.260 rem brass ?

FishinHank

FishinHank

New member
It is really hard to find off the shelf brass for the .260 rem in my area. I bought a 3rd edition Barnes reloading book recently, and when I was flipping through it today I noticed that the 7mm-08 cases are based on the same parent case as the .260 rem, a .308 winchester. My question is, would it be possible to neck down a 7mm-08 case to a .260 rem, it is a lot easier to get new brass in 7mm-08, and its a lot cheaper than buying it online. I dont own and dont plan on owning a 7mm-08 so mixing up the brass is no problem.
 
Also look at using the parent brass .308 it should neck down just fine. I have used 30/06 brass to make 25/06 with no problems.
 
ok, cool. yeah the 7mm-08 is closer to the .260 rem neck size (6.5mm) so I wouldnt have to neck it down as far. Also, I am assuming that I would have to do a full size resizing or can I get away with only a neck resizer. once they are fireformed I will only neck resize them, but I have never necked down brass that wasnt exactly what it was meant for before.
 
.243 brass is pretty easy to get also.
You can neck it up or neck down 7mm08 or .308 they are all the same parent case. (.308)

Or just buy .260 Rem brass made by Remington.

I think finding .243 or .308 brass would be the easiest.
 
I would call Midway, when I first started shooting a 7-08 I had a lot of 308 brass so I necked it down to much trouble I would just order new 260 brass
 
Just order new brass. But if you are determined to resize brass, then opening up the neck is a lot easier than necking down. Then fire form and you are good to go.
 
Natchez has .260 Rem brass in stock or did not long ago. Sportsmen's Warehouse also usually carries it. Why go to the problem of sizing when you can get it factory right the first time? I'm using Remington brass from the previously mentioned sources. Don
 
If you use .308 and neck down to 260 you need to turn the outside of the neck. This task takes good tooling (mini-lathe) and is also tedious if done manually.

If you do not turn the neck, the outside dia may be oversize and when you ram the cartridge into a .260 chamber the case neck will be press fitted into chamber neck. This will cause a dangerously elevated chamber pressure as the bullet is caught in the neck instead of being released as it should.

If you use .243 brass and neck it up then you do not have to turn neck.
 
Necking up the 260 brass is easy.

Lube the inside of the neck with a Q tip with lube on it. Lube can be any number of things, I use the Lee Sizing lube, $2 a tube & Car wax also works extremely well, STP oil additive works well but is more of a mess than the wax products. Imperial Sizing wax works well, but I like the wax better, it seems to be "Slicker" than the oil based products.

A long tapered expander that is sold by Sinclair Int'l is a great aid, but the expander on your full lengh sizer may work, you will just have to try it and see.

A very heavy chamfer on the inside of the neck also helps a lot.
 
I shudder every time I see someone mention necking up .243 amd here's why....What if you have a .243 and a .260? It's entirely possible that one just looks at the headstamp for a day of shooting and accidentially grabs .260 ammo. headstamped as .243 when wanting to shoot their .243.

For that reason, I will only choose to neck down 7-08 brass. No neck turning needed and no disaster potential other than not getting the desired result on the target/game.

If you own a .243 and a .260, I don't recommend this.
 
I have read a 7-08 can be chambered into a 260 rather easily. From what I understand, the 7-08/.260 is the one to be worried about.
 
yeah I dont own a 7/08 or a .243 not do I plan on owning any in the future, so im not worried about it. Most likely I will end up buying .260 brass from cabelas or something, but I wanted to know my options.
 
RidgeRunner,
I believe you. However, I could see a ham fisted person setting the bullet back by using excessive force to chamber the round...That could lead to something bad.

FishinHank, I don't intend that you are that kind of person. I own both claibers and try to stick to the headstamp marked for the caliber. It always good to know potions though.

As a side note, I hunt with my .260 and I'm obsessed with finding my .260 brass after downing an animal. All this reading about .260 Rem brass being hard to find makes me police my brass obsessively after the hunt. Anyone else do this?
 
I definately will be!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Also is there any set number of times I can reload new brass, and then toss them no matter what once I hit that number? I know I should be checking the after each reload to see signs of stress. A buddy of mine says he doesnt reload any more than 6 or 7 times, just wanted to toss that question out at you guys and see what you thought.
 
I usually reload mine no more than 6 times. After that, the brass usually becomes work-hardened which reduces consistency and neck tension.

Some people will try and anneal the brass by adding heat to the neck through the use of a torch...See http://www.6mmbr.com/annealing.html for more info. on annealing.

Others try to use better (more expensive) brass such as Lapua to get more firings per round. At 10 firings on Lapua vs. 5 firings out of Rem/Win. brass, the prices breakdown to about the same.

Bottom line when starting out, 5-7 firings is a good rule of thumb. You will be able to tell with your press when the brass has become work-hardened due to spring back.
 
got another question. what if I were to use a lee collet die? im not worried about anyone else using my brass, nobody I know has a .260 , should I still only reload 6 or 7 times if I use a collet die instead of a full length resizing die? I bought a couple of reloading books and none of them have any information about this kind of stuff...
 
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got another question. what if I were to use a lee collet die? im not worried about anyone else using my brass, nobody I know has a .260 , should I still only reload 6 or 7 times if I use a collet die instead of a full length resizing die? I bought a couple of reloading books and none of them have any information about this kind of stuff...



I used to FL size the .303 British and I usually got at most 3 firings out of each brass. About one in three failed after second firing.

Someone pointed me to the Lee Collet die. I tried it and got six firings out of most of them. I usually loaded half way between min and max and brass was Winchester.

After that experience I got a Collet die set for my .308 and I was able to get 10 firings on most brass with only one case trimming in between.

The Lee Collet die is worth every dime I paid for just by its virtue of requiring no lube for sizing. I now have a set of Collet die for almost every caliber I reload for.
 
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