How to measure and identify 280A.I. brass?

[SavageHunter11]

I agree you cannot unring the bell!! I totally agree with you, that was a fantastic score. Presently I am building a .270AI and looking at brass, it's not a cheap date by any means. I was going to order some Whidden hydroform dies and order them made from the blueprint of the reamer; there's a two to three month waiting period. After reading some of the problems that I have read about, I'm going to wait, mail three fireformed cases to Whidden and "then" have the dies made from the brass.

What is hydroforming? I am going to google it regardless but if it's what it sounds like i'd rather form brass with water in a controlled manner than fire forming and adding wear and tear on my new barrel.

 

[Alibiiv]

My way of thinking is that this is the only way to form brass. I've got some Norma 270 Win brass on order. I plan on annealing the brass first, then hydroforming the brass from there. I feel that is a wildcater's best option. I thought that it was going to be a messy proposition, however after watching the video, it appears to be relatively a clean job. I think Whidden quoted $175

 

[Edd]

I agree with you, however this is the mess we are in and there's no undoing it. I have my barrel being chambered in SAAMI spec, I plan to buy SAAMI spec dies and brass and just avoid anything that could possibly not be SAAMI spec. This brass was just too good of a deal at $0.12 a piece to pass up even if it turns out to not be SAAMI.

If it isn't SAAMI, you can resize it with a SAAMI die and it will be.

 

[SavageHunter11]

If it isn't SAAMI, you can resize it with a SAAMI die and it will be.

Wouldn't that mash the shoulder down?

 

[Edd]

Wouldn't that mash the shoulder down?

Yes it would.

 

[BeaverHunter]

Just be aware that nosler makes 2 different 280 ai brass. One comes from their loaded ammo and one from their custom brass. The loaded ammo brass is stamped "NOS" and the regular stuff is stamped "nosler". They have different case capacities

I just bought 2 boxes of loaded 280 ai Nosler 140 grain ballistic tips and they all are stamped Nosler. ???

 

[Troutslayer2]

I have been loading Nosler Brass for my traditional .280 AI. Now that I am replacing the barrel with a SAAMI chamber in 280AI i have thought a lot about if I should mess with the old brass in the new chamber. I'm not going to do it.

 

[Dmagna]

I just bought 2 boxes of loaded 280 ai Nosler 140 grain ballistic tips and they all are stamped Nosler. ???

Then you got lucky, I have 4 or 5 boxes of factory ammo from nosler and it's stamped NOS. Then my brass is stamped Nosler, they are different. Just be aware of it

 

[SavageHunter11]

Put a piece of masking tape on the case head. See if it will chamber.

Im always leery of second hand brass as following mfg instructions (RCBS) can lead to a die setup that sizes brass too short (much shoulder bump).

If you have a situation where you can put two layers of masking tape on the back of your case and close the bolt without resistance I would think strongly about jamming your bullets into the lands to Fireform those cases to your chamber.

Just because the two chambers are identical doesn't mean people size their brass properly, lol.

Well, NSS updated my order. I'll have a barrel and receiver to my FFL in 10 to 16 weeks. I'll try your technique then. Thanks again

 

[Hand Skills]

Cheers!

 

[MNbogboy]

What I bought is stamped "Nosler, 280 Ackley Improved". Why would Nosler have different case capacities for loaded ammo and new unfired brass? From a manufacturing standpoint it doesn't make much sense to buy tooling to make two essentially identical cases with the slightest of differences. I am not saying you are incorrect I just wonder where the information came from for my own curiosity.

Federal does the same thing. I found 6.5 creed loaded ammo with 174 gr brass while their reloading brass was 149 gr.
I imagine other mfg do the same. Bought 2 different Nosler batches of 257 roberts 10 grains apart.
Buy enough of one type of all your components to outlast your barrel. Cheapest in the long run because you don't have to re-work up your load every time you run out of something.

 

[SavageHunter11]

Federal does the same thing. I found 6.5 creed loaded ammo with 174 gr brass while their reloading brass was 149 gr.
I imagine other mfg do the same. Bought 2 different Nosler batches of 257 roberts 10 grains apart.
Buy enough of one type of all your components to outlast your barrel. Cheapest in the long run because you don't have to re-work up your load every time you run out of something.

Good to know. Also, any chance you're my neighbor to the east? South Dakotan right here. Saw your username and had to ask.

 

[MNbogboy]

Good to know. Also, any chance you're my neighbor to the east? South Dakotan right here. Saw your username and had to ask.

Northern MN (iron range)

 

[SavageHunter11]

Northern MN (iron range)

That's a great area. I have a brother an hour south of the Cuyuna Range and I love going up to northern MN to visit. You guys should separate from your southern half lol