converting brass, what press do you use?

[OB_WAN]

I'm about to convert a bunch of Lake City 308 down to 300 savage. not much of a change but it's thicker brass and I'm curious about press stress.

I have a Lyman turret press that already has some slight deflection issues(it's the old one) and was thinking I should grab a single stage O press to remove the risk of deflection or overstressing the turret head.

I could grab a lee aluminum challenger for ~$70 or get a RCBS rock chucker for ~$120. Would the Lee hold up to the added stress?

Anyone with experience on how much more stress on the press for converting brass?

[gunboat]

I use an old herters C press for munching down cases. 30/06 to whatever.
I would look for a used large iron "c" or "o" press. I expect the lee press itself is ok but I have heard the links are weaker. my ha-penny

[Beelzy]

RCBS.

There is a lot of stress on the press when converting brass. Any play at all
in the press (Aluminum ones) and you will wreck case necks.

[swerv512]

just curious if you'll have to turn or ream the necks?

[shadowofnight]

My Redding UltraMag press makes it really easy, and I do some pretty drastic resizing with my JDJ wildcats as well as others.

[CSACANNONEER]

If you want a press that will not flex or fail, get a Corbin or a Walnut Hill swagging press.

[OB_WAN]

just curious if you'll have to turn or ream the necks?

I was curious about that as well. I saw the youtube video of taking 30-06 cases down to 308 where some neck turning was needed but I also checked with a guy on another(shootersforum) forum who said he did +100 cases of LC 308->300 sav and they just needed to be trimmed down and deburred. I'll do some measurements once I convert and see if the neck needs further work. my first rounds won't be for match level shooting so I won't need a lot of neck conformity. perhaps once I really get in to shooting my savage I'll get more picky.

[jmabbott888]

I've formed 243 & 250 Savage from 308 military brass on a LEE Reloader press without a problem. Yea I know I can get 243 but at the time I was REALLY poor & had way too much 308 brass. I use a RCBS Rockchucker to for 577-450 Martini from 577NE cases & 43 Spanish from 43 Basic. Be sure to mark the cases somehow so you don't inadvertantly put em in the wrong gun or load with the wrong data.

[scr83jp]

I was curious about that as well. I saw the youtube video of taking 30-06 cases down to 308 where some neck turning was needed but I also checked with a guy on another(shootersforum) forum who said he did +100 cases of LC 308->300 sav and they just needed to be trimmed down and deburred. I'll do some measurements once I convert and see if the neck needs further work. my first rounds won't be for match level shooting so I won't need a lot of neck conformity. perhaps once I really get in to shooting my savage I'll get more picky.

I resized 308 cases to 243 and didn't turn the necks BIG MISTAKE hard to chamber,pressure increase and hard to extract.

[J-cat]

I was curious about that as well. I saw the youtube video of taking 30-06 cases down to 308 where some neck turning was needed but I also checked with a guy on another(shootersforum) forum who said he did +100 cases of LC 308->300 sav and they just needed to be trimmed down and deburred. I'll do some measurements once I convert and see if the neck needs further work. my first rounds won't be for match level shooting so I won't need a lot of neck conformity. perhaps once I really get in to shooting my savage I'll get more picky.

It depends on the brass. Military brass is heavier and has thicker case walls. Norma/Lapua has very thick walls all the way up to the neck and is inappropriate for conversions.

[modsdone]

I use an RCBS Ammomaster (460 Basic to 510 Wells) and Rockchucker (old style) (404 basic to 404 Jeff) with no issues. Even necked up some Greek (HXP) 3006 to 9.3 x 62 on the Rockchucker. I would think your Lyman should handle 308-300 Savage without any issues, just lube properly and should be good to go, give it try before spending some green.

[22popnsplat]

I shoot 7 different wildcats , I have formed brass on a variety of presses but I think a rigid press will perform best . I have a old rcbs that i use for the hardest ones . Probally the hardest one for me is forming 357 herrett from 375 winchester . The 375 winchester is close to a straight walled case that you neck down to .35 cal and then trim to length , it can be done with 30-30 brass but i use the 30-30 to form 30 herret and its a bit easyer.