Least expensive possible setup for .223-->300BLK conversion?

I've read articles on one end of the spectrum that say you need a case neck annealing setup, and to hire a PhD-holding engineer to sort your headstamps for you to get only the perfect neck thickness. I've also read articles that say you can just cut the brass with a rusty hacksaw and run it through the sizing die. Presumably the truth is somewhere in the middle.

My question is, will a pipe cutter do the trick, then running through a sizing die, and finally trim/chamfer/deburr? Or do I really need to be worried about neck thickness and annealing?

My goal for 300 BLK is honestly just to have some fun with a 10.5" AR pistol and a suppressor, so my ammo will virtually all be subs, probably using the Lee 309 230gr mold. I'd like it to be accurate enough to be fun out to 100 yards, but not planning on hunting or doing any "serious" target shooting with it.

Yes, you do have to worry about neck thickness. Sorting by headstamp is all that’s required for this. I’m setup to convert brass but I stopped. Starline makes it and it’s not worth the time to make it myself anymore. When I was making it used the mini HF cutoff saw, deburred, sized, trimmed to length, deburred and annealed. Annealing is a step that can be omitted but your brass will last longer and neck tension will be consistent if you do.

I wouldn't use a pipe or tubing cutter as they have a tendency to 'crush' the tube a bit ending up with an inverted flare at the case mouth. Keep your eyes open on here and buy some factory .300 BO brass, also available is a LOT of .223/556 already converted to 300. I bought some and most was good but did have almost 10% that somehow had the primer pocket made shallower when swaging the crimp out.

I found a nice guy that takes .223 brass in trade for formed .300 BO. It's a great deal and a labor saver for me.

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Harbor Freight sells a mini cut-off saw https://www.harborfreight.com/2-in-m...saw-62136.html that makes trimming the brass down much easier. Under $30 with the 20% off coupon.
I also bought one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/300-Blackou...q7Is:rk:1:pf:0 that really works well with the above saw.

If your not going to go through a ton of brass, buying once fired 300blk might be the way to go. As for annealing, I have done it both ways and it will work without if you pay attention to the neck thickness as dragon813gt mentioned. Both were tried with a Hera Upper on an Anderson lower. I like to do stuff myself and had access to a bunch of cheap 556 so bought the above equipment.

I've also bought some Starline brass and highly recommend it as I do all Starline brass if you want new.

Find a bunch of brass that has matching headstamps, I use Fed or LC I cut it off size it trim it and load it. I have not annealed a single round yet and haven't had any issues. Case neck issues that I have run into come from some of the off brand brass. Pmc is the one I have had the most problems with so now I just chuck it in the recycle bin.

HF cutoff saw is the way to go. Or buy. I do anneal some with the torch method but cases are so cheap to make mostly don't bother. I do neck turn as my carbine chamber is tight, still easy & quick to do. So far PP go before the neck splits, just toss them in recycle bin, I just do supers. That Lee doesn't have a very good reputation.

I bought a HF chop saw and made my own jig out of nylon. I had 3 left to cut out of the 1,000 pieces of brass and the saw died so I returned the saw for a full refund.

223 brass for converting to 300 AAC BO
Good
ADI PERFECTA
Aguila PMC
A USA PS
FC PSD
GFL RA
HB RP
Hornady SSA
Hornady (nickel TAA
IK03 Tula
IMI TW
IVI TZZ
LC WCC
M193 Winchester
Norinco WIN NT
NOSLER WMA 15



Thick neck wall, bad without neck turning:

AB 556 L2A2
ATI MKE13
CBC MPA
CJ6 Norma
CJ 8 NPA
DNL PMC
FNM PMP
FRONTIER PPU
GECO RAM
Hot Shot RORG
HRTRS RWS
ICC S&B
IK03 SADU
IMI TAA
IVI SADU
KFA Wolf Brass

I just buy 300 ACC BO brass from Starline. Not sure the time/benefit equation favors cutting down .223 cases. For sure, it is not worth it for me.

Making 300BO brass is easy. I just use mixed .223 brass and a cheap cut-off wheel (replaceable discs, mandrel) chucked in my drill press. you can rig up a basic jig using a lee trim shellholder and the press's vice. Some cases will be unusable because the thickness is too much (anything over .015", if memory serves). After removing the neck, size & trim as normal. Throw a caliper on each neck as part of the process and chuck the ones that read large. I haven't had any jams since I started doing this.

