Texas Colt
Member
This is what happens when you have a winter day with nothing to do...
A while back I ordered a large quantity of once-fired Lake City 223 brass from an online source. It was supposed to be free of blanks. When the brass arrived, I ended up with over 130 rounds of blanks. The seller made it right and sent me more regular once-fired brass to make up for it. But what to do with all the blanks?
I read several posts that said 223 blanks could not be reloaded. I took that as a challenge to solve the problem.
Below are some step-by-step pictures of how I managed to convert the blanks into usable brass. I did loose about 10% of the brass to things like trial-and-error and a few split case necks, but overall the process works.
1. Using a 223 trim die in my press, I ran the case as high as it would go, then used a hack saw to cut the tip off the blank. Using the trim die ensures that the finished product won't be too short.
2. Using a tapered center punch, I tapped it into the top of the case to expand the remaining crimp from the case mouth.
Here's 15 rounds after the case mouth was opened up.
3. Cases were then resized using a standard RCBS .223 sizing/decapping die.
4. After sizing, the cases were trimmed to 1.750" in a Forster case trimmer.
5. Next, the case mouth was chamferred and the primer pocket crimp removed. And lastly, the cases were tumble polished.
Here's the finished product - ready to be loaded.
A while back I ordered a large quantity of once-fired Lake City 223 brass from an online source. It was supposed to be free of blanks. When the brass arrived, I ended up with over 130 rounds of blanks. The seller made it right and sent me more regular once-fired brass to make up for it. But what to do with all the blanks?
I read several posts that said 223 blanks could not be reloaded. I took that as a challenge to solve the problem.
Below are some step-by-step pictures of how I managed to convert the blanks into usable brass. I did loose about 10% of the brass to things like trial-and-error and a few split case necks, but overall the process works.
1. Using a 223 trim die in my press, I ran the case as high as it would go, then used a hack saw to cut the tip off the blank. Using the trim die ensures that the finished product won't be too short.
2. Using a tapered center punch, I tapped it into the top of the case to expand the remaining crimp from the case mouth.
Here's 15 rounds after the case mouth was opened up.
3. Cases were then resized using a standard RCBS .223 sizing/decapping die.
4. After sizing, the cases were trimmed to 1.750" in a Forster case trimmer.
5. Next, the case mouth was chamferred and the primer pocket crimp removed. And lastly, the cases were tumble polished.
Here's the finished product - ready to be loaded.