.300 Savage from .308

I read somewhere a while back about making .300 Savage brass from .308 brass. With the current market on new and once fired brass, .300 Savage brass cost more than I am willing to pay. Well, I did some experimenting today and from what I can tell it worked. First I sized the .308 brass in a .300 Savage die, then trimmed to .300 Savage length, then ran it through the resize die again. After measuring it and comparing to factory .300 Savage brass everything seemed to come out right. Since I don't own a .308 ammo mix up is no problem, and I happened to have about 50 pieces of .308 brass I got awhile back with a batch of brass, so to save quite a few dollars I figured it was worth a try.
Does anyone have any experience making cases for one cartridge out of another? What affects does it have as far a case life goes? Are there any other issues I should worry about?

Be very careful to label everything! If you ever leave a box at the range by accident or you pass away and your heirs distribute it without knowing what really is could be very bad.

I have know other people to do this though, with some success. Last I knew it does weaken the case a bit mroe to change it up.

Jbpmidas hit it on head. Start at the minimum loads in your reloading manuals. The interior capacity of the "reworked" brass may not be the same as "factory" brass for the 300 Savage. This will change the pressures. I learned this the hard way using military .223 brass in place of factory brass. I had to back off 1.5 to 2 grains on all my loads because the "normal" loads for factory brass flattened the primers when used in military brass. The military brass was thicker than factory brass decreasing the interior space and therefore the pressures were higher for a given volume of powder. You should be just fine if you start low and sneak up on your final loads watching for pressure signs as you go. Good luck and post your results. You may inspire someone else to try it.



Doggoner

I did notice today when I weighed the converted brass up against factory brass that the converted brass had a thicker neck, so the above is more than likely true. Also the coverted brass was a little bit heavier than the factory brass (about 10 grains). So I think that's were I'm gonna start is back my current load off by about 3 grains or so and give it a try. Hopefully I will get some rounds loaded this week and get a report back soon.

Thankyou everyone for your input, although I've been loading for about 6 years now this is the first time I've done anything "outside the box". So as much as I despise flinching, I do imagine I will on the first couple rounds!

Always be careful when loading forming brass that is longer than the finished product. Check the loaded neck diameter of each cartridge. If it is larger than maximum, it can cause the bullet to be squeezed in the neck and spike pressures. If this happens pressures as high as 125,000 pounds can result. Don't take any chances.

Doug

You're doing fine. Proceed cautiously. I've been using 7mm Remington brass in my 264 Win Mag for years. Do your research for each case "family". In my case the two rounds are identical except one is for .284" bullets and the other is for .264" bullets. Shoulder and case length are exactly the same. I've also done the same type thing with making 25.06 cases out of 30.06. The end result has a slightly thicker neck in 25.06. Made a good load shoot better.

I use 308 brass to make my 7mm/08 and also use 338 mag to make my 30/338. just be sure to mark them so EVERYONE will know. also agree you must start minimum. I check every case for specs.
scott