243 brass - The Firearms Forum

bassn7 · 12-27-2009, 12:12 AM

A friend of mine's son got a 243 win for xmas and I see that case is listed as a necked down 308 which I have a lot of , can you or how do you neck them down or isn't practical to do this?
Thanks

gdmoody · 12-27-2009, 12:19 AM

I have never tried necking a case down, my neighbor necked down some 30.06 to make them .270. He said that it was a pain in the butt and I know he only did a few and then went and bought .270 ammo so he would have the brass.

Bindernut · 12-27-2009, 03:12 AM

It can be done, but it's a bunch of extra work.
With the abundance of factory .243 brass I personally don't think it's practical...it's not like you're forming for an oddball or wildcat cartridge. BUT, if you've got lots of brass that's not being used then the extra work might offset the cost of buying new brass. Your call.

Once you've got the cases necked down, you'll have to check the neck wall thickness. The necks will probably be too thick and need to be turned to meet SAAMI specs.

Another thing to beware of if you do neck down NATO 7.62 brass...
Some 7.62 brass has a thicker case around the head & body area which makes for a smaller internal volume. This can make load development a pain since you'll have to be extra cautious about approaching max loads.

bassn7 · 12-27-2009, 04:07 AM

Thanks for answers I think that was a bad idea I see brass is only about 34$ a 100 so lots of wasted time, for not much gain

12-27-2009, 12:12 AM	#1
bassn7 Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bruce Wi Posts: 14	243 brass A friend of mine's son got a 243 win for xmas and I see that case is listed as a necked down 308 which I have a lot of , can you or how do you neck them down or isn't practical to do this? Thanks -->

12-27-2009, 12:19 AM	#2
gdmoody Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Northeast Georgia Contributor Posts: 6,310	Re: 243 brass I have never tried necking a case down, my neighbor necked down some 30.06 to make them .270. He said that it was a pain in the butt and I know he only did a few and then went and bought .270 ammo so he would have the brass. __________________ NRA Endowment Member GeorgiaCarry.Org Member Retired US Army Postal Worker Personally, I carry a gun because I'm too young to die and too old to take an ass whoopin'.....author unknown (but obviously brilliant)

12-27-2009, 03:12 AM	#3
Bindernut Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: ND, USA Posts: 2,433	Re: 243 brass It can be done, but it's a bunch of extra work. With the abundance of factory .243 brass I personally don't think it's practical...it's not like you're forming for an oddball or wildcat cartridge. BUT, if you've got lots of brass that's not being used then the extra work might offset the cost of buying new brass. Your call. Once you've got the cases necked down, you'll have to check the neck wall thickness. The necks will probably be too thick and need to be turned to meet SAAMI specs. Another thing to beware of if you do neck down NATO 7.62 brass... Some 7.62 brass has a thicker case around the head & body area which makes for a smaller internal volume. This can make load development a pain since you'll have to be extra cautious about approaching max loads.

12-27-2009, 04:07 AM	#4
bassn7 Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Bruce Wi Posts: 14	Re: 243 brass Thanks for answers I think that was a bad idea I see brass is only about 34$ a 100 so lots of wasted time, for not much gain