)


Making BR cases from the .308 case is certainly doable but it's a lot of work for "what?" and IF I were to make custom 6BR brass I'd most certainly start with 6.5X47L brass instead since it's virtually identical except for being a quarter inch longer.

The HUGE advantage of making your own brass is that you can set your headspace for crushfit and your gapspace to near nil. Be careful when shortening your gapspace, if you've got a poor die setup and your brass "grows" you can get into trouble with crimping your brass onto the bullet.

Have fun


be safe! :)

al
 
Don't say this where my rifles can hear it!

alinwa said:
Be aware that the URBR case does use the small primer but it has a huge (.085?) flash hole. This IS NOT a good combination. This is the root of the problems with the original CHeetah (Carmichel/Huntington) round.

For the small primer brass to work effectively it must have a small FLASH HOLE to go along with the small primer, IMO. ;)

I've got wildcats built on .308 Lapua, .308 URBR, 6X47 blown out to .308 (30X47L) and 30BR (6BR blown out to .308)


Making BR cases from the .308 case is certainly doable but it's a lot of work for "what?" and IF I were to make custom 6BR brass I'd most certainly start with 6.5X47L brass instead since it's virtually identical except for being a quarter inch longer.

The HUGE advantage of making your own brass is that you can set your headspace for crushfit and your gapspace to near nil. Be careful when shortening your gapspace, if you've got a poor die setup and your brass "grows" you can get into trouble with crimping your brass onto the bullet.

Have fun


be safe! :)

al
Click to expand...

They have been known to win the odd National Championship yardage and Grand AGGS while digesting loads based upon the .308 UBR brass. My experience is exactly the opposite - most small priner pocket brass does better with the flash-hole ENLARGED!:eek::D Amongst my peers, my addiction to the UBR brass is well known - just one of my idiotic quirks.:eek:;)

Originally, the UBR brass (or something else, with the correct case-head dimensions, but with a large-primer pocket) was the ONLY way to make 6BR brass - following the introduction of the 6 and 22 BRs, Remington did not offer [pre-formed ]brass for several years: if you wanted to play with either version - 22 or, 6MM - you formed your own !:eek: Oh, and at that time, a set of RCBS form dies was in the neighnorhood of $125.00 - today, that would amount to $500 + . . . :D

Oh, but I went on a tangent before I got started - the UBR brass was MADE with forming in mind: thin-walled and properly annealed to accommodate forming, in a correctly dimensioned chamber, the stuff is GREAT. :D RG
 
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Thanks for all the info guys!!
The 6.5X47 tip is a good one Al.
RG,
Another example of the old "there is more than one way to skin a cat" saying!!

Dan,
I only have 10 fireformed cases that came with the barrel. I hope to eventually got up to 50, but I'll take what ever I can get, another 10, 15, 20.... If you are willing to part with a few I'd greatly appreciate it. But don't short yourself. It will be a month of two before I will be able to get the rifle all together to shoot anyway, and I am on a back-order list with one outlet.

This forum is sure a great place, made great by all the super folks who hang out here!!!!!
Jim
 
R. G. Robinett said:
They have been known to win the odd National Championship yardage and Grand AGGS while digesting loads based upon the .308 UBR brass. My experience is exactly the opposite - most small priner pocket brass does better with the flash-hole ENLARGED!:eek::D Amongst my peers, my addiction to the UBR brass is well known - just one of my idiotic quirks.:eek:;)

Originally, the UBR brass (or something else, with the correct case-head dimensions, but with a large-primer pocket) was the ONLY way to make 6BR brass - following the introduction of the 6 and 22 BRs, Remington did not offer [pre-formed ]brass for several years: if you wanted to play with either version - 22 or, 6MM - you formed your own !:eek: Oh, and at that time, a set of RCBS form dies was in the neighnorhood of $125.00 - today, that would amount to $500 + . . . :D

Oh, but I went on a tangent before I got started - the UBR brass was MADE with forming in mind: thin-walled and properly annealed to accommodate forming, in a correctly dimensioned chamber, the stuff is GREAT. :D RG
Click to expand...


Yeahh Randy I know your predilection for enlarged flashholes to "let the fa'r out" ;) and with fast powders it's worked for you. :)

I've still got a few boxes of URBR if you ever run low ;)

al
 
Alinwa

Al
If you run the straight 6BR with URBR brass up against a Dasher some time let me know how they both chronograph.
Lynn
 
I am cautiously optimistic. I ordered Lapua 6mmBR brass from Precision Reloading and I just got an e-mail saying that they will be shipping the order today. As the only thing in the order was the brass, I'm hoping that means they actually have some on hand.
Jim
 
Lynn said:
Al
If you run the straight 6BR with URBR brass up against a Dasher some time let me know how they both chronograph.
Lynn
Click to expand...

I don't see myself ever using the URBR brass, I bought it back when I was in a frenzy about a better HBR case, and then I started hearing about the 6.5X47L........ and then it CAME :):):)


And I've never looked back.

For your own experimentation though you can ream out flashholes on DAshers or even 6BR's to compare small to large, apples to apples. Randy's done this and he's a real proponent of opening up the holes. He wins with them too. I on the other hand just fiddle and diddle over my chronograph.

al
 
Howdy Lynn,
I got in touch with Stu, he prefers talking on the phone to e-mail. He is a hell of a great guy to talk to. I am getting 100 pieces of the URBR brass for a very fair price. He said he has a bit more that he'd part with.

He mentioned that you will be in his neck of the woods for a long range shoot soon. I'll actually be in Sacramento for a working meeting next Tursday through Friday. Who knows, I might figure out a way to pay Stu a visit.
Best to you and Yours
Jim
 
Jimfinn

Jim
Stu Harvey has been shooting benchrest for a long time and building bench guns that win and set records as well.He built the gun for Ken Schroeder that has a pending record waiting on oficial scoring right now.He was a racer before that so he is a very competitive guy by nature.
We are shooting this sunday at Sacramento so if you can make it out here on 1-25-09 Stu will likely be at the match.
If you just need some 6BR brass to get you by I have a few cases that are turned to fit a 0.268 chamber with 0.001 total clearance that are yours free of charge.Let me know and I'll vibrate them up so you can sort through them.
Lynn
 
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the offer, but I should be in good shape. Besides it will be awhile before I get the rifle in condition to shoot.
I am thinking of getting another action rather than using my Model Seven. The Seven is all trued up and has a Jewel trigger on it, so it is a good rig. However, I have two hunting barrels (a 7-08 and a 6.5 SAUM wildcat) that I use it with. So I don't know if I want to do that much switching back and forth. I already talked with Jerry Stiller about getting one of his Predator actions, a repeater version. That way if I decide to go a different direction in the future (for exampl build another hunting rifle), that action would work just fine. As my main passion is hunting I think that may be a good way for me to go.
I don't get down to Sacramento until Monday evening. The meeting is over on the university campus. I'll be tied up with meetings until Thursday afternoon. Then on Friday I catch a morning flight back up to Anchorage. I have too many personal obligations to hang out after the meeting. But one of these days I'll have a work meeting somewhere that I can stay over for a weekend and catch a match.
Take care and have fun this weekend. Tell Stu I think he is a super guy!!!
The degree of friendship and willingness to lend a hand is a very special part of this shooting community. I am humbled by it!!!
Jim
 
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