[Hunterjohnb]

Can 30.06 brass be resized to 280 Rem? If yes any special steps involved!

[nitestalker]

Yes you can. I would first aneal the brass. The ID of the neck will have to be reamed with a .280 reamer most important. Failure to ream the ID to a proper deminsion can run a very high pressure.

[robocop10mm]

Necking down is easy to do. As Nightstalker said there are some considerations. Anealing will help as it softens the neck. ID will be controlled by the expander. You may get excessively thick necks that can contribute to higher pressures. Compare the thickness of a factory .280 case with the newly reformed case. You may need to thin the area. Many prefer to turn the OD to get the appropriate thickness. Trimming will be essential also.

Even though the newly formed case looks just like a .280, it has some significant differences. You MUST treat it like a very different component and work up a load for that case. Remember, different makers have different thicknesses and require different loadings.

My advise would be to take a good sized batch of ONE headstamp (R-P .30-06 for example). Size them down. Trim. Ream or turn the necks. Flashhole debur. Clean and uniform the primer pockets and use them separately from other brass.

On a couple of side notes;
I have found the one operation you can do that seems to most influence accuracy is flash hole deburring.
Winchester brass seems to have the smallest primer pockets and really needs to be uniformed. R-P does not seem to benefit from this operation.

[Hunterjohnb]

Originally Posted by robocop10mm

Necking down is easy to do. As Nightstalker said there are some considerations. Anealing will help as it softens the neck. ID will be controlled by the expander. You may get excessively thick necks that can contribute to higher pressures. Compare the thickness of a factory .280 case with the newly reformed case. You may need to thin the area. Many prefer to turn the OD to get the appropriate thickness. Trimming will be essential also.

Even though the newly formed case looks just like a .280, it has some significant differences. You MUST treat it like a very different component and work up a load for that case. Remember, different makers have different thicknesses and require different loadings.

My advise would be to take a good sized batch of ONE headstamp (R-P .30-06 for example). Size them down. Trim. Ream or turn the necks. Flashhole debur. Clean and uniform the primer pockets and use them separately from other brass.

On a couple of side notes;
I have found the one operation you can do that seems to most influence accuracy is flash hole deburring.
Winchester brass seems to have the smallest primer pockets and really needs to be uniformed. R-P does not seem to benefit from this operation.

Thanks for all the info.It is very helpful.

[cottontop]

I wouldn't do it, and I form lots of brass from other brass. The .280 case is a little longer than the .270; i.e. the shoulder extends a little longer. The reason was so that .280 ammo could not accidentally be fired in .270 rifles. You might have some headspace issues if you do it.
CT

[Hunterjohnb]

The only difference I can find when comparing 30.06 and 280 is in the case body length. I wonder is that too far for the case to stretch ie would it become unsafe after fireforming?