reloading 221 fireball

[flatsticks]

Hello and good morning all .

Going to be taking my first crack at reloading 221 fireball when my powder gets here in the next couple of days .

Was fortunate enough to get some 221 cases from a member here and my dad found a few that were fired .

For those who have worked with this cartidge have you laid off on the trimming to save the cases for more uses .

Tried a couple last last night in th redding fl die and the case got longer by 3 thousands and the neck tension seemed low

The cases were getting the shoulder bumped back by 1 or 1.5 thousand

Was using the neck tension gauge I have for 223 as the neck dimensions looked to be the same on paper unless I am incorrect .

 

[hk940]

Make sure you weigh cases before you reload, I have had Rem, and Fed cases differ by 10gr.! It makes a huge difference in small cases, (ask me how I know).
M first load in my .221 (CZ) was 17.5 gr Reloader #7 40gr V max. one holers at 100 yards.P.S. I bought 200 Norma cases before the panic, I think 58.00 a hundred.

 

[25-20 WCF]

…For those who have worked with this cartidge have you laid off on the trimming to save the cases for more uses…

Not sure what you mean by this. Case trimming does not effect case life, case growth does. It is governed by chamber dimensions, FL die dimensions, case hardness and headspace.

If you have not worked with small cases like the .221 FB realize that even 0.2 grains of powder can make a big difference. It ain’t a .30-06.




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[flatsticks]

Thanks for the info so far. I know witht he smaller case capacity that a little change in powder charge makes a big difference. plan was to load up the first round in .2 increments for power charge . read somewhere that trimming the cases should be done as little as possible due to the lack of material in the neck . first I had heard of that and was wondering if it was really true or not . sounds like a good deal on the cases congrats !