general 300 Whisper reloading info

[300whisper_newbie]

Woodsman22 Wrote :

Hello Everyone !
I am new to this forum and new to reloading as well, though I have owned and been shooting guns for well over two decades now. I am looking for standard reloading information for the 300 Whisper in printed form (reloading manuals), and I was hoping that a forum member could steer me toward the right publisher. I.O.Words, what loading manual has 300 Whisper data printed in it? I have new cases in both .223 and .221 fireball here, but now I am very nervous about using 223 cases due to reading J.D. Jones statement that 223 cases can cause high pressures. Also, I have a 2-die set for the 300 Whisper made by Redding. Now, on this forum, I read that Redding makes a 3 die set. Do I have to have that 3rd die to make the 300 Whisper cases? Do I need to trim the cases to 1.350" length BEFORE I run them through the dies or is the trim step supposed to be done AFTER you run them through the dies? I would appreciate any help that I can get here. Thanks much.

Woodsman22

[300whisper_newbie]

300whisper_newbie Wrote :

I believe Sierra has load data in their manual for 300 whisper. You can also call them on their 800 number and they'll recommend loads based on what bullets/powders you want to use. Great bunch of guys over there at Sierra, I called for 220 swift loads about 7 years ago and they remembered me when I called for 308 loads last year

You do not need the 3 die set to form brass. The 3 die set includes a neck sizer as well as a full length resizing die. I have the 2 die set with the full length and its all you need to form and reload 300-221 cartridges.

I trim mine after forming, you'll probably end up with sloppy necks if you form 221 brass (see my post on here about crooked necks). I just set my forster case trimmer to trim them even and then fire form them in my rifle. I'll probably trim to 1.350" once they are fully formed. You'll notice that some of the cases have a smaller sholder on one side then the other, these fire-form just fine and look perfect after the first use so don't worry about them as long as you use light loads. I would not load these cases to maximum pressure as they have slightly smaller volumes and will cause excessive pressure.

--Chris

[300whisper_newbie]

Woodsman22 Wrote:

Chris,
Thanks for the reply. The info will be very useful to me. I am going to get a copy of the Sierra manual as you suggested. What I need is sort of a "tutorial", since I am not even sure what is involved with "fireforming". Am I right in assuming that to fire form cases, you load the cases with a light load of powder AND a bullet? Or is the case loaded only with the powder and a "filler" so that the case is "blown out" to the shape of the chamber?

Regards,

Curtis (Woodsman22)

[300whisper_newbie]

300whisper_newbie Wrote:

Curtis,

I used the information from quarterbore's page and the redding 2 die set to form the cases from 221 fireball. (http://www.quarterbore.com/300whisper/brass.html). After the initial forming some of the brass won't be quite right. Make sure you discard any of the ones with cracked necks. Also feel the outside of the neck and case with your fingers, if you feel any deformations discard those as well. Check the inside of the neck for any bright/dull spots or cracks which are starting, these are also signs of weakness.

After visually discarding you'll still have some cases that look lopsided. These will fix themselves with the first firing but have a slightly smaller volume so it is dangerous to load them to the maximum pressure. Don't worry about using filler etc, just load them with rather mild/low pressure loads to ensure you don't ka-boom your rifle. I loaded with 220 gr sierra's and 9.0gr h110 and it worked just fine. If you call the sierra hotline they'll tell you what loads they recommend for their bullets, its a great place to start. Just make sure to reduce the loads they recommend by about 10% the first time for forming your brass.

--Chris

[300whisper_newbie]

Woodsman22 Wrote:

Chris,

Thanks again for your reply to my questions. The info is a real confidence builder for me. I am afraid that initially at least, I won't be using Sierra bullets because I have a small supply of Lapua 185 grain Scenars on hand and I am going to use these up first. Also, my barrel is a TC in 300 Whisper and as such, it has a 1 in 10 twist rate. So I am restricted to 200 grain and lower projectiles if I want any accuracy in a subsonic load. If I can get decent accuracy with it and the lighter bullets after giving it a chance with reasonable experimentation, then I might try going through the hoops with an ATF application for a suppressor. If the process is too much of a pain or the local LEO won't sign, then I'll just give up on the idea of subsonic loads and the suppressor altogether and concentrate on higher velocity accuracy. Anyway, it should be an interesting project.

Curtis