Anyone here reform 30-30 brass into 219 Zipper?

[Winchester71-348]

I picked up a set of RCBS reforming Dies for my .219 Zipper. Maybe a stupid novice question but after you have formed the brass what is the best way to cut them to length? Would using a IMP tubing cutter work?

[country gent]

I would use a file trim die to get close, then a lathe type to finish them square and true and to length. Set file trim die +.008 / +.010 long and cut file . Then run thru the lathe type trimmer to remove the last small amount. A friend does it starting with 7-30 waters I think saves some neck forming down. SIzing down check neck thickness also and or loaded round neck dia. to ensure they have clearance in the chamber.

[lotech]

I had five .219 Zipper rifles at one time - two high walls, a Krag, a Remington Hepburn, and a Remington rolling block. They're all gone and I miss none of them.

I don't recall using a tubing cutter, but it should work fine. I think my RCBS form die set included four dies. I normally used new Winchester .25-35 brass rather than .30-30 until I could no longer get .25-35. Once-fired brass will work, but new brass is better and worth the cost. .219 Zipper is the only brass I ever had to anneal; brass life was very short without annealing. As someone mentioned, necks may require turning. They usually do when necking down. Good luck-

[Winchester71-348]

After looking at the once fired 219 cases compared to the newly formed cases. I didn't take into account that after fire forming the neck was going to move up considerably. Intially I thought that I was going to have to cut off 3/8 of an inch but after measuring the over all lenght I realize I was only trimming back maybe 1/8 to a 1/4. Since i have never owned a 219 I had nothing to compare the cases to. turns out my gun is a 219 Zipper Improved 40*. I did have one box of vintage 219 Zipper once fired brass. That's when I figured out that the sizing die was for standard 219 Zipper. I have a set of FL 219 Improved dies so after fire forming I hope to be able to load up some rounds this weekend. I trimmed them with a flat file and annealed them already. I've been watching videos on Cream of wheat forming. Is that how ya'll fire form or do you just load a light load?

[lotech]

When you get into .219 Improved, you're possibly getting into the real oddball stuff. My Remington Hepburn (that I had rechambered for the standard .219 Zipper) was allegedly a .22/.30-30 Ackley Improved when I bought it, but .219 Improved dies worked fine. There were a lot of similar cartridges years ago; dies for one may or may not work for another.

I've fireformed using Cream of Wheat in the .375 Whelen Improved, but don't recall doing so with any .22. Just a guess, but I'd try a standard Zipper load first and see if that blows the case out to chamber dimensions. I can't recall how I formed .22/.30-30 cases but that may have been it.
Regardless of the charge I used with Cream of Wheat, cases were never 100% fireformed. The next firing with a full charge load without the cereal took care of that, however.

[725]

I've made a jig, that after initial die forming, I slip the long case in, use a Dremel cut off wheel to approximate the final length and then finish off with my Lee Zip trim.

[earlmck]

All my improved zipper cases have been made with 30/30 to date, but for my rifle that does lead to a bit of neck turning along with the annealing. Hornady is now producing 25/35 cases and I got some to make into 22 high -power. I tried one to see how they do for imp-zippers and that is the way to go! I can make them that way and not need the neck turning and probably wouldn't even need to anneal. So in the future I'm using those nice 25/35 cases for my imp-zippers.

Oh yeah, for trimming I have the Lyman rig for my drill press and I just turn them to length very quickly on the drill press. Not that big a deal as you have already found out. And I just load my standard load for that first shot; they don't even group different.

[Winchester71-348]

More fun twist and turns. The Fl RCBS dies I got that I was told was for the 219 IMp 40* turns are 219 Standard. Figured that one out as soon as I ran one of my nice newly fire formed cases through it and it came out as a standard. lol Oh well!.. I remember that I had a load of once fired 32 Spl brass that I had placed on Leverguns for sale but never got any interest in, still sitting in a bag. I ran them through the resizing dies and they came out great. Next to Anneal them as well. Looks like I'll be loading standard 219 to play with. Since I will have a nice batch of chamber fired formed brass. What would be the most economical way of bullet seating with out buying an expensive set of 219 Zip Imp 40* dies. I was wondering if I could get something likea 22-250 bullet seat just to seat bullets? I figure I would just de prime them with an old decapping rod and base.

[barryjyoung]

So, I see it has been 6 years since anyone replied to this thread. That's ok. I form .219 Donaldson Wasp from .219 Zipper, .22-.250 and 30-30 cases. The case forming is easy if you use a good case sizing lube. I use Pacific case lube from the 1960's. For trimming, the first 50 rounds I trimmed with a Forster case trimmer which did an excellent job, but it was slow. I made a little jig on a board that held the forster trimmer with the handle removed. This worked much faster but required a lot of pressure on the drill, so I mounted a foot long lever to make it work easier. Then I went "Well Duh! that thang is jus like a dreel press". So I bought a used Forster case trimmer attachment for a drill press. I attached this to a Wizard drill press from the 1930's that I had recently restored to new condition. Never looked back. I have now trimmed more than 500 cases and my High Wall in .219 Donaldson is a happy camper. I highly recommend the forster drill press attachment. No need to look for a Wizard, Harbor Freight makes better drill presses for far less money.