Making .300 Whisper brass from .223 remington cases

[Buckshot]

I would like to start making my own .300 whisper cases from .223 remington brass.
Anyone here on the forum who has experience on doing this?
Since it is quite a precise thing to do, I realy would like to get some advise on doing so.

:D

[JF]

I put a .223 case in my Hornady case trimmer to hold it and use a small tooth hacksaw to cut the brass just behind the .223 shoulder. I next run the cut down and lubricated case through my Hornady 300W sizing die. Then I put the case back on the case trimmer and trim it to the correct length as listed in the reloading manuals.

Some people have reported problems with neck thickness doing this. I use Winchester .223 brass and have never had neck thickness problems in my 300W SSK Contender barrel. The cases turn out great and last for a very long time.

[TORSTEIN]

Look at thread from travelingman(300/221 on the way)

[AR15barrels]

I make and sell a lot of 300x221 brass.

I do it in a "semi-production environment" on a Dillon 650.
Starting with a casefeeder full of 223 cases, the stations go as follows:

#1 RCBS lube die (decaps and lubes) modified for additional lube volume and to make refills easier.
#2 left empty
#3 Dillon 308 case trimmer shortened the requsite amount to trim 223 cases down to 1.4" while putting a 30 caliber neck most of the way down where it belongs. Vacum cleaner running flat-out keeping the brass cuttings cleared from the trim die. Inline brass catch chamber in the vacum line so the brass shavings fall into an easily emptied 1 gallon plastic mayonaise jar.
#4 custom lube die made to fit the semi-formed cases
#5 Redding 300x221 die with the expander button in place, but no decapping pin

In goes 223, out comes fully formed 300x221

I do about 450-500 cases an hour with this setup.
The slowest part is keeping track of the lube resivoirs and controlling the drips when you stop to keep the brass chip vacum system cleared out.
My body is only good for about 2 hours at a time.
Between the vacum cleaner and the dillon trimmer, this monstrosity is LOUD.
I wear my peltors every time I turn the rig on.
Sometime in the future I want to get a long vacum hose and move the vacum outside or into a sound box.

Randall Rausch
www.ar15barrels.com

[Buckshot]

Great idea.
I think I can manage a sound box into my closet, which is built in the house where I live.
Do you check the necks on thickness as well?
I do own a Dillon XL650, so the start for that setup is perfect for now.
Where did you get the custom dies, if I may ask?

I make and sell a lot of 300x221 brass.


I do it in a "semi-production environment" on a Dillon 650.
Starting with a casefeeder full of 223 cases, the stations go as follows:

#1 RCBS lube die (decaps and lubes) modified for additional lube volume and to make refills easier.
#2 left empty
#3 Dillon 308 case trimmer shortened the requsite amount to trim 223 cases down to 1.4" while putting a 30 caliber neck most of the way down where it belongs. Vacum cleaner running flat-out keeping the brass cuttings cleared from the trim die. Inline brass catch chamber in the vacum line so the brass shavings fall into an easily emptied 1 gallon plastic mayonaise jar.
#4 custom lube die made to fit the semi-formed cases
#5 Redding 300x221 die with the expander button in place, but no decapping pin

In goes 223, out comes fully formed 300x221

I do about 450-500 cases an hour with this setup.
The slowest part is keeping track of the lube resivoirs and controlling the drips when you stop to keep the brass chip vacum system cleared out.
My body is only good for about 2 hours at a time.
Between the vacum cleaner and the dillon trimmer, this monstrosity is LOUD.
I wear my peltors every time I turn the rig on.
Sometime in the future I want to get a long vacum hose and move the vacum outside or into a sound box.

Randall Rausch
www.ar15barrels.com

[blastr1]

I make mine by running them in the 300w sizing die, then trimming to length. This will be a pain unless you have a motorized trimmer. Best bet is to order some from Randall, he's a straight up guy, and his prices are better than any I have seen.

Mike

[bybon]

I do not have a fancy set-up for trimming the cases. Miine are done the old fashioned way, CNC Bridgeport. ;) In a pair of alunimum jaws about ten inches long, I bore holes to fit the lower portion of the case. Insert the cases and press the pendant and off it goes. This set-up allows very close OALs to be kept over many hundreds of cases. The endmill cuts them very square and with not much of a burr.
After that, I size them and they are ready to go. Years ago I bought thousands of once fired military cases from Bushmaster. I know it is cheating, but I just did not relish the thought of doing these by hand. :D

[AR15barrels]

When I first started, I did this as well.
I did not do a set of soft jaws for the CNC machine though.
I just bored a single hole and did one at a time on the hand-crank mill.
A 3/8" endmill running about 2000 RPM is an amazine tool...
It does make a very square case mouth and very consistent trim lengths when I set the quill stop properly and then come down and touch it.
I only did a few hundred rounds for personal consumption.
The Dillon casefeeder and trimmer just rules for VOLUME...

Randall Rausch
www.ar15barrels.com

[Buckshot]

For some time I took a lesson from Randall by using a Dillon case trimmer.
I did however get a custom trim die from Neil Jones custom products.
From that day on trimming has been going fast as Lightning!!!

I would like to start making my own .300 whisper cases from .223 remington brass.
Anyone here on the forum who has experience on doing this?
Since it is quite a precise thing to do, I realy would like to get some advise on doing so.

:D

[Nick-S]

I make and sell a lot of 300x221 brass.

#3 Dillon 308 case trimmer shortened the requsite amount to trim 223 cases down to 1.4"

Does the Dillon trimmer work ok trimming that much brass off in one go? From your numbers you seem to be going as fast as the 650 will sensibly operate.

Nick

[Buckshot]

I use the Dillon on a single stage (RCBS Partner) press, since I am using an elevated shellholder.
You wouldn't believe how fine it works.
I don't force the cases however, but the trimmer is just working real fast!!!
Just ask Randal Rausch.
He is using a different setup, but makes about 500 rds an hour, if I am not mistaking.
I think my setup is worth all the money I payed for.


Does the Dillon trimmer work ok trimming that much brass off in one go? From your numbers you seem to be going as fast as the 650 will sensibly operate.

Nick

[AR15barrels]

Using the 650, I pull the handle fast and then slow down just as the cutting starts.
This is for a couple reasons.
First, when the cutter first hits the 223 case neck, the shoulder of the case has not yet reached the trim die and it tends to grab and spin.
Jamming the case neck into the cutter really fast lets the case neck grab the die.
Once the case grabs the die, the case does not spin anymore and then I am feeding in the case at a rate that does not lug the motor down TOO MUCH, but I am surely lugging it down some.

It's a dillon, IF I wear it out, they will replace it...

Now, when I reach the top of the stroke, I reverse the press arm to withdraw the case mouth back into the die about 1/16" (the case mouth is actually sticking out of the top of the die while the cutter is trimming it.
If there is any burr on the outside of the case, this causes that burr to fold up and stick out the top of the case mouth.
Now I push the case back UP so that the cutter trims the case again.
Think of this as "double bumping".
Any flash that WAS there is now removed by the cutter.

The pause to double bump is not as long as the pause to seat a primer and place a bullet if you were loading ammo in the conventional way a 650 is used, so my production rate is similar to loading.

With more of my secrets revealed, happy trimming guys...

I don't read these forums very often, so by all means hit me by email if you have questions.

Randall Rausch
www.ar15barrels.com
randall@ar15barrels.com