.221 Fireball Brass Length

U

UncleDoc

New member
Remington factory brass for the .221 measures 1.395". If you have .300 Whisper brass and neck it down it measures 1.365" or there abouts. Question to the more experienced reloaders is this...how much does shorter case length affect accuracy, tension on the projectile, or proper/uniform ignition? I was thinking if I crimp the case necks fairly tight it might not be quite an issue. Thoughts? Comments?
 
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I would try it with a crimp and without and see if there is a difference. I doubt you will see much if any.
 
As long as all cases are the same length I would think you have no problem. I would be more concerned with neck wall thickness going from 30 caliber to 22. For my 221 I figured out a system of making brass from .223 which gives you an unlimited amount of usable brass for next to nothing.

I would totally pass on the crimping. Unless you are using bullets with cannelures and even then they will probably be too short OAL.
 
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I check the neck thickness and the inside/outside diameter and I don't think that will be an issue initially. However, with repeated firings I am thinking I might see the "donut" starting to form. Please enlighten me on the method you use for the .223 brass, I am interested. Thanks...
 
http://www.saubier.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9938

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You mean something like this. If you take a 221FB FL die, lube and run a piece of 223 or 222 brass through, trim to 1.400" and neck turn (if needed, which isn't in factory chambers). From there the brass will some of the strongest brass you could have, ever, period, in 221FB. I make 20VT this way and in my 20VT I can hit 4000fps where most people can only hit 3700-3800fps. The homemade stuff is all I use. It's cheap too, for 120$ I can get 1000 pieces of LC'11 for 120$ I can 300 pieces of 221FB. Adam
 
I have made 221 cases out of 223, I used RCBS form and trim dies in 222 and 221 to bring the case down to size, then used a tubing cutter to cut of some of the excess, champfer the neck and finish on a trimmer, then you will have to turn the neck down because it will be thicker being that far down on the original case. It is an interesting process but I would rather use factory cases if you can find them as I think they last better. You will lose some cases that will fold the neck. I sas typing when Ab replied, I had better luck necking to 222 and then to 221, I used form dies but I believe you could take the de-capping stem out of the regular dies and do the same thing. I had to turn the necks on mine but I have a CZ rifle and I think the chamber might be a little tighter on them.
 
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