# making 300 blk-out from 223 brass



## GREENCOUNTYPETE

I like to sort for R P 223 headstamps or remingtion Peters 223 brass

LC lake city also works well

but brass that doesn't work so well
A-USA Armscorp USA
P M C
Gecko
Tula
G.F.L.
and I am sure some others

how to tell if it is good or bad , is in the wall thickness , cut and form a case if the neck thickness is less than or equal to 0.011 it is good if it is >0.013 you may run into cambering or unloading issues.
a loaded round should have a neck size of 0.331

.011 + .308 +.011 =.330 and SAMMI sets the neck measurement at .334

I tried some of the above listed brass and it had finished neck thickness of .013 and .014 and had some issues in a tight chamber with getting fully into battery or getting a round stuck in the chamber and having to help it out with a brass rod really no fun.

in measuring factory ammo I found they all seemed to all measure .330 or .331 and as long as I keep to .330 .331 I have had no issues Chambering or ejecting rounds.

so I grab any R P 223 head stamps from the free brass I am given and keep them for 300bo because I seem to be able to count on Remington to have thin brass.

I am using a Harbor freight 2 inch bench top chop saw if you plan to buy one make sure to get a coupon they are always offering a 20 or 25 % coupon and why pay more than you have to.
the saw works decent , the main reason for use is that is what the jigs are designed for

I use a 3D printed jig , my brother printed for me , there are a number of them on thingavurs a web site where people share their 3d printable designs

he printed it off for me on his 3d printer but there are places selling them printed or made form aluminum for not that much around 10 dollars and shipping.

cut then adjust , after running through a sizing die , adjust as need so that you can reduce the amount you need to trim start at the back edge of the shoulder and work form there.
you will need to trim some because the cut is never perfectly strait it depends how you trim and how strait your saw cuts what you need to adjust to 

I runn a lee quick trim die with power trim cutter , .020 

when you size , lube it helps it is really not hard to put a .330 neck on a .362 cut case.

some brass has a little spring back so I go in and out of the sizing die 2-3 times , the case mouth will be .330 right away but the neck close to the shoulder will change and get down to .330 on the 2nd or third pull this only takes an extra second or so.

then max trim length for 300 bo is 1.368" I shoot for 1.360 to 1.365 and so far have not needed to trim on the second or third reload of any of my cases but my pressure is quite low.

cut , form , trim
if you had to trim to much then you may need to resize you can tell by the neck size if you are 

I use a primer pocket cleaner but another benefit of the R P brass is no primer crimp to remove

I keep my size and trim die in one tool head , I start my loading with a lee universal expanded to put just a slight bell on the case mouth , then Lee auto drum powder measure with powder through charging die , then bullet seating doe and factory crimp die 

I am loading 22.5 gr the starting load of Hogdon CFE-BLK it is a compressed load under a 110gr Hornady V-max bullet

the load and bullet group consistently about 1 inch for me at 100 yards

I also tried Speer Hot-Cor 110 gr for very similar results but the hot-cor had slightly larger groups but not by much 1/4 inch larger

the v-max a re more locally available I am able to get them at the local store

I have recently started working with Berrys 150gr plated flat nose bullets as a lower cost pinking ammo but haven't gotten to the range yet to see how they shoot


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## Texaspredatorhu

Another option if you went through all the trouble of cutting and forming would be to turn the necks to get it down to the right thickness instead of just tossing it. I’m pretty sure 300blk brass has come down quite a bit too. I bought mine about 2 years ago and I paid 75 for 500 cases. Mines all subsonic and all has been reloaded at least 3 times. I’m going to have to look at the headstamps now because I can’t remember what brand it is.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

it has come down but I get most of my 223 brass given to me by people who shoot but do not reload 

the head stamps that are not good for 300bo are still fine for 223 loading 

I paid about 30 dollars for the saw , my brother said his cost on the jig was 38 cents , and my time to turn free to me brass into 300 BO

for hunting I have some 300blk head stamped brass that is form factory loaded ammo I purchased that I keep just for hunting but 100 peices last a long time hunting but not so much playing.


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## Chuck R.

GPC,

I've got to admire your dedication, there's no way I'd put that much effort into brass that's going into a semi. I'd spend a chitload of time looking for the empty after every shot.

I'm prepping and loading 5.56 for a 3 day carbine class in March (1500rds) and the thought that I won't get that brass back is making me lose sleep at night.

Chuck


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## Texaspredatorhu

Chuck R. said:


> GPC,
> 
> I've got to admire your dedication, there's no way I'd put that much effort into brass that's going into a semi. I'd spend a chitload of time looking for the empty after every shot.
> 
> I'm prepping and loading 5.56 for a 3 day carbine class in March (1500rds) and the thought that I won't get that brass back is making me lose sleep at night.
> 
> Chuck


Can you run a brass catcher? If so buy one and make it bigger.


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## Chuck R.

Texaspredatorhu said:


> Can you run a brass catcher? If so buy one and make it bigger.


Can....but won't. It interferes with some of the remedial action drills, and can (often does) cause reliability issues as you'll occasionally get a piece of brass that bounces back into the action. 

I just accept it as what it is. I'll come back with a bucket of 5.56 brass that's basically unknown condition. Luckily for this particular class it's all LEOs, so the odds are it will mostly be once fired. 

Chuck


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

a bucket of brass that is 90% once fired sure beats a total loss 

at Appleseed I was able to pick up about 85% of my 223 brass , so far the 300 puts them in such a nice neat pile that I can find most of them , it helps they keep the grass short at my club range nearly everyone there is a brass miser our treasurer actually counts them and will keep looking till he has found all of his cases or very close. 

I bought some 8x10 dog kennel shade cloth with tarp grommets around the edges for a few dollars each at a garage sale , I keep meaning to bring one with to put down while shooting but forget.

I just got myself a Caldwell brass catcher the type that slips right on and off with a mount mount to the Pic rail , it has little ball detentes to keep it from sliding off unless you pull.

at pistol league some guys mark their brass with a sharpie on the head , red and green were taken so when I do mark I am Blue 

you could mark across the head and primer of all your ammo before loading it in mags if you keep your ammo in MTM or Plano boxes it is very easy to run a line down each row 


I work from home and have to spend a fair amount of time on conference calls , so I mute and sort brass while I am babysitting executives or waiting for telco to complete testing or for those lengthy times I sit on hold waiting for whatever reason.


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## Chuck R.

GPC,

I've got the same brass catcher, works well off the bench or when running drills at home. Doesn't however work well in a carbine class do to the movement, barricades etc. 

Appleseed from what I've read is more static and focused on marksmanship, this is more dynamic like run and gun. So a ground tarp won't work, there aren't any static firing positions. With 20 guys firing 500 rds a day, marking and the subsequent sorting just isn't feasible. I don't even bother with that for our bi-weekly IDPA matches, I just make sure I use my older range pick-up brass and leave it lay. 

It's a PITA, but I'm used to it. This is my 6th or 7th defensive carbine class in addition to matches. I'll come home with a bucket full of brass, just not the stuff I started out with. Like I posted earlier, good news about this class is that other than 2 of us, it's restricted to LEOs shooting department procured ammo which should be once fired stuff. I've got a pretty good drill down for mass loading .223 for my ARs using my annealing machine, a Dillon 550 and a Trim-It II, so I'll get through it. 

.223 brass at my place falls into 