Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Reducing '06 To 25-06 Brass......

I've been transitioning over to better brass these days for most of the cartridges that I load for, those anyway, that are offered in "better" brass.

I like Norma and Lapua brass when they are offered in the cartridges I load for, but as likely many of us have found, they both limit themselves to only certain cartridges and not many at that.

I would have liked that either Norma or Lapua would have offered up some 25-06 brass, but that isn't the case. I don't want to go into whether WW, Fed. or any other brand will do.......BTDT. My question is: If I buy new Lapua brass in '06 and try to reduce it down to .257, can that be prudently and effectively done employing one move of just running a new Lapua '06 case through my 25-06 resizing die or would it be more prudent to send it through my 270WSM die first, but only enough to effect the case neck, then running it through my 25-06 die?

From what I've seen (in the new Cabela's Shooting catalog anyway), neither Norma nor Lapua offers .270 brass either, so I don't think there's an option there.

Whatever the recommendations are concerning the best way to reduce these case necks down, will the then excess case neck material just produce a longer case neck that's easily trimmed and I'm then GTG or will the case neck actually grow some in thickness as well, which will in turn cause me to have to uniform the necks inside and out?

I've not had to reduce down like this before, but after waiting for decades for either company to produce brass for the 25-06, I've just decided to seek out other options, this reduction in case neck size thought being the only one I've come up with.

Thanks in advance..............

Nosler Custom is adding 25-06 brass in '09 and I believe Norma is the supplier.

I'm not a gunwriter but when I was a teenager I used to scrounge .270 and 30-06 cases and run em' through the sizer for my 25-06. I never had a problem.


Travis

You may have issues with the thickness of the neck walls. Read that somewhere, can't remember where.

I have done .270 to .25-06. Along with the neck thickness you need to trim to length.

Interesting...........is Norma the supplier for all of Nosler's brass? I had heard or read that WW was the supplier of Nosler brass sometime ago, but I've not got any definitive answer's, that's for sure.

Maybe Norma will offer it up as well while also allowing Nosler to add it to their line, headstamp and all.

I just finished reducing some LC Match .308 down to .260 Remington. It will do it one step, that's not a problem. I ended up having to turn .001" off the necks to get safe chambering clearance. I could chamber loaded round, but I could also feel the neck contacting the chamber walls in one of my rifles. You might be fine if you have chamber specs that are on the larger side of acceptable.

I've read several articles in Handloader that stated Federal actually makes the brass for Nosler. I have no clue, as I use exclusively RP brass. I've found it is more consistent than others.

I've never had a problem in a production rifle with simply necking down a case to the new caliber, then trimming. I do prefer to neck up. Although I've gone both ways with my 338-06s and had good results.

If you are worried about headspacing with the first firing of your newly necked down brass, your initial step with a 7mm neck sizer should help. Using 280 brass may be an option, but you will have to watch the shoulder dimension.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Interesting info from all....thanks .

Funny how we have 3 different ideas about who supplies Nosler with their brass. Doesn't really surprise me really, but you'd think we'd have that answer now since they've been offerin' their brass for several years now.

Maybe I'll just wait a bit longer and see if the 25-06 entry into their line-up does materialize, however, I've also read more than a few posts from those not so enamored with Nosler brass.

Mag,

More than likly it will be fine, but heres a couple of things you could check.

Take a factory loaded round and measure the neck diameter of the loaded round about 1/2 way down the neck. Compare to a loaded round of the resized brass.

Measure the thickness of the brass in the neck with a tubing mike & compare.

A even simpler test is load on up and fire it. If a bullet easily slides into the neck of the fired round, you are more than likely ok. If not you are for sure to tight and will have to turn the necks.

LC

If you have dies to progressively size down, do so as its easier on the brass and you.

However, running those cases into a 270WSM will leave the case unsupported and could possibly bend the neck enough to negate any quality you just purchased.

All that said I have made 25's from 30's more than once with no issues, but use the checks like others have stated. Headspace will be better than buying new 25 cases FWIW.

You should be sure the expander is not riddled with shavings as well. Trying to psuedo-size with a seater die first can help too.

If you want to know who makes Nosler, call and ask. Someone here did and my vote is for Federal

I use Nosler 204's for 222 Mag cases and have been very happy with them.

Mag-
I'll make an inquiry and get back to you. At one point it was Norma, but they have expanded the line a lot since then, and in this age of metal demand they may have had to use whoever they could as they expanded into new cartridges.

I'll also see if I can get a time line on the .25-06 stuff.

I ran RP .30-06 brass through my RCBS .25-06 die and trimmed it to length and it worked fine. It even produced some very accurate ammunition.

Hey!! Thanks to all, especially on playoff day!

Seems like I'll be GTG with just reducing the 30's down to the desired 25's. But I will employ the "checks" that a few have suggested.

casatandblast - appreciate the extra effort you are puttin' forth in finding an answer to my question. I'm a little behind the 8-ball right now just having had my spine fused, but hope to be range-able in a month or so. Norma 25-06 brass, with any headstamp, would be cool. Lapua as well, but they seem to be even more selective in what they produce. One would think that the 25-06 would have by now fit more than a niche group of reloaders, but that is likely my own personal bias.......

Thanks again to all of your help and great suggestions so far..................

Not a problem at all. I need to pop in for some components to feed a new .257 Roy anyway, and there are brass woes with that cartridge too. I may be necking-down right with ya!

I havent been at all impressed with Nosler brass for the 300 ultra. I dont know for certain, but judging by the case capacity I would bet that Nosler brass is made by federal.
I believe Norma makes brass for both the 270 and 280. At least the did as I have samples of both.
I really wish Lapua made more brass than they do. Their 300 win mag brass was second to none, but the have since discontinued it.

Thanks again!!

Ya know......I truly expect that very good brass could be made right here in the states as well as anywhere else. By good, I mean......very good. Uniform in every possible way, priced right to sell, QC to where one would expect it to be (from start to finish).....I know that I'd be interested in purchasing such a product.

Another nice touch..........my last 6 bags (50 count bags) of Norma brass (3 for my 270WSM and 3 for my 300WSM), have all had one extra case per bag. They also were all perfect without the need to toss any or try to straighten out those that were really messed up. Don't remember gettin' an extra case in any other manufacturers 50 count bags, but I sure as heck have had to toss a few and doctor up many more just to be somewhat usable.

I'm sure there's ALOT more to it than I think, but making a superior product, priced reasonably, can sell itself.

Just thinkin' out loud..............

You could be right B. I have only discussed the 280 Ackley brass with them and it was for sure Norma. Wouldn't be a bit surprised if they have used other sources for other rounds. I am just glad that they are moving toward more offerings in a time when others seem to be cutting back and the shelves in Sportsman's are bare.

You can reduce any brass, just watch the neck thickness you're creating when it's sized down and watch for high pressure.

typically neither are a problem..

ALSO if you have other guns of that chambering mark them in some way.

Aka if you have a 30-06 and your necking down the headstamp can screw ya up so use a sharpie or something to color them so you know it's not a 30 anymore.