Making brass for Swiss K31 and K11

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I haven’t taken out my Swiss K31 and K11 out to the range in a couple of years due to work obligations. I started looking for ammo last week and found none to be had ? I reload, but found that even 7.55 X 55 Swiss brass is almost impossible to find. What to do ? I searched the net and find that .284 Winchester cases can be used to make the Swiss 7.5 X 55 case. Just run the .284 cases into a Swiss 7.5 X 55 die they say. Yes – it can be done but not so easily. What you have to do is neck up the .284 diameter neck to accept a .308 bullet. If you try to do that with most dies, you might wind up with a flattened case shoulder because most expanders won’t allow a .024 inch expansion of the neck. You also have to bring the top of the shoulder down from 1.885 on the 284 Win case to 1.850 on the 7.5 X 55 Swiss case. The neck has to come UP and the shoulder has to go DOWN.

Get a new set of Lee 7.55 X 55 Swiss dies because all their newer dies have a nice gradual expander that can do that. My Lee dies (which were about 15 years old) had an older type expander that would not allow a gradual expansion of the case neck. I was able to pick up on Ebay a new gradual .308 expander for my Lee 7.5 X 55 resizing die. See photo above.

Lube up a .284 Winchester case on all exterior surfaces including the shoulder. Yes – You don’t place lube on the shoulder when you normally resize a case but remember the shoulder will have to come down about .035 inch and you want some lube on the shoulder. Also lube the INSIDE of the case neck. I used a small paintbrush to “paint” the inside of the neck with my Imperial Sizing Die Wax.

When the Lapua .284 cases that I used came out they had lengthened from about 2.163 inches to about 2.178. (about .025 inch) The “trim to” case length on a Swiss 7.5 X 55 is about 2.170 to 2.175 inches depending upon what reloading source you use. The 2.178 length fit perfectly into both a Swiss K31 and a Swiss K11 that I own. What I plan to do is fire the cases as they are now, full length resize them and then trim them all down to 2.170 inch.

Bob

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