Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

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Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby paulmark3010 » Fri Feb 17, 2012 10:19 am

I have been reading alot of posts on here about converting 284 brass to 450 brass. Alot of info about reaming the case mouth of the 284 brass. I am confused about the correct reamer needed. I see that Forster has a .452 reamer. Is that the correct reamer? I am also confused about when to ream the case. Before sizing, after sizing, before firing, after firing, etc. I have a RCBS case trimmer. Has anyone had any luck getting the Forster reamer to fit into a RCBS trimmer? Thanks. :twisted:
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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby Hoot » Fri Feb 17, 2012 12:52 pm

paulmark3010 wrote:I have been reading alot of posts on here about converting 284 brass to 450 brass. Alot of info about reaming the case mouth of the 284 brass. I am confused about the correct reamer needed. I see that Forster has a .452 reamer. Is that the correct reamer? I am also confused about when to ream the case. Before sizing, after sizing, before firing, after firing, etc. I have a RCBS case trimmer. Has anyone had any luck getting the Forster reamer to fit into a RCBS trimmer? Thanks. :twisted:


I seem to recall the value .446 being batted around in discussion a year and a half ago. Some deep mining might reveal the thread. In theory, if you cut, trimmed, fireformed with just filler and then cleaned the brass, you could ream it with a .452 reamer to the depth of the seating depth of the bullet you wanted to use and that would work. Definitely not the way to go with resized brass. That's where the .446 comes in. Custom reamers are not unduly expensive compared to the potential wait time to get it made. Add to that, the fact that not all .284 brass is the same wall thickness. I have some I traded a member some 1 fired 450 brass for, that didn't need reaming. That was not my personal experience with two bags of new, Winchester brass I bought (different lots no less) when I got interested in using .284 brass. Every one required reaming in order to avoid the dreaded bulge. I even tried fire forming them, but after resizing they were something like .436-.439 ID IIRC. That data is also in those older threads. Somewhere, I put up a study in wall thickness measured every .050 or so (I forget) down the case starting at the mouth. There was an obvious difference between the new .284 brass I had at the time and new 450B brass.
I'm getting to the point where I need to go back through all my posts and catalog the more useful ones for the sake of recalling them on demand to re-share. With all due respect to the web page here, the search feature sucks. Some of the search rules need revamping.

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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby BD1 » Fri Feb 17, 2012 5:21 pm

I have about 50 reamed cases. I reamed them after firing using the .452 Forstner reamer so that I could use cast bullets sized to .453 This worked OK, but it does leave a small ledge that limits the seating depth. Currently I'm using the Hornady brass for cast boolits, and cut down .284 brass for the FTXs. I still need to be careful of the dreaded bulge using the heavier cast boolits.
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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby paulmark3010 » Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:26 am

I now understand what is going on with the reaming process. I just ordered a Forster reamer for 0.446". Now I got to get that reamer to fit into my RCBS trimmer. Forster shanks are 0.186". I plan on drilling out a RCBS cutter to fit that size. Anybody got a better idea on how to get the Forster reamer to fit on a RCBS trimmer? Thanks. :twisted:
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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby Hoot » Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:54 pm

paulmark3010 wrote:I now understand what is going on with the reaming process. I just ordered a Forster reamer for 0.446". Now I got to get that reamer to fit into my RCBS trimmer. Forster shanks are 0.186". I plan on drilling out a RCBS cutter to fit that size. Anybody got a better idea on how to get the Forster reamer to fit on a RCBS trimmer? Thanks. :twisted:


When I was looking at getting a .446 custom reamer, that was going to be my approach since I already own an RCBS Trim Pro. I did not want to add the $90.00 cost of the Forster trimmer to the setup. I thought someone here had said Forster would turn the shank of a custom reamer, for a small additional cost if you asked. I can't remember if that was proffered as supposition or a fact though. Did they quote you a turn around time?

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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby paulmark3010 » Sat Feb 18, 2012 7:57 pm

Hoot, I inquired via e-mail today about the turnaround time. I will let you know what they say. I already asked through e-mail if they could make a reamer that would fit a RCBS trimmer and they replied with the size of their shanks, but no offer to custom make one. I got an e-mail response within 10 minutes of sending it. I was impressed. I have found that Forster makes quite a few cool tools for their trimmer. I think the bored-out RCBS cutter will be a good solution. :twisted:
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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby paulmark3010 » Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:13 pm

Forster apparently does jobs in batches. Today was Reamer Day, so they got mine done and shipped out today. I am impressed with their communication and customer service. RCBS and Forster are at the top of my list. If all American companies had service like them, I doubt there would be so much imported crap. :twisted:
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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby Hoot » Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:16 pm

paulmark3010 wrote:Forster apparently does jobs in batches. Today was Reamer Day, so they got mine done and shipped out today. I am impressed with their communication and customer service. RCBS and Forster are at the top of my list. If all American companies had service like them, I doubt there would be so much imported crap. :twisted:


Wow, that is truly encouraging. Did they invoice you? How much was it shipped to your door? This may be the impetus for me to finally order one and put those 100 thick-walled cases I have to use.

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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby paulmark3010 » Mon Feb 20, 2012 7:31 pm

$38 + $8.75 shipping. I ordered it directly from their website. http://www.forsterproducts.com/catalog. ... did=700227
Now I just gotta drill out my RCBS cutter, nice and straight! :twisted:
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Re: Reamer for 284 Winchester Brass

Postby Hoot » Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:13 pm

paulmark3010 wrote:$38 + $8.75 shipping. I ordered it directly from their website. http://www.forsterproducts.com/catalog. ... did=700227
Now I just gotta drill out my RCBS cutter, nice and straight! :twisted:


If you haven't cut your brass yet, take one and start it at 1.710. See it it allows the bolt to rotate into battery. If it doesn't, trim it back a mil at a time until it does. Then trim it back 2 mils further and go with that length. Re-measure after your first firings. If, unexpectedly, it goes into battery at 1.71, remove 2 mils to be safe and go with 2.08. One would argue that the thicker walled 284 brass would not shrink as much, especially considering it has been fired already, but if you ream the wall thinner for the depth of the bullet you intend to use, it may shrink. My new .284 brass started at 1.70 and shrunk. YMMV.

Hopefully the cutter head isn't hardened too much or drilling it may be a challenge. I had to drill a 1/8 inch hole in some hardened steel and it made a fool out of my Cobalt bits, regardless of bit speed, feed rate and liberal cutting oil. I wound up using one of those carborundum bits for drilling glass, going slow on the speed and feed rate. Worked like a charm. Good Luck and as always, do report back.

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