Can 30-06 brass be safely fire formed in in a 280 Rem model 700? Looking at buying a used 280 and note that the 06 brass is slightly shorter in case length in most areas.
Thanks.
If you absolutely had to make it from 06 brass the best way to do it would be to neck it down just enough to create a false shoulder so you get a slight crush fit when you close the bolt but even doing that there's really no way around the fact you're still going to end up with some pretty short necks once that 06 brass is formed.
If you have to make 280 Rem brass from something you'd be better off using 270 Win brass, it's longer. You'd want to neck it up to 30 cal then do the same thing and neck it back down to create a false shoulder so you get that crush fit when you close the bolt. Even using 270 Win brass to make 280 Rem you'll end up with a shorter neck, compared to 280 Rem cases, but it'll be a lot better then using 06 brass.
Doing the false shoulder so you get a crush fit holds the brass against the bolt face so when it's fired the upper part of the brass flows and grows instead of it stretching down at the case head.
If you're looking for some 280 Rem brass I recall running across a box of either 280 or 280AI brass in my pile of miscellaneous stuff. I can check to see which it is if you're interested.
