Making .300 BLK Brass

Walkalong · Mar 29, 2013

Since .223 is hard to find and pricey right now, and fully prepped .300 BLK brass from .223 is even scarcer right now, I figure it was time to make some.

I have the brass, the little HF chop saw came in Friday, and I figured I would get started tonight.

I made a quickie stop for the brass. It is 1.360+ as cut, then 1.370+ when sized.

Walkalong · Mar 29, 2013

That leaves just a little for the WFT to clean up. Not many yet, but it's a start.

Walkalong · Mar 29, 2013

And very important. Always keep your fingers away from the little spinning wheel.

Red agrees. Yep, he was trying out the cut off pieces to see if he could eat them. You know, like the rug he's standing on. Yep, he's why it has missing parts.

Walkalong · Mar 29, 2013

Shed's a wreck too.

LiveLife · Mar 29, 2013

= Sigh =

Wish I had a .300 BLK upper for my AR ...

cfullgraf · Mar 29, 2013

Walkalong said:
And very important. Always keep your fingers away from the little spinning wheel.

Yep, that is putting yourself into your work.

When I formed my large batch of 300 BLK from 223 Remington last summer, I used a Wilson trimmer to do the trimming. Worked, but slow. I now have a 300 BLK WFT trimmer and it works quite well.

For large volume, mounting the WFT in the lathe is a good way to go but watch your fingers. (Sorry, too many years of working in industry and having safety drilled in).

If I remember correctly, the cut off blade started to get a bit slow in the 1200-1300 cut range. But, I am afraid I have slept since then.

And i thought my reloading room was "filled to the gills".

cfullgraf · Mar 29, 2013

bds said:
= Sigh =

Wish I had a .300 BLK upper for my AR ...

Lots of fun to load for. Lots of fun to shoot. I shoot only supersonic 300 BLK, I am sure suppressed stuff is fun as well.

MaterDei · Mar 29, 2013

looking good. I've got a RRA lower waiting for some 300 Black uppers to be in stock at Wilson Combat.

Dave Rishar · Mar 29, 2013

You're pretty high tech compared to me. I deprime the 5.56mm in a universal die, tumble, use the chop saw without a stop (a hair under the shoulder by eyeball is where I cut), size in the 300 BLK die, trim with a Lee case holder in a cordless drill, and then tumble again if necessary, as these are field (not range) pickups that have been out in the weather for up to a few years. I'm still wondering whether or not to anneal the new neck but I'm think that I should, so that's another step.

It's a bit of work, but these will be subsonic only (meaning pistol pressures) and should last for a long time, so I figure that it's time well spent. And it's not like I can just buy it or something.

Lennyjoe · Mar 30, 2013

I put one together about a month ago. Got a DPMS 16" chrome lined 1-7 twist off of gunbroker for $199. Finding the flat top upper and BCG was a pain but I got it all together now. Shooting 125 gr TNT's over Lilgun til the suppressor comes in. When it dies im going to subs exclusively with this rifle.

Walkalong · Mar 30, 2013

I now have a 300 BLK WFT trimmer and it works quite well.

Your posts were why I decided to try it. Yes, they work very nicely. Having the bearing cut to stop the shoulder works better than the PH trimmers stationary stop, but you pay for it of course.

the lathe is a good way to go but watch your fingers.

Yea, I have nicked a finger that way before. Gotta be watchful all the time. Great way to get hurt.

This batch of brass is beat up around the case mouths some, so it is perfect for making .300 BLK. The ammo can is a bit bigger than a .50, whichever one that is.

If I remember correctly, the cut off blade started to get a bit slow in the 1200-1300 cut range

Sounds right, IIR your PM correctly. I plan on picking up a spare soon.

I just needed inspiration to get started.

Walkalong · Mar 30, 2013

I ran off 625 this morning. They are cut off, chamfered, and deburred. All they need now is sizing, final trimming, a light hand chamfer and deburr, and then remove the crimp on the primer pockets.

I used less than half of the cases in the ammo can, so I imagine I have close to 1500 in there. Now it's off to work to check an electrical problem they just called about.

Lennyjoe · Mar 30, 2013

Are you going to anneal them?

Walkalong · Mar 30, 2013

I figure they are freshly annealed, being once fired LC 08, and annealed right where they need it, which is where the new shoulder and neck will be, so no, I am not worried about annealing them.

