Another Reloading question

[boricuamaximus]

I got another reloading question for you guys. I have been doing some pricing and to get my started reloading with what I want its going to be about $600, $900 if I get the super cool dillon with all the bells and whistles.


This is mainly for my 6.8. The parent case for it is a .30 Remington. Bullets are .277 which are decently common. What I dont understand is the "parent case thing". Can I fashion 6.8mm brass from the .30? Will I need to use special equipment for it? I have been looking online and cannot seem to get a good answer. Seems it can be done but from the looks of it, it's for ammo manufacturers.

Silver State armory sells unprimed 6.8 brass for $40 per 100. I can save a decent amount with just one reload. But .30 call I can get a lot more. I also see that in some places they call the 6.8 a choked down .270. Can anyone explain that term a little more? I might also try this for the 5.7mm but that ammo even if it's not as cheap as the 9mm or 45 I can still get 50 rounds for $25.00 at peak price. It would be nice to get into these also.

Thanks in advanced for the help.

 

[boule]

The parent case is basically the first cartige of a certain caliber type that spawned many others. The .222 Rem is one of the best examples, resulting in a whole load of other rounds. Basically shooters start taking the case and form it - changing its shape, inner volume and neck size and fitting the bullet they want, ending up with a new cartige. Same thing happened with the .30 and somehow they ended up with the 6.8 spc

What it means for you is that you know the legacy of the round you reload. As long as there is brass available at reasonable prices you should get it since you are saving a lot of work and usually get a consistent quality. For obsolete or insanely expensive rounds there is always the possibility to form your own brass from the parent case or another case of similar dimensions. This can be done by ordering a resizing die (set). Depending on the cases you start with and want to have, several forming, heat-treating and shortening steps might be needed to end up with the desired results. Yeah, it sounds complicated but it actually isn't - just a series of dies to run through, glow it out and then check for length.

Although it is possible to resize your brass from another round, I would recommend you start reloading with unprimed brass of the correct size. After that you can try to find a nice free source for .30 brass and order a resizing die set if you really want to.

 

[kalister1]

Forming cases from the parent case can get extremely complicated for a novice or a pro both. Sometimes(Maybe all the time) the cases need to be annealed to prevent breaking. This involves using a torch and bringing the metal to the proper temp.

 

[boricuamaximus]

Thanks guys. I was getting a little scared. I guess I could just order a bulk of brass to make a shtf stash and with just 100 brass reloads I could make up about 1/3 of the investment in the supplies.

Thanks guys

 

[trickg]

Forming cases from the parent case can get extremely complicated for a novice or a pro both. Sometimes(Maybe all the rime) the cases need to be annealed to prevent breaking. This involves using a torch and bringing the metal to the proper temp.

I think it depends on what you are going to from the parent case - as an example, going to 25-06 from a 30-06 is a pretty simple process - simply neck it down with a sizing die, trim to length, and reload. Based on some things that I have glanced at online, it would appear that forming 6.8 brass from .30 Remington is a bit more involved and some people do recommend annealing. Having said that, my Dad never anealed (that I can remember) the necks of his military 30-06 brass before he necked it down to 25-06.

 

[Cochise]

if you are going to get involved with case forming, a Dillon is not the press. You will want a strong single stage press with compound leverage. It can double for decapping or priming. The Dillon rocks for loading alot of rounds fast and it is accurate. It just isnt the right tool for case forming.

 

[4g64loser]

+1 to Cochise on this one.

I load on a Dillon 650, two Square Deal B's, and a Lee turret press. The lee turret is the press for all our exotic handloads and casework, as well as our patented "ball pein hammer decapping" method for military crimped brass. We also have a couple of lee single-die presses set up as collet pullers and sizers. If I had to have but one press, it would be the Lee Turret press for reliability, absolutely bulletproof (and mostly idiot proof) design, and the versatility that comes from setting up turrets for every caliber we reload for (an entire shelf is devoted to nothing but these turret tops filled with dies in every weird caliber imaginable.

for high volume loading in one or two popular calibers, the Dillon cannot be beat by any press out there, but it is NOT the press for brass prep. start with something else, then buy a dillon if you fnd hte need.

 

[canuck]

Thanks guys. I was getting a little scared. I guess I could just order a bulk of brass to make a shtf stash and with just 100 brass reloads I could make up about 1/3 of the investment in the supplies.

Thanks guys

I've got 20 once fired remmy's in the box I'll give you.