Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats How many use 30-06 cases to make 280 AI cases

Hey, sounds like you had this all figured out in the first place? Don't know why you asked the your question? IF you want to use stretched out short necked fire formed 30-06 brass in your rifle go ahead none of us said you couldn't. But hey I am the kind of guy that wouldn't let a friend you put lipstick on a pig and take her on a date either. A false shoulder does not stop the amount of brass that needs to move foward to fire form the 30-06 brass, hence making the webbing area thin as you have already seen. One good case head seperation will make you come around.

TEXMAG

If you go back and read the thread no one has made your point at all. The only argument against using 30-06 cases in 280 AI has had to do w/ the finished product being short OAL-wise, leaving a gap in the chamber.

I have never heard your assertion before; I've always been told that a false shoulder would remedy the issue.

Thanks for adding this; it puts a new spring on the "debate".

One other thing, a little extra head space on a standard chamber is not really a big deal as someone brought up before. You can adjust your dies to deal with it and the brass will stretch to the size of the chamber. On a wildcat where you are pushing the limits of the brass by fire forming it already the extra head space might cause the brass to fail or crack around the webbing area. Safety for yourself and your fellow shooters should be your #1 priority.Do use all a favor spend a few dollars and have the barrel set back to the minimum head space 280AI or even better for you a 7mm-06 AI chamber. Then you might really have a Wildcat since 280AI is not.

TEXMAG

Ran my 280AI for years with cases formed from WW 270 brass. Never an issue. Even after 9-10 loadings on them. H414 may be a good powder for the AI but IMO you need to give VV N165 a go. 140NAB from a 24 3/4" tube got me 3206fps with no pressure and was a consistent .5MOA shooter.

last time I check 270 case length was 2.540" and 280 case length 2.540" only problem with 270 case body length is same as 30-06.

I'd rather use 270 brass as it actually will not leave the gap an 06 case will!

By gap are you saying that by extending the gap between the case mouth and bore diameter .025 has a negative effect? You do know that virtually every barrel has some space between the end of the case and the beginning of bore diameter. The reason I used 30-06 brass instead of 270 brass is that I could just neck it down and have the false shoulder to headspace on, rather than necking the 270 brass up to .307 ID and then back down to .283 ID. Having the barrel set back and rechambered would spend $100. for no reason. I might still use the easy to get 30-06 brass for cases anyway.

It is true that when fireforming you move the shoulder forward .051 with the 270 and 30-06 cases which is a pretty small amount actually. You are "stretching out" the shoulder area when using 280 brass also forward and to a larger diameter also.

My 280AI was a Borden built, tight neck chamber that I purchased from Tim Claunch. Thats the case he was using. I have absolutely no reason to doubt he knows reloading. Those here that are familiar with him, know he is a very accomplished shooter

BS - I've formed hundreds of 30 Gibbs cases from '06 and Whelen brass using a false shoulder to control headspace. I've never, ever had an incipient case/head separation. The brass simply doesn't move FORWARD, it moves BACKWARD, and thus the shorter case. I lube the front half of the case with WD-40 so that friction between the case and chamber walls are reduced.

What about forming plain 280 Remington brass from 30-06 cases? I've been doing this with Lapua brass and have seen no issues. Another thing, I think if most chambers were measured you would find a lot are excessively long in the neck anyway.

Agreed

I have done the same thing by running 280 brass over a 308 expander then running it through the 280 die until I get a tight fit. I think the only thing this accomplishes is give you the proper head stamp and a couple more thousandths case length.

To me the proper headstamp would be 280 AI but it is pretty obvious to most that a 280 AI is not a 280 remington or a 30-06.