I figured one thing out real fast, if you have a case with a dent where the new shoulder and neck will be you are better off saving the case for .223, because when you size/neck it down, it will buckle/double the dent and waste a case which may have been salvageable as a .223.

It's all sized and ready for the next steps. Time to take my sweetie out to dinner.

cfullgraf · Mar 30, 2013

I have not annealed any of my 300 BLK resized cases. While I have not put many firing/reloading cycles on any of the reformed 223 Rem cases, I have not experienced any short neck life.

The resizing is not very much so I doubt the brass gets worked very much. I used to form 7mm Int Rimmed from 30-30 without annealing. No problems either.

Finally, I form 6.5x54 Kurz Mauser. When I start with a 30 caliber case, neck life is short. But, if I start with 7-08 or 7x57 cases, neck life is "normal" without annealing.

Jesse Heywood · Mar 30, 2013

Hopefully Red won't develop a taste for bloody fingers!

Walkalong · Mar 30, 2013

Nah, but he'll chew up most anything he can reach.

highlander 5 · Mar 30, 2013

Made 300 BLK brass with a file and trim die and a sawsall. Ran the case into die cut off excess with saw file and chamfer. From what I can put together no annealing is needed I have Redding 300/221 dies and replaced the expander ball with one made of carbide. Makes loading 300 Blk on my 650 much easier on wrist and elbows.

cfullgraf · Mar 30, 2013

Walkalong said:
Nah, but he'll chew up most anything he can reach.

Sounds like Red will take any intruders off at the ankles.

Walkalong · Mar 31, 2013

Finished them up this evening. I reamed the primer pockets, and while the WFT left the case mouths very clean, there were still a slight burr here and there inside the case mouth on a small percentage of the cases, so I lightly chamfered the inside of the case mouths. Overall I was very impressed with how clean the WFT trimmer left the case mouths. They could have been loaded as is.

Then into the tumbler for a couple of hours.

When cutting down .223 cases, I counted out 625 cases, and then did a couple more handfuls, with the idea being to get 600 good cases to load for a .30 cal ammo can to put away for a rainy day. The bullet hasn't been chosen, as testing is not yet finished.

Woohoo.

cfullgraf · Mar 31, 2013

Walkalong said:
Overall I was very impressed with how clean the WFT trimmer left the case mouths. They could have been loaded as is.

My experience with the WFT as well. While the case mouths are pretty clean after running through the WFT, I like to knock off the sharp edges of the case mouth with a champ her/deburring tool. Takes no time at all.

I like the box of ready to go brass.

Forming 300 BLK from 223 Remington is pretty easy. When i did my batch last summer, I do not remember scrapping any cases from the forming/trimming process.

Walkalong · Apr 1, 2013

The only ones I had to scrap were ones that had a dent in the .223 case where it ended up in the neck of the .300 case. 5 or 6 out od 625+ cases maybe.

LiveLife · Apr 1, 2013

Nice looking brass! Good job!

Would you consider doing a low velocity workup using Trail Boss and the X-Treme 150 gr plated bullets?

I figure even with a charge that filled the case, you would be fine pressure wise.

Hodgdon load data for .300 BLK

110 gr Hornady V-MAX IMR Trail Boss .308" OAL 2.040" Start 4.5 gr (880 fps) 21,900 CUP - Max 6.3 gr (1046 fps) 20,200 CUP

115 gr Berger TGT FB IMR Trail Boss .308" OAL 2.050" Start 4.5 gr (894 fps) 23,200 CUP - Max 6.3 gr (1044 fps) 19,900 CUP

.308 load data

150 gr Nosler BT IMR Trail Boss .308" OAL 2.800" Start 10 gr (1176 fps) 25,800 PSI - Max 14 gr (1417 fps) 27,100 PSI

.223 load data

55 gr Hornady FMJ IMR Trail Boss .224" OAL 2.200" Max 4.0 gr 1074 fps

Walkalong · Apr 1, 2013

I would be concerned with getting a 150 Gr bullet out of the barrel with a .300 BLK case and Trail Boss. I don't mind sticking a bullet in a short pistol barrel, but a 16" barrel with a bullet stuck most of the way down doesn't sound fun.

If I tried the X-Treme 150 Gr in .300 BLK it would be starting around 1700 FPS and see if it could handle it. Work up to 1900ish it it could and see what happens. If it shot decent, it could be a cheap plinker, even cheaper than pulled 147s.

243winxb · Apr 1, 2013

How is the neck diameter of loaded rounds?

Found this on Lee's website.

Making .300 BLK Brass

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