Making .243 cases out of .308

Heretic

Heretic

Active member
I have about 300 cases of once fired military .308 brass. I've tried selling it before but have no takers.

What would I need and how would I go about about it to neck down the .308 to .243?

Thanks!
 
It can be done. Better to neck down using 7mm08 then 243. You will probably find the necks to be thick and need to be turned. Better to neck up than down if possible but in the case of 243 it would be easier to neck down 7mm08 to 243 than take it down from 308, but it can be done. Go slow and use lots of lube.
 
it probably has the military crimp in the primer pocket which will need to be removed and then as 204gunner said, just take it down in a couple of steps, ream and turn the necks, trim to length and you should be good to go.
 
Just out of curiosity, what were you trying to sell that brass for(how much?)

I've done what your asking about.
It wasn't fun by any stretch of the imagination!

I ran the brass into a 7mm-08, relubed the inside of the neck and then ran it into the .243 die(without the expander ball). Got the Forrester neck-turning tool out and went to work. Next step was to put the expander ball back into the die and run it through once again. Don't worry about the dents in the case, you can shoot them out with no problems.

I often look at that brass, and think "What the heck was I thinking?" I'll never do it again....not with the huge amounts of brass available!


Scott (Good luck if you decide to do it!!!) B
 
I made several hundred rounds of .243 Win from military .30-06 brass .. easy .. get an RCBS .243 Win trim die .. lube cases very well .. use a very good press with a lot of leverage .. cut off excess brass with a hack saw .. then use Forester case trimmer with .243 Win inside neck reamer, the resize .. can use .270 Win, .280 Rem, 7x57, .257 Roberts, 6 MM and probably some that I did not mention .. did this mainly in the early 70's .. had way too much time on my hands at that time
 
Have you considered trying to trade the .308 brass for .243 brass? Some guys would prefer to trade for brass rather than buying it outright.
 
Get a tin of Imperial Sizing Wax. There are lots of good lubes out there for every day loading, but for necking down this much, you need the good stuff.
 
Like everyone has already said, it can be done but why do it. .243 brass really is not that expensive and you wont have many headaches. I am sure your time is worth as much or more to you than what you would pay for 243 brass. Just my 2cents.
 
Thank you all for your replies.

Quote:Just out of curiosity, what were you trying to sell that brass for(how much?)

Don't remember but if anyone wants it let me know and I'll send you a pic of the brass.

Originally Posted By: TURBO6046Have you considered trying to trade the .308 brass for .243 brass? Some guys would prefer to trade for brass rather than buying it outright.

No I hadn't thought of that so if no one wants to buy it off me, I'll take a trade for the same amount of .243 on a one for one basis.

Thanks again!
 
Heretic said:
Thank you all for your replies.

Quote:Just out of curiosity, what were you trying to sell that brass for(how much?)

Don't remember but if anyone wants it let me know and I'll send you a pic of the brass.

Originally Posted By: TURBO6046Have you considered trying to trade the .308 brass for .243 brass? Some guys would prefer to trade for brass rather than buying it outright.

No I hadn't thought of that so if no one wants to buy it off me, I'll take a trade for the same amount of .243 on a one for one basis.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Do you still have your military brass or is it gone? Is it all one make or mixed?.. I am looking for LC 308 brass or whatever metric number that is. If anyone has any you want to get rid of fairly cheap please reply. Thanks
 
I've learned a lot through forums like this when I started reloading three years ago. I've done what JC1 did, then looked at the date ! I don't know why Google will always give me choices for forums about reloading, hunting loads or guns in general that are from the mid 2000's?
 
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