Best way to for 17fb from 221?

[SDguy605]

Originally Posted by trooperjd

To the original person who posted please excuse me posting my info on your thread. I'm in the same boat you are and figured it would benefit us both.

Okay my brass after forming from 221fb to 17fb are 1.965 neck diameter. Once the bullets are seated, the diameter is 1.995-1.996. The factory rounds are pretty much at 2.00. Will this make a huge difference and how will this effect neck tension? I'm trying really hard to do it right.

As far as annealing goes, I have all the items needed to do as you described above, just want this brass to be formed correctly then I'll start on that process. Thanks for any help and info that is provided.

What tool are you using to measure your brass?

Pretty sure your measurements are in the ball park though in each case you wish to move decimal point one place to left?

If this were me I would insure necks are chamfered inside and out, anneal your brass then prime the cases load no more than three cases with a minimum load and test fire. Compare neck diameter before and after firing.
If the brass is properly annealed the fired brass should give you a pretty good idea of the neck diameter of your rifle chamber.

Example may be before firing your neck diameter may measure .2000" after firing the neck may measure .2040" just for example. In this example the data would tell you your brass is providing approximately .004 to .005 clearance in the neck diameter.
To give you an idea of how the annealing maybe benefiting your brass, you could fire some of your brass that has not been annealed. In this case you're diameter measurement on fired casings may run closer to .2000" the reason for this is the brass is not malleable and therefore springs back Close to the original diameter.

The non-malleable brass tends to be more brittle. The more brittle the brass the higher the likelihood you will be losing brass to split necks and shoulder areas.
When test-firing these minimum loads you may experience carbon buildup around the necks of your brass. If the carbon buildup occurs, this just may be an indication you need to bump up your load a little and or anneal your brass.

Annealed brass necks and higher pressure loads tend to do a better job of sealing out the compressed gases.


What bullets and powder did you intend stating off with?

May I recomend you stop by Varmint Al's web page and read through his reloading section? http://www.varmintal.com/arelo.htm Stop back later and go through it all again and again. I assure you you'll pick up something new each time. I can say this from personal experience. This along with your reloading manuals and Saubier will go a long way to set you off on the right foot. Don't get me wrong I think your off to a great start.

[trooperjd]

Yes sir I'll agree I'm a new reloader but trying to be very discriminate and safe with my first time to form brass. I'll agree that on my neck measurements were incorrect. I was typing and measuring while getting dressed for work, my bad.

I will visit the mentioned website and continue to read up on the process. I'll load a few and load a minimum charge with H322. My fears are improper sizing of brass will be too small. I guess I'll load three or four that are annealed and three or four that are not annealed an take measurements. Thank y'all for the all the help and I'll may be checking back with further questions. I've also been getting some assistance from Cajun Blake on another site. Thanks to all.

[Dean2]

If you have a FB length Redding Bushing neck sizing die the same die can be used for 221 FB, 20 VT and 17 FB with the right bushings. (I use a 17 FB decapper for all three calibers as using the right size bushing means you don't need to also run an expander plug).

Use a 20 cal bushing first, then run the brass through the 17FB full length die. Much simpler and you don't need a whole bunch of extra steps and expensive dies.

I have even used this process to form down 223 brass to 17 FB except you trim the neck length after running them through the 20 Cal bushing neck die and you usually have to trim the neck thickness after putting them through the 17 FB FL die. Imperial lube is your friend for this process.

[sako 17]

Originally Posted by Dean2

If you have a FB length Redding Bushing neck sizing die the same die can be used for 221 FB, 20 VT and 17 FB with the right bushings. (I use a 17 FB decapper for all three calibers as using the right size bushing means you don't need to also run an expander plug).

Use a 20 cal bushing first, then run the brass through the 17FB full length die. Much simpler and you don't need a whole bunch of extra steps and expensive dies.

I have even used this process to form down 223 brass to 17 FB except you trim the neck length after running them through the 20 Cal bushing neck die and you usually have to trim the neck thickness after putting them through the 17 FB FL die. Imperial lube is your friend for this process.

yeah I've done something similar in the past with bigger calibers. Actually turn up a tapered bush for a competition neck die. It forms the neck down like a funnel shape on the first pass so the open end is the correct size but back at the shoulder it's not much smaller than original. Then run back in the same die with the correct bush to size down the full length of the neck. Using the competition neck die with the sliding internal sleeve and the two steps has reduced run out and damaged neck mouths in other cals. Mayor may not work with these little suckers though!!