I was getting frustrated trying to find 222 brass anywhere, at any price. Last winter, I formed 1000 223 1xfired to 222. If you take the time to prepare everything well, the hassle factor goes way down, while the success rate goes way up. Here are a few tips based on what I learned along the way:
-Get the brass nice and clean first; SS wet tumbling is best. Anything but nice shiny brass causes the failure rate to increase drastically.
-Polish your die internally. Don't worry, you won't take enough metal off to cause any problem with the resizing function of the die. Polish it WELL, not just a little bit. It removes any internal roughness, which can cause problems when forming. A smooth die makes a BIG difference to the success rate.
-Use Imperial Sizing Wax. Clearly the best lube for reforming. If you are getting any wrinkling, use less lube, not more. I've tried the others, Imperial is in a class of its own for forming brass.
-Remove the decapping rod from the die, form the brass in one stroke, but use a slow, steady stroke of the handle.
-Trimming is the most time consuming part of the entire process. A power trimmer helps a lot here.
-Anneal the brass once the forming is complete, prior to the first loading. Don't anneal before forming, you will get too many failures. If you don't anneal at all, you will get split necks because the brass got worked so much.
-Finish off with a full length resize, with the decapping rod installed this time.
I enjoyed the process of doing a batch of 223 to 222 forming last winter. I used Federal brass and inside neck turning was not necessary. I got great reloads out of this and the gopher population around here took a big hit as a result. At $80 per thousand for 1xfired 223, vs around $450 a thousand for new 222 brass (IF you can find any), I picked up a Giraud Tri trimmer + the bulk brass for way less than the cost of 1000 new 222 brass.
-Get the brass nice and clean first; SS wet tumbling is best. Anything but nice shiny brass causes the failure rate to increase drastically.
-Polish your die internally. Don't worry, you won't take enough metal off to cause any problem with the resizing function of the die. Polish it WELL, not just a little bit. It removes any internal roughness, which can cause problems when forming. A smooth die makes a BIG difference to the success rate.
-Use Imperial Sizing Wax. Clearly the best lube for reforming. If you are getting any wrinkling, use less lube, not more. I've tried the others, Imperial is in a class of its own for forming brass.
-Remove the decapping rod from the die, form the brass in one stroke, but use a slow, steady stroke of the handle.
-Trimming is the most time consuming part of the entire process. A power trimmer helps a lot here.
-Anneal the brass once the forming is complete, prior to the first loading. Don't anneal before forming, you will get too many failures. If you don't anneal at all, you will get split necks because the brass got worked so much.
-Finish off with a full length resize, with the decapping rod installed this time.
I enjoyed the process of doing a batch of 223 to 222 forming last winter. I used Federal brass and inside neck turning was not necessary. I got great reloads out of this and the gopher population around here took a big hit as a result. At $80 per thousand for 1xfired 223, vs around $450 a thousand for new 222 brass (IF you can find any), I picked up a Giraud Tri trimmer + the bulk brass for way less than the cost of 1000 new 222 brass.
