300 whisper vs 300/221

[bgrayd]

Is there a difference between the 300 whisper and the 300/221 ( or 30/221 or 300 fireball)?
I want to use 5.56 brass reformed, but I've seen some info that suggests they are the same, and some that say they are not the same and not interchangeable.

[Hoser]

Pretty much the name "Whisper" is owned by JD Jones. He gets pissy when people call any chamber that he didnt cut a Whisper.

So people just call it the 300/221, 300 Hush, ect to avoid getting sued by JD.

[bgrayd]

So all can use reformed 5.56 brass? All of the dimensions the same?

[Hoser]

Originally Posted by bgrayd

So all can use reformed 5.56 brass? All of the dimensions the same?

Depends on the reamer used. If you are using an older SSK Industries barrel, you might need to use 221 brass.

The other 99% of the chambers out there run just fine with reformed 5.56 and 223 brass. I have sold/reformed about 25K of 5.56/223 brass with no issues.

[Colohunter]

I would try and form a couple pieces and measure them. The necks seem to be the area most likely to cause problems. You don't want the neck to be too thick. I measured the PMC brass that I cut down and it was below the numbers suggested by the Sierra reloading manual. So far I have not had any issues with the cut down PMC brass in my M1S upper.

[srm109]

The trick is to ream the inside of the necks if you use .223 brass. I use an old Pacific case trimmer with a Forster inside neck reaming bit. The bits cost less than $30.00

I use my old Shopsmith with big sanding disk to grind the .223's down to within a few thousands of finished size. I bored a hole in the side of a 1x2 wood block to hold the cases. I set up the stroke of the tool head to stop at the right place. I suppose you could use a drill press to do the same. At this point, the cases look a little like 30 Carbines....

Next I deburr using a standard deburring tool. Then I lube the cases and run them up into the sizing die.

Using the old trimmer with the inside neck reamer and a cordless drill to spin the cutter, I ream and trim all in one step.

Deburr the cases one more time and I'm ready to load. Needless to say, I've goofed up several cases getting things set up correctly, but .223 brass is relatively inexpensive. I can crank out 100 in an hour or so!

[RobRat]

The 300/221 / 300 Whisper is a wildcat, and like any wildcat, dimensions are slightly "flexible".

Get a chamber cast done if possible.

Make up a few cases with bullets you plant to use, and measure the neck diameter. Have the 'smith that reams the chamber measure the neck clearance, make sure its adequate for the bullets you're planning on using. get the dimension if possible.

I had the 'smith that reamed my chamber ream a piece of left over barrel just past the end of the shoulder, that way I'm not trying to figure out the seating depth on the rifle, but with a piece of barrel thats 2" long and easily handled at the reloading bench.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Hoser

If you are using an older SSK Industries barrel, you might need to use 221 brass.

How old is "old"? I've got an SSK barrel that I bought 7 or 8 years ago. The only 5.56 brass that it won't chamber also won't chamber in my Noveske .300FB barrel. (and I forget what headstamp it was. Something foreign, anyway.)

But any U.S. 5.56/.223 brass has always been just fine in either chamber.

[Hail Satin]

Hello Garrett

How old is your noveske 300/221? I have one that john built back in
2003 and shoots fantastic.

Mine also has the "tight" chamber as well.

[Garrett]

Originally Posted by Hail Satin

Hello Garrett

How old is your noveske 300/221? I have one that john built back in
2003 and shoots fantastic.

Mine also has the "tight" chamber as well.

Mine is from the recent batch a year or so ago. It's not the tight chamber. It was the brass. I had measured it and it was thicker than all of my other brass.

I've since moved and all my reloading stuff is still boxed up. Otherwise, I'd try to dig out some of these and see which headstamp it was.