I use the same Harbor Freight cut off saw and Ebay jig to hold brass in place. You have to remember this is very small saw so you have to go slow because if you push it too hard you'll burn that tiny motor. I was fine using it but I let my wife use it once and it was shut, go figure [smilie=b:

There are many other ways to do this even with a hex saw if you had to as long as you make a clean cut. People use band saws, grinders with cut off wheels, dremels etc. I started with a dremel and made few cuts that way as proof of concept and once I got it all working I went with harbor freight saw. I made probably close to 2K of 300 brass so far this way.

Neck thickness is a real concern and I can tell you for a fact that list above isnt always 100% right neither because I had to pull over 100 rounds of 300AAC from GFL (Fiocchi) brass as it wouldnt chamber. From now on I only use Lake City brass which I never have any problems with and its easy to find so I have plenty for 300. I wouldnt mess with mixed brass. Nothing worst then a round stuck in your chamber and your beating your ARs stock on the ground hoping to get it out.

Overall its not a hard process to do or to get right as long as you pay attention to those couple things. If one has the time I dont see a reason to buy what you can make yourself. Isnt that the reason why we cast anyway :mrgreen:

A pipe cutter used on a tapered surface or with one roller unsupported will want to walk towards the smaller end. I did 357 herret from 30-30 case and this required around 1/4" removed. I made a die to run cases in and cut them +.010-.015 long with a very fine jewelers saw. The harbor freight mini saw and a small fixture will work also.

I was an early adopter of the 300Blk, so I had to get the HF Saw and jig or pay a premium, but I've converted a few thousand cases so far. I don't anneal, because I have access to a bunch of LC 5.56 cases, but it wouldn't hurt to do so. These are pics of the setup doing 277 Wolverine, same jig.
http://i.imgur.com/4G7vjB6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/UtVY8tY.jpg

File and trim die and a seawall. Tried using a hacksaw and that got old real fast.

Unless you just like fiddling with that kind of stuff, you should contact member Casting Machine and use the money to purchase processed brass instead of tools. I have the HF saw and jig which work well and I have converted about 800 brass. Yes, you do have to pay attention to head stamps because of neck thickness. I have also purchased the processed brass from CM, and for the price, I won't be processing any more.
Either way you go buy/make plenty of brass. Believe me, when your in the middle of shooting your BLK, and having fun doing so, you will be loosing some!:bigsmyl2:
Probably more than you might think.

find plenty of blackout brass at the range.

Thanks all for the advice. Time is much more abundant than money right now, so buying BLK brass as a long-term solution doesn't appeal to me. I have tons of .223 brass and a good percentage of it is Lake City, so I'll just plan on making LC headstamp my go-to for conversion.

I think I'm going to try it without the annealing step to start. If I can't get it to work well, I found plans for a really great (consistent) auto-annealer that can be built for under $100, so I'll probably go that route if it becomes necessary.

I think I'm going to try it without the annealing step to start. If I can't get it to work well, I found plans for a really great (consistent) auto-annealer that can be built for under $100, so I'll probably go that route if it becomes necessary.

Got a link for that or where did you find those plans? I could use one for this conversion and other things

google home made annealer video youtube. youll find tons of videos to get ideas form.

This is the one I'm looking at building specifically if I end up needing one:

http://forum.accurateshooter.com/thr...s-one.3900614/

If you have a 650 with a trimmer, all you need extra is a short toolhead and trim die.

I also used the Harbor Freight chop saw if you read HF's reviews on that saw 90% or better of them are guys making .300 blk brass. I was making cases for my Ruger american ranch and an AR that I built. My procedure was to size .223 / 5.56 brass in the .300 sizer die with the expander ball and stem removed. Then cut them close to the correct length in the chop saw. Then cut them to the exact length in a rcbs trimmer. Then deburr the case mouth and if needed the primer pocket. I never bothered to annealing the brass. Yes it sounds like a lot of work but it was good practice if I ever get something obsolete that needs to have cases made for it. Most of the brass I converted was LC,WCC,Fed, & Rem. Yes I would have one split now and then but with 100's more ready to go who cares.

My experience with the HF cutoff saw was less than great. The first one I returned to HF for an exchange after it devoured the rubber drive belt in 30 cuts. The next one was returned when it became obvious that the blade mount shaft was bent. Long story short is that after 4 exchanges, this product proved totally inadequate for this task. Most of the components of this tool are of good quality. The design concept was good.... the execution was poor.

The availability of low cost 300BO brass resolved the issue and I never looked back.

i went with the HF saw and a jig from ebay that was less than 20 bucks shipped, so i have less than 60 bucks in it in total .i use LC brass for the 150g fmj m80 load and rem cases for the light ones and 208 amax loads. have over 1k cut and the saw is still chugging along

The issues with the HF saw are usually due to the user ham fisting the blade through the brass. Take it smooth and easy and it will last through thousands of 5.56 to 300 conversions. Last Saturday myself and a buddy cut down 4-5 hundred cases at a single sitting, and the saw probably has 4-5 thousand cuts already.

I have never annealed a .300 case after forming it out of 5.56 brass. Some of my brass has 10 reloads on it and is still reloading fine. I seem to notice loose primer pockets kill my .300 brass.

Least expensive was a 221/300 form die and a hacksaw and file with a set of 300 BLK dies.The step to the HF chop saw and a jig was like going to color/talkie movies. The saw needs to be used gently and occasionally cleaned and tightened, easy steps and its cranked a few thousand cases. I enjoy the brass conversion process, sure you can buy 300 BLK brass now but that's too easy (and this is a case forming thread...). Now I fixated on making 6.5 Grendel brass from once-fired 762x39....no chop saw required.

Cheapest way is to buy once fired brass ... https://www.etsy.com/listing/2069125...e9%3A206912549

Least expensive? A Redding File / Form die.
It only takes one long stroke with a fine tooth hacksaw followed by a few strokes of a file. I skip the file and go directly from the saw to a Forster trimmer. The very few with thick necks are separated. I take care of thick necks with a Forster outside neck turner. Same goes with my 25 Souper, 375 Taylor, 30 Herrett and 308 X 1.5.

Attachment 233052I built this to cut 223. The cutter is from HF, the case cutter jig I found on line. Put the case in the jig, cut it and when you put the next case in the jig it spits the cut case through my drain into the blue bucket, the chips and scrap go into hole in the back into a smaller coffee can. Works like a charm.

I vote for buying affordable brass that's already prepped and taking the time to pick up and save your brass, Ive done 500 rounds of LC brass by the time you open the primer pockets and get everything done you've got several long days in used brass, buy it and start shooting, if you're not working go for it, you can pick up range brass and put your time in. There are a lot of good suggestions here.
Good luck
Randy C

I have quite a bit of formed brass. I refuse to neck ream for an AR platform rifle, I am more than willing and do for my 6mm/284. My upper has a fairly tight chamber and not all formed brass from all sources will work. I am working on sorting the converted by headstamp and will load small lots to test for proper function. I have been buying real 300 BO when I find it and have not had any issues with it.

I've only made my own. HF saw which while cuts fine, isn't really square to the bed of the saw. Should have taken it back, but I didn't and I just shimmed it. Bought a trim jig similar to the one in pic above, but never really liked it. 3D printed one a while back and it works way better in my opinion. I haven't neck reamed, but I will say I have to watch it as I guess my chamber is on the tight size. Even LC is close. Too cheep to buy reamer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Texas by God

I found a nice guy that takes .223 brass in trade for formed .300 BO. It's a great deal and a labor saver for me.

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I used to convert LC brass using HF saw with a jig then lube/fullsize then trim then deburr/chamfer before polishing off lube, but the most PIA is crimped primer pocket swaging.
I now just buy some cheap milsurps (dented or blanks) from http://valhalladistributing.com/ (not affiliated with them but they really have cheap brass for conversion)
then, have "Donald Kaufman" from FB's "300 AAC Blackout Discussion" group, convert/anneal them to either 300BLK of 277WLV for half the lot I send.
Made my life's a lot easier now with more time reloading & shooting.

I made one from scrap wood,bedframe steel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTF1p3qByEA

There is more than one way to skin this cat. I use my drill press, cheap cut-off wheels on a small mandrel and a simple set-up in the vice to hold the case. Prepare the case as normal. Annealing is optional, a drill on low and a torch does the job. Case thickness can be measure with a cheap vernier caliper. They want to be in the .014-.015” range if memory serves (it’s been awhile). The cases that measure .017” and up will give you feeding issues. For my purposes (a few hundred rounds a year at the most) this works fine. I may graduate to the harbor freight cut-off saw if I start shooting it a lot more.


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I made a fixture to hold .223s in may buddies mini lathe and found if I parted my federal brass at 1.357" long they came out to the right length after running them through my sizing die.