Making 6.5x50 Brass From .308Win

I know this isn't anything new, and it has been discussed here and on other sites. But I still run into shooters who don't know about this. I have a Type 38 rifle that factory ammo will not work well in. The brass will bulge in the area forward of the head, and subsequent reloading will crack the case. For this particular rifle, I had to enlarge the back end of the 6.5x50 full length die to about .460" in diameter using sandpaper wrapped around a shell. Had to be careful in keeping the taper gradual rather than a step. Then the 6.5x50 shells were made from .308Win in steps that I followed from others who have done it. This video shows the way I did it. Keep in mind that this should be done at your own risk.
- YouTube

You could have lapped it with a mandrel on a drill, must have been a labor with a case wrapped in sandpaper. Custom dies, saved yourself plenty there.

Yes Jim, but I have a lathe which helps in turning out the inside of the die with sandpaper. Most of my dies are old so I don't care much if I goof on them. Prices of new reloading dies these days are double or triple what they were, so newbies should take extra care in altering them.

Made 100s of cases for 6.5 from 7.62 NATO.
1) Make a .455" ID swage from 1" bar stock 1" long.
2) Taper 7.62 brass in 8mm or 7mm Mauser die
3) Size head of 7.62 brass in swage
4) Size brass in 6.5 Japanese die

Yes green, your way may work for some T38 rifle chambers, but the cases will still come out conforming to the dimension of the factory 6.5x50 sizing die which may be too small. The reformed .308 cases will have thicker walls so maybe case expansion may not be so visually evident after firing. But for my particular rifle, I had to alter the sizing die to get a better fit. And most of the sizing dies I used are readily available, if you are a .45 cast bullet handgun shooter you may have them already.

t38 :madsmile::beerchug: