Case forming .222 Remington brass

elpac3

elpac3

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Ok. Before I hear how I can buy .222 brass I did this just because I could.

Reformed some 5.56 ar brass to .222 Remington. Ran them through the form/ trim die, trimmed down the necks, uniformed the neck walls to .013 and annealed the neck/ shoulder, matched base to shoulder measurements with factory new brass.

Found same case head stamps to vary in weight by up to 1 grain. Formed cases were about 10 grains heavier than factory.222 brass.

Used a starting load for the nosler 40 grain ballistic tip. Have had sub minute groups with this load in factory brass. Range trip showed formed cases to have same m.v. as factory brass with the same load data. Accuracy was less than desired, hanging in around 1.25 moa.

Lessons learned: reforming is time consuming, can work if supply of factory brass dries up or cost of new cases become too high. Few ar guys seem to save the brass. Cases will work ok for large varments under 300 yards when I am not concerned with losing the brass.

On top of the time spent it was kind of fun venturing into a new reloading arena
 
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elpac3 said:
Ok. Before I hear how I can buy .222 brass I did this just because I could.

Reformed some 5.56 ar brass to .222 Remington. Ran them through the form/ trim die, trimmed down the necks, uniformed the neck walls to .013 and annealed the neck/ shoulder, matched base to shoulder measurements with factory new brass.

Found same case head stamps to vary in weight by up to 1 grain. Formed cases were about 10 grains heavier than factory.222 brass.

Used a starting load for the nosler 40 grain ballistic tip. Have had sub minute groups with this load in factory brass. Range trip showed formed cases to have same m.v. as factory brass with the same load data. Accuracy was less than desired, hanging in around 1.25 moa.

Lessons learned: reforming is time consuming, can work if supply of factory brass dries up or cost of new cases become too high. Few ar guys seem to save the brass. Cases will work ok for large varments under 300 yards when I am not concerned with losing the brass.

On top of the time spent it was kind of fun venturing into a new reloading arena
Click to expand...

Forming brass is an education in itself. I did this for many years with cartridges like the .22 Long Snapper, .219 Zipper, .25-06 (long before it was a commercial cartridge). 338-06, .35 Whelen and the Improved version, .375 Whelen Improved, .411 Hawk and one or two others. Fascinating and enjoyable work many years ago, but now don't miss such work (especially annealing) or the guns.
 
I’m curious. Sounds like you did all the right things. I wonder why accuracy was mediocre. Neck tension fairly uniform? Runout of loaded cartridges in acceptable range? (0.002” or so at the neck) Did you have to trim a lot of material from the necks? Anneal before or after forming, or both?

I’ve threatened to try converting some .223 brass to .222 but never got further than pushing a few cases through a form-trim die, just to see what they looked like. I’m always interested in stuff like this.
 
I convert .223/5.56 to 6mm Mongoose, essentially a PO Ackey'd 6mm wildcat--should pushed back, taper mostly removed. It's kind of fun to really roll your own this way, but it's not for everyone. I've also made my own 9mm Mak from 9x19 cases and .30 Herritt from .30-30.

I'd suggest trying those cases again now that they are fireformed to your chamber.
 
The first time I did this was to make some 8X52 Siamese rounds for a rifle I modified for my wife. Started with 7.62X54 Russian and trimmed the neck back to 52MM then fireformed in the rifle. Loaded with 45gr of IMR4064 it tossed the bullet out the end of the barrel right smartly. I have no idea what the speed was or the muzzle energy but since the rifle was made by the Arisaka Arsenal in Japan I was not worried about the receiver blowing up. BTW I started with 40gr of powder and worked up to 46gr. I was seeing some pressure problems so cut back to 45gr and leave it there.
 
As to the accuracy issue from a proven rifle:

You've moved the neck down quite a way from the annealed portion of the 223 brass. You might try annealing those new necks, especially after all the work hardening that they've undergone from forming and thinning. It might uniform the release pressure of each case for a more uniform pressure build up.

By the way, I form 7.65 Argentine, and 35 Whelen out of Ought-Six brass. I anneal the necks after these operations and case life and accuracy is very good.
 
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I’ve formed many wildcats and obsolete cartridges. Never had to form 222 from 5.56. Back when I got my first 223, it was #3 Ruger. I had some sources for GI 5.56 so I shot a lot of it. The old GI load was 55gr FMJ at 3250fps. I forget the reason but I used a syringe of water to fill a GI 5.56
& Rem 223. If I remember right the commercial brass volume was 5% more than GI. US GI brass differs a little, some of the imports differ a lot.
 
M29since14 said:
I’m curious. Sounds like you did all the right things. I wonder why accuracy was mediocre. Neck tension fairly uniform? Runout of loaded cartridges in acceptable range? (0.002” or so at the neck) Did you have to trim a lot of material from the necks? Anneal before or after forming, or both?

I’ve threatened to try converting some .223 brass to .222 but never got further than pushing a few cases through a form-trim die, just to see what they looked like. I’m always interested in stuff like this.
Click to expand...

I'd first check case capacity (water weight) of the formed brass vs. regular .222 brass. Weight of empty brass alone often is no indication of capacity. The difference in actual capacity may be significant enough to where the powder charge weight needs to be reworked up or down to get approximately the same velocity you were getting with accurate loads. Of course, you'll need a chronograph to do this.

Runout is worth checking, but it would be the last thing I'd check and runout would need to be pretty significant to show an accuracy difference unless you have an incredibly accurate rifle, maybe a benchrest gun. Same for neck tension.
 
Ivan the Butcher said:
From 223/5.56, I form 30 Mauser, 7mm TCU and 300 Blackout.

Ivan
Click to expand...

I do 351 Winchester from 5.56 and/or 300 Blackout. I have a pretty good supply of 351 brass but my OCD self kicks in when it comes to losing brass. And I once loaned the gun and 50 rounds to a friend, who spent the day shooting and came back without the brass. :eek:

If using 5.56 trim to length & size up to .351. If using 300 the case is a tad short. Extractor holds it in place.

Works very well.
 
After you check the case capacity of the newly formed brass you might want to also form fire the cases because I'm thinking the second reloading will be more accurate than the first after the reforming. Additionally, you might want to use new or only once fired brass to form the .222 cases. Again you may improve the accuracy if the brass wasn't well used or even abused before you reformed them.

I'm just thinking out loud. I have no proof this will work. It's just speculation on my part but it can't hurt anything.
 
You just never know what's going to happen these days ...
So it's great to have a back up plan to be able , if necessary , to form 222 cases from plentiful 223 . I would go ahead and lay in a supply of both while you can get them .
I would also do a back-up plan for bullets ... a bullet mould and a melting pot will allow you to cast all the projectiles you need when jacketed become too expensive or unavailable .
I have moulds for every firearm I own ... the day could come .
Gary
 
Years ago I would fire form .300 H&H to .300 Weatherby. The first time I think I closed my eyes, but it worked.
 
"Weight of empty brass alone often is no indication of capacity."

Au contraire. If the external case dimensions are identical, the heavier case must ALWAYS have a smaller volumetric capacity. But maybe not by much. Think about it.

As the case shoulder is pushed back by re-forming a .223 case to .222, the final neck wall thickness of the re-formed case may be slightly thicker, and possibly enough thicker to require turning the neck to thin it.

Long ago, I did that .223-.222 case conversion without any problems But I have not had a .222 rifle for many years, sold my only .222 rifle (a Savage 340) nearly 50 years ago.
 
DWalt said:
"Weight of empty brass alone often is no indication of capacity."

Au contraire. If the external case dimensions are identical, the heavier case must ALWAYS have a smaller volumetric capacity. But maybe not by much. Think about it.

As the case shoulder is pushed back by re-forming a .223 case to .222, the final neck wall thickness of the re-formed case may be slightly thicker, and possibly enough thicker to require turning the neck to thin it.

Long ago, I did that .223-.222 case conversion without any problems But I have not had a .222 rifle for many years, sold my only .222 rifle (a Savage 340) nearly 50 years ago.
Click to expand...

Perhaps I should have phrased that: case capacity is more important than case weight.
 
I wonder if different brass alloys could create the weight differences? Archimedes thought so. Internal volume, all other dimensions identical, may be the only valid determinant.
 
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