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Old August 24, 2010, 12:19 PM   #1
chris in va
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270 to 30-06?

Someone please explain this to me.

I scrounge 30-06 at the range and must've picked up a 270 by accident. It found it's way into my case lube pile and of course wouldn't resize/decap.

On a whim I lubed the inside neck really good and voila...it actually resized to 30 cal! Pressed the ram all the way to the bottom and it even reshaped the shoulder to 30-06 dimensions.

Now before someone starts yelling at me, I do *not* intend to use it. Just an experiment. But if you could enlighten me as to why the 270 can be reshaped into a 30-06, I'd appreciate it. Actually the only external difference I could see was the case head machining is smaller.
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Old August 24, 2010, 01:09 PM   #2
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.30-06 is the parent case of the .270win, and many others.

The case head should be the same diameter, but the overall lengths will be slighty different.

Cases that share the same case head (hint - same shell holder!) include:

.30-06, .25-06, .270win, .308win, .243win, 7mm-08, and many more.

All of these can technically be formed from a .30-06 case, but are common enough that there just isn't any point in doing so.

Last edited by Dr. Strangelove; August 24, 2010 at 01:21 PM. Reason: add more info now that I'm not on my phone
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Old August 24, 2010, 01:19 PM   #3
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Quote:
.30-06 is the parent case of the .270win, and many others.
Yes, the 30-06 is a common parent case. But the parent case of the 270 is the .30-03, which has a longer neck. That is why the 270 case is longer.

If you decide to use that reformed 270 case, make sure you trim it.
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Old August 24, 2010, 01:21 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scorch
But the parent case of the 270 is the .30-03, which has a longer neck.
Did not know that, thanks...
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Old August 24, 2010, 01:24 PM   #5
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The .270 Winchester and .30-06 Springfield both have the same parent cartridge: The .30-03 Springfield.

While the .270 retains the longer neck (and case length) of the .30-03, the .30-06 is a slightly shorter cartridge (with a shorter neck).

As long as you trim the case to .30-06 length after sizing, there is absolutely nothing wrong with forming '06 from .270, and reloading it. (Just be careful not to try shoving it back in a .270, if you own one. - Since the head stamp will say .270, and not '06.)


**The longer case length and neck on the .270 is a debatable subject. Some manufacturers seem to think case length and neck length of the '06 are perfectly fine for the .270 (short neck), but others draw their brass to the proper dimensions (long neck - based on the '03). The original .270 Winchester design, however, was based on the .30-03.


And... all of these get their basic dimensions from 7x57mm Mauser. We Americans simply stretched the cartridge a bit, and changed the neck diameter. (You can turn .30-06 into 7x57mm, but you can't turn 7x57mm into '06.)


Edit: popular thread. Three replies posted in the time it took me to type this up.
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Old August 24, 2010, 04:07 PM   #6
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What FrankenMauser said.

I've git a bunch of 06 brass I've resized to 270. Just be sure to mark the head.
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Old August 25, 2010, 12:13 AM   #7
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Quote:
Cases that share the same case head (hint - same shell holder!) include:

.30-06, .25-06, .270win, .308win, .243win, 7mm-08, and many more.
Throw in the .45 Auto as well. I have heard of shooters who will trim '06 or .308 brass down to .45, and end up with a .45 Auto with thicker walls and web (although smaller in case capacity) and load to much higher pressures than standard .45 Auto.

So does the .45 fall into the .30-03 family as well then?
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Old August 25, 2010, 12:18 AM   #8
chris in va
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What about the case head though? They're considerably different.
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Old August 25, 2010, 01:31 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chris in va
What about the case head though? They're considerably different.
What case head?

What's different?

Every cartridge mentioned in this thread shares the same original dimensions (within 0.003") for the case head. In modern standards, the case heads are identical (no variance - no 0.003" allowance).

The only major difference apparent in this thread, is the .45 Auto vs .30-03/.30-06. The web and case walls are far thinner in the .45 Auto (as mentioned by Crankylove), but that's it.
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Old August 25, 2010, 08:01 PM   #10
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What about the case head though? They're considerably different.
They're exactly the same.
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Old August 25, 2010, 08:17 PM   #11
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You are likely to need to inside ream .45 ACP cases made from .30 cal rifle brass.

The much thicker walls after the case is trimmed down can result in OD size issues when bullets are seated.

The up side is trhat bullet set back can be eliminated.
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Old August 25, 2010, 10:55 PM   #12
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you are likely to need to inside ream .45 ACP cases made from .30 cal rifle brass
Yep, just like making 44 Automag brass.
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Old August 26, 2010, 12:02 PM   #13
chris in va
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They're exactly the same.
Here's what I mean. HXP '88 on the right, 270WIN on the left. Forgive me if I used the wrong term, I'm calling this the 'case head'.

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Old August 26, 2010, 04:04 PM   #14
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Yep. That's the case head. The rim thickness, rim diameter, and body base diameter should all be the same. Many cartridges have these dimensions. 30-06Springfield, 308Win, 280Rem, 7MM-08Rem, 280Rem, 260Rem, 243Win, 22-250Rem, the list goes on and on. All of the these cartridges will fit the "standard" or "308" bolt face. Many belted magnums fit the "magnum" bolt face, and 223Rem and the like fit the "223" bolt face.

The case on the right has a lengthened area in front of the rim. I don't know why. Maybe it is one of those semi-balloon head cases?
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Old August 26, 2010, 05:40 PM   #15
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The case on the right has a wider extractor groove. It makes absolutely no difference as far as reloading the brass goes.

Quote:
So does the .45 fall into the .30-03 family as well then?
.45 ACP is that size mostly by coincidence, it is a straight-walled cartridge firing a .452" bullet. When you add .012" for brass thiskness to the diameter of the bullet, you come up with .476". .45 ACP brass has a .480" max head diameter versus the 30-06 having a .473" head diameter. Makes little or no difference, they fit the same shell holder.
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Old August 27, 2010, 12:00 AM   #16
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Ok one more question and I'm done.

The 270 brass having a smaller extractor groove, will it affect function in my Garand?
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Old August 27, 2010, 02:42 AM   #17
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If your Garand is what munched the case head on that .30-06 case, I would have a gunsmith check it out. Something is wrong with the extractor (in my opinion).

If you picked it up that way, the .270 case should be just fine. The .270 you have in the photo has a normal extractor groove. The .30-06 in the photo has a grossly over-sized extractor groove (not standard, but doesn't really hurt anything).
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Old August 27, 2010, 12:41 PM   #18
chris in va
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It's been reloaded a few times.

BTW I found out today the '88 HXP has a much larger extractor groove than the '72 and '78 brass I have on hand. Not sure why.

Last edited by chris in va; August 27, 2010 at 11:21 PM.
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Old August 29, 2010, 01:31 PM   #19
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270 to 30-06

Shooting next to some folks a few months ago I noticed some of the rounds sounded funny.

After they left I picked up their brass and found a mix of 30-06 and 270 all new once fired.

Five of the 270 had been shot in the 30-06, (the funny sounding ones) I resized them with 30-06 dies and trimed to length.

Worked fine in the Garand
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Old August 29, 2010, 09:05 PM   #20
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Guess that's better than a 308 thru a 270. Seen that trick a couple of times, heard it kicks a bit.
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Old August 29, 2010, 10:00 PM   #21
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i recently resized several hundred .270win into .30-06spr.

with my lee zip trim it takes no time to trim them to '06 length.

i say trim it and load it up.
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Old August 30, 2010, 07:59 PM   #22
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25-06 out of a 30-06 also sounds funny. Fire forms nicely though.
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