hi steel shooters,
just rec'd a rem 700 bdl sporter in 7-08. i cannot find any 243 or 260 brass to neck up to 7-08. and do not know if it would be better to neck down 308 stuff.
what i have done, was take the stem of my 7-08 sizing die out, lubed a norma 6.5x55 case and ran it thru. it sized everything but about the last 1/8 of case, yes the neck is long, and will have to be cut maybe, it might help seat the bullet out longer, if shot in standard gun. also, thinking if shell holder is ground down a bit, shell would be resized.
looking for your comments if any. thanks...dan

Do not use 6.5x55 brass, it is way too long, you be better of necking down the 308 brass, I do it all the time.
Evelio.

hi evelio,
thank you for your comment, yes i do know that the 6.5x55 brass is long, but the 7-08 die pushed it back quite a bit.
what 308 brass is best for necking down? i know the fed is very soft.
thanks.......dan

Dan

I wouldn't do this. 6.5x55 is 0.009" dia. larger at the base and I wouldn't want to try to force it near the web. Additionally, the 6.5x55 is smaller in dia. at the shoulder which would have to be blown out by fire forming not to mention the change in shoulder angle and OAL.

My experience with Fed brass is that is thick and difficult to form. Both Win and Lapua will work well.

Silo65

I wonder if someone here would be willing to offer a quick answer to a question I have from reading this topic...

What are the benefits of necking up/down from another caliber?

Midway sells 7mm-08 brass in Norma, Winchester and Remington brands. It looks like brass is available for this caliber. From reading my reloading manual, I was under the impression people only did this to make brass for a newer caliber that they couldn't find brass for to reload.

Thanks!

There is no benefit at all, unless you have plenty of brass available, and no use for it. Example, I had several thousand rounds of once fired 308 Lake City match brass, this is probably the best brass ever made, so necking in down to 7-08 saved me a lot of money.
Going from a 6.5x55 to a 7-08 is absolutly a no no as said in the previous post, there is plenty of comercial 7-08 brass available.
Evelio

hi folks,
thank everyone for there replys, and we won't neck down the 6.5x55 brass......dan