Thread: Using lapua brass resized 308 to 243 to 260

Ive got a big bag full of twice-thrice fired Lapua .308 brass that's been resized to .243. Im sick of losing my good fire formed .260Ai brass when hunting and want to utilise this stuff so i don't have to scratch around in the grass all the time
Would it be ok to resize this stuff to 6.5? And what's the best method, just lube it and run through my sizing dies or should i fire form it with trailboss and wad and go from there? not a huge step back up and not running hugely hot loads.
You guys with the knowledge will probably think its a stupid question and say it'll be no prob but just wanna check first

Should be sweet. Sizing from
.308 down to .243 will most likely cause doughnuts. Unless they were removed.
Keep an eye out for that.


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I use .243 sized up to 7mm08 with out any problems or losses I used a Lyman M die did it in one step .243 to .264 even easier the neck will be a little short starting as .308 but will stretch
after a few reloads

Originally Posted by specweapon

Ive got a big bag full of twice-thrice fired Lapua .308 brass that's been resized to .243. Im sick of losing my good fire formed .260Ai brass when hunting and want to utilise this stuff so i don't have to scratch around in the grass all the time
Would it be ok to resize this stuff to 6.5? And what's the best method, just lube it and run through my sizing dies or should i fire form it with trailboss and wad and go from there? not a huge step back up and not running hugely hot loads.
You guys with the knowledge will probably think its a stupid question and say it'll be no prob but just wanna check first

Did they come with the rifle?
I sent neckshot some of my (best)lapua to size down for it.....not sure why they would be 243 sized tho in that case.
Anyways I have sized lots and lots of fed 308 brass down to 243 no prob but havent tried sizing it back up....Can you close the bolt on them? if so with no resistance you will have to either neck back up then size back down to create a false shoulder or size with good neck tension and a firm jammed projectile to fireform to maintain less than excessive headspace.
If they chamber with slight resistance on closing the bolt you should be good to go.

Donuts are usually a necking up problem rather than down as the shoulder of the case is thicker and it becomes the neck as it is expanded.

My thoughts without knowing the full story behind these cases.

When made to go from 308 down to 243 the necks would have become very thick, and may have been neck turned to remove the excess brass ( if the case neck wall is too thick a loaded round will have trouble being chambered )
If you neck them back up to 260 they could go thinner and maybe too thin ? to take much pressure... a lot of it will depend on the rifles individual chamber characteristics.

I believe Lapua brass is a fairly thick brass as well.

I have made 260 from military 7.62 once fired brass and had to turn the necks down for it to chamber a loaded round, thats how I know this.

I would mic the neck thickness before and after just to see what went where .... brass wise.

For all that, if a reformed dummy loaded round chambers ok you should be good to go

I used military 7.62 brass necked down to 243. It worked OK without neck turning because the chamber had typically generous factory dimensions which I verified by taking a cerosafe casting. However, i ran into a problem: due to the large amount of movement of brass the necks started cracking. This was solved by annealing the necks after forming.

If it is any help, I have some once fired South African PMP (Pretoria Metal Pressing) 243 brass for sale that you could try first. I have enough that you wont need to worry about losing it and being once fired, if you do retrieve it, it should be good for a few loads too.....PM if that is something you are interested in. Priced at $8.50 plus freight for members for 20 brass and the original box. More than 5 boxes and freight is free.

After a reread of the OP I see you run it in AI, I would think you still need to fireform to make it proper.