Forming cases

Something I wrote about before as a benefit of reloading is being able to form cases from one cartridge to fit another. That time it was pretty involved, but in some cases it's very simple. The one I'm thinking of right now is 7.5mm Swiss.

When the K31 rifles started getting popular, one problem was that the only ammo available was either the Swiss surplus(damn good ammo) or stuff from Norma(damn good and expensive). Usual fix for this is to handload, but you have to have reloadable brass for it. The Swiss surplus is Berdan primed, and those primers are hard to find. Norma is reloadable, but the expense discouraged most from buying their cases(see here). So the next thought is "Is there any similar case that I can form to 7.5 Swiss?" Answer, thanks to pointers from some people at The High Road, is yes.

In this case the answer was .284 Winchester. The case head is a bit different, but close enough to fit the bolt head and extractor, the body is very similar. The case neck is sized for a much smaller diameter bullet(.284 vs. .308), but that's fixable. Some cases require multiple sizing operations with different dies when you're drastically changing the dimensions. In this case all you need is a set of 7.5 Swiss dies, a .284 Win. shell holder and a case trimmer.

Put the .284 shell holder in the press and run the ram all the way up. Screw the 7.5 Swiss sizing die down until it touches the shell holder, then about 1/4 turn further: when you resize, you want to be sure the die goes all the way down. Lube the case well, and make sure some goes inside the case neck. Then put a case in the holder and run it all the way into the die and back down. It'll take some pressure, you're reshaping the body and expanding the neck quite a bit. When it comes out, trim it to length and you've now got 7.5 Swiss cases.

That's the quick & dirty of how to make these.

Now, as the Graf's site shows, there are more affordable 7.5 Swiss cases available, at least when they're not sold out. I've got 100 of the .284 cases I resized and they'll take care of me for quite a while on this cartridge.