notnksnemor
The Great and Powerful Oz
With the scarcity of .243 ammo, has anyone tried resizing .308 to .243?
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Resizing .308 to .243
- Thread starter notnksnemor
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Nimrod71
Senior Member
I have not tried downsizing 308 to 243 but I can understand doing it. I have changed other calibers. I would not be in any hurry because 243's are starting to show up again. Our LGS has about 20 boxes of 243 as of last Saturday.
Jester896
Senior Clown
you may also find yourself in the ballgame of neck turning both outside and inside as well to keep the neck thickness correct.
I did a batch of 7.62 down to .260 once...I did most of my turning inside then skimmed the outside. It was a good chore!
I did a batch of 7.62 down to .260 once...I did most of my turning inside then skimmed the outside. It was a good chore!
BriarPatch99
Senior Member
Not something I would want to do unless I just couldn't find brass anywhere ...
Soon as deer season over this coming weekend ...the demand will lighten up some ...
Soon as deer season over this coming weekend ...the demand will lighten up some ...
GregoryB.
Senior Member
I just googled 243 Brass for sale and several places popped up with brass in stock. If you are willing to go through the hassle of resizing it why not just buy new brass.
Nimrod71
Senior Member
Powder Valley has 243 brass in stock for sale.
rosewood
Senior Member
I tried 308 to 7mm-08 during the last ammo drought in 2015 I think and found the neck wall thickness made the loaded rounds tight in my chamber which could cause serious pressure spikes if the case couldn't easily release the bullet. I pulled them all and ended up waiting until I could find some factory 7mm-08 brass. I have heard of others doing so and it working fine. The .243 will be even thicker than 7mm-08.
On the flip side, I did neck up some .243 brass to .260 and it worked just fine. The brass got thinner instead of thicker and I have been using that brass for several years now.
Rosewood
On the flip side, I did neck up some .243 brass to .260 and it worked just fine. The brass got thinner instead of thicker and I have been using that brass for several years now.
Rosewood
Jester896
Senior Clown
do you need some .260 headstamp? I have some in R-P.
rosewood
Senior Member
I have some now. Ordered a hundred of the SSA brass and it had loose primer pockets. Called Nosler and complained, they sent me 100 Nosler headstamp brass to replace them. Only tried a few loads since I got them, haven't really put any time in it. The 243 brass gave me the accuracy I wanted for white tails.
Thanks for the offer!
You have any easy way to tighten up primer pockets on new brass? Then I would have another 100 I could use.
Rosewood
BriarPatch99
Senior Member
Going from .308 to .243/.264/.284 is going to take either reaming, neck turning or both ...
The only cartridge I know of that can go straight from .308 is the .25;06... because it was designed as straight necked down .30/06 brass ...and yeah the neck brass is thicker on .25/06 than many normal cartridge necks ... matter fact the very first .25/06 brass I owned was necked down .LC Match .30/06 ...worked perfectly... still have some.... some of it has been shot many many times ...
Even going from 7mm Remington Magnum to .264 Winchester Magnum required neck turning ...
rmp
Senior Member
I’ve sized .308 Lapua to 7mm-08 for numerous rifles without issue. As most know Lapua is pretty thick.
You may be aware but measure the diameter across the neck of a fired piece of 7mm-08 brass from your chamber. Then measure a loaded round in the same fashion of the converted brass. If you’ve got .004” difference between the two, you’re fine. Some say you can be tighter but that where I like to be.
Be sure to check brass length after necking down. The brass has to go somewhere and often involves trimming IME.
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