Reforming cases?

[rugerjunkie]

Slow day today around the house so one gets to tinkering. I attempted to reform some 223 brass into 221 Fireball.

All I have available is a full length Hornady sizing die. My first try was with a full length FC 5.56 brass. Not successful. Formed a wrinkle all the way down to the new shoulder.

Second try was trimming one close to the 221 length and then sizing. Worked good but i trimmed too short.

Third try. Used some misc. Privi brass i had laying around that was stamped 223. Started that one out at 223 length and it went good. Trimmed down the long neck to length and looked like i was getting somewhere...until i put the expander ball back into the die...

When trying to size the neck , the neck split on me. Im guessing it had to do with a thick inside neck diameter??

Anyone here try reforming? I am sure there is a lot more to it than what i attempted today so any insight would be appreciated. I dont really have a need to do this but if i can turn cheap 223 into fireball brass that is sometimes impossible to find then why not?

 

[GasGuzzler]

Keep trying.

 

[sixshot]

Always had good luck with Imperial sizing die wax when reforming cases, many times it had to be annealed after forming, good luck.

Dick

 

[kodiakisland]

You could buy the forming dies from RCBS or Redding. I'm sure a few others make them as well. I don't think they are cheap. Might be easier and cheaper in the long run though just to stock up on fireball brass when you do find it.

 

[Chief 101]

I trim some first then size...worked good for me...shot a bunch of fireball in xp100 all with 223 brass. I don't remember but I likely turned the necks. Still have some of the brass I used but can't tell about the turning. Annealing works real well first...easy to do...stop

 

[gmartinnc]

Here are some 300 AAC Blackout's I made out of 09 headstamp LC military 5.56 brass today. They go down to 30 caliber very easy, but I imagine all the was to 22, would be a lot different. The necks were a lot thinner than I expected. I set my Forester neck turner to .011" and several of them didn't clean all the way up.

 

[GP100man]

try annealin the cases a bit ,keep the heat up on the case the head of the case stays cool .

I`ve never used nuttin but RCBS Lube II & it washes off with water !

 

[rugerjunkie]

Thanks for the replies. I will try annealing down to where the new neck will be and maybe try a different expander when giving it the final pass through the die.

I do have a good stash of 221 brass and yes , it would be easier just to stock up on some more , but sometimes it just isnt available the way Rem does runs of 221 brass. So I figured it couldnt hurt to try. Got tons of 223 lying around so why not!

 

[Chief 101]

especially with the short 221 Fireball headstamp matching is importante. But then you know that.