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Old 04-09-2019, 03:50 PM
Teddy Bear Rat Teddy Bear Rat is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2019
Posts: 95
Default One Step Closer to Keeping This a .17 Javelina

Quite fortuitously, I happened to find Lapua .222 brass in stock at Midway and ordered up 200 rounds. Since I had the loan of the forming dies, I thought it wise to do as much forming with them as possible before returning them. So, I limbered up my right arm and went to work. I initially had intentions of having the grand kids help, in an assembly line, of sorts, but there is no way either of them would have the arm strength to help, and the lube definitely needed to be applied in just the right amount and just the right intervals, so no help from the kiddos.

The Harrell BR press is probably not the ideal press for heavy forming, but it worked fine. The first step, pushing the shoulder back and slightly sizing the neck down, was definitely more labor intensive than the second step of downsizing the neck to just short of the final .17:


After about two hours, all 200 cases came out without any dents or other deformation. I know 200 cases doesn't sound like much, but I was glad to be finished and now dread the cut-off/trimming step, that will likely take much longer and probably require several sessions...now I remember why I have focused on rimfires for the last 10 years :



Now, I think I'll finish up 50 of these and load them up and head to the range again.

Last edited by Teddy Bear Rat; 04-09-2019 at 08:00 PM.
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