Fotis, Scotty, 6.5-300 WB

frankm

Handloader
May 10, 2009
458
58
I know both of you guys load/shoot the 6.5-300 Bee… would one of you mind measuring a factory or a hand loaded neck with a bullet seated so I can use that dimension in building/sizing some brass from 300 Bee cases. I know Saami shows .295 as maximum but wondering what an actual measurement is. Chamber dimension has .297 so thinking factory ammo probably allowing more than .002 clearance.

Guessing my finished cases will end up with thicker necks and most likely will need to turn the outsides for keeping case neck thickness uniform and to get adequate clearance. This is a production chamber/rifle and thus wanting to get a measurement from either of you fine gentlemen!

Appreciate any help you could provide. Looking for 6.5-300 brass was a real needle in a haystack hunt thus the reason to just form my own.
Thank you.
 
Let me know this works out for you. I picked up a set of Lee dies and wasn't able to size down the 300 to 6.5 my press isn't really beefy though and didn't want to force anything.
 
Slimfinn, trying to step all the way from .308 diameter to .264 diameter in one pass is a little much regardless of your press. If you have access to a 300 Weatherby bushing die use a bushing that’s .284 plus about .030 for neck thickness, so around .314 ish and lube up and run through that. Next step try your 6.5-300 size die. Make sure to lube brass and if it’s virgin brass you ll probably be ok. Anneal after it’s sized down. Watch your reformed brasses outside diameter when you seat a bullet…. You might need to outside neck turn .002-.004 off the brass so you have proper clearance for brass to expand and release bullet upon firing.

If you don’t have access to a 300 Weatherby bushing die you s/b able to use a 7mm Weatherby or 270 Weatherby f/l die for the first step. Remember that either of those dies is nearly .300 shorter than the 300 based die and you ll have to leave die up in your press so you don’t crush the shoulder on the longer 300 WB case.

When I get some done I ll let you know if I was successful.

My question for Fotis or SJB was to find out what the outside neck diameter of a loaded 6.5-300 was so I could see how much, if any, of the neck needs reduced/turned.
Thx
 
No problem Fotis. If you have actual 6.5-300 headstamped brass would you mind measuring the neck on one of those loaded rounds. Will accomplish same thing as I want to compare to the formed 300 WB brass to see if difference requires neck turning.

Would greatly appreciate it!
 
I have some. I’ll measure them when I get home.

Shoot me a PM to remind me.
 
To revive and old thread, i have a question about 6.5-300 brass. I was able to get ahold of some 127gr weatherby factory ammo. I started to resize some once fired to try out the new set of Lee dies, well the very first casing got stuck in the die and the rim pulled right off. I had the case lubed with hornady unique lube and wasn't using alot of excess force. This is the first magnum cartridge I've reloaded so assumed here would be more resistance. I got curious and measured the rim thickness at around .040 on several of the rounds, saami spec shows .051. And i measured some 300wby and it is in the .050 range. What rim thickness are you seeing on yours?
Would the difference in thickness be the problem or would it be in the dies/shell holder
 
I ve had to make my brass out of 300 Weatherby stuff so can t really comment on rim thickness difference. But I would venture a guess that .010 difference between the thickness of 300 vs 6.5-300 brass sounds ‘wrong’ … maybe a bad batch of brass. Might hear from Scotty or Fotis shortly. If yours is obviously out of spec I d give Weatherby the heads up and see if they ll make it right. If there was a big production of ammo with this issue could end up being a recall??
 
I am away from home right now, but if I remember I'll measure some of it once I get home.

Try lubing with Imperial Sizing Wax or a solid coating of One Shot and see what happens.
 
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