Best way to form 30/223 brass

[brstevns]

What is the best way to form 30/223 brass?

[leadman]

I make 300 Whisper from 223 using the full length sizing die only. Works with no issues.

[brstevns]

I make 300 Whisper from 223 using the full length sizing die only. Works with no issues.

do you anneal your brass?

[country gent]

I would probably run them over a tapered expander tobring necks up just over 30 cal then a pass thru the sizer die trim and anneal and youll be done. A tapered expander will open necks easily and not overwork them. Lightly polish it to a bright mirror finish so it slides easily.

[GRUMPA]

I would probably run them over a tapered expander tobring necks up just over 30 cal then a pass thru the sizer die trim and anneal and youll be done. A tapered expander will open necks easily and not overwork them. Lightly polish it to a bright mirror finish so it slides easily.

Good......Sound advise......I make some of my own and they work real well. The long tapered expander part, factory expanders need to be replaced sometimes with something more user friendly for form work.

do you anneal your brass?

I anneal "AFTER" forming.....you'll find the weaker cases easily that way. Most brass will form OK but I like to weed out the weaker cases when it comes to case forming.

[brstevns]

Thanks for the information, plan on giving it a try in the next few days. Had also thought of firer forming, but was not sure.

[rockshooter]

If you are talking about 300 BLK/Whisper, you don't mainly neck up, you cut off and neck down. I set the outside dimensions of the chopped .223 with a standard 300 Blk sizer, then neck up with an "M" die. No need to anneal.
Loren

[brstevns]

If you are talking about 300 BLK/Whisper, you don't mainly neck up, you cut off and neck down. I set the outside dimensions of the chopped .223 with a standard 300 Blk sizer, then neck up with an "M" die. No need to anneal.
Loren

Not the 300 BLk but the 30-223 that I need to from brass.

[rockrat]

I use a Lee 30-30 die, the tapered expander ball works well. I then anneal the cases. Lube the inside of the case mouth well or you will split the neck.

[Nobade]

I use 7mm TCU dies first then a 30 cal. expander.

-Nobade

[Ballistics in Scotland]

If you are talking about 300 BLK/Whisper, you don't mainly neck up, you cut off and neck down. I set the outside dimensions of the chopped .223 with a standard 300 Blk sizer, then neck up with an "M" die. No need to anneal.
Loren

Reversing the order, neck down and then cut off, might be better.

[brstevns]

Reversing the order, neck down and then cut off, might be better.

Once again I want to form brass for the 30-223 not the 300 blk.

[EDG]

Have you actually tried forming any kind of brass before? Do you have any dies or a firearm for this round? Have you ever seen 7mm TCU brass? It is expanded in a similar fashion using a long tapered expander that is normally part of the FL sizing die.

You should know that if you are only expanding the case mouth to .30 caliber it only takes a long tapered expander to open the case mouth. There is no real "forming" of the case body unless you are talking about something with an improved shoulder.

Once again I want to form brass for the 30-223 not the 300 blk.

[brstevns]

Yes, I have formed a lot of brass in my time. Was looking for the best way for this round.
I do have the firearm for it. I do not have any dies for it. Will try expanding it to a 6x45 then to the 30-223 using a 30-30 die. I will give it a try in the next day or so.

[EDG]

Take a look at the long tapered expanders from Redding. RCBS and Lee. They make opening a case up that much pretty easy if the case is soft enough that it will not split.
Back when they were less expensive I bought one of each size from Redding and I have been able to open up any case neck with them.
The long tapered expanders in the more recent Lee dies enable that kind of expansion too. I have opened .300 Win mag brass to .416 Taylor with a single expander.
The RCBS long tapered expanders are sold with the .358 Win dies. I can form 7.62 Nato to .358 Win in one pass.

Yes, I have formed a lot of brass in my time. Was looking for the best way for this round.
I do have the firearm for it. I do not have any dies for it. Will try expanding it to a 6x45 then to the 30-223 using a 30-30 die. I will give it a try in the next day or so.

[bruce drake]

I use a 6.5 expander die first (either my 6.5x55 or 6.5 Jap sizing dies do just fine) and then use my 30-223 expander die from CH4D to reform 223Rem cases to 30-223. lube the case neck well and take your time on the reform and it will minimize any case losses.

[rockrat]

As said, I use my lee 30-30 die as it has a long tapered expander. Most do not. If I didn't have that die, I would do like "nobade" does and use a 7mmtcu first.

[brstevns]

Not sure if my Lee 308 die has this or not. May have to do the in between die . Will know more later in the week.

[leadman]

The older Lee dies may not have the tapered expander, the new ones should. If you don't have the tapered expander Lee will probably send you one at no or low cost. If you need dies anyway you could call the maker of the dies before you buy them to ask about the expander.
My Redding dies have a tapered expander. Hornady dies of current manufacture should also have the tapered expander.
I have been thinking of rechambering my Contender 300 Whisper barrel to 30/223 or 30 TCU. The TCU case is blown out for less body taper.

[brstevns]

OK I formed a few by running the 223 brass thru a 6x45 die. I had a 7.7 Lee die that has the long expander, use this to open them to 30x45. I then ran them into a RCBS 30-30 to bring neck down to size and used the RCBS 30-30 seater die to seat the bullets. Will work til I can afford to buy a 300 blk die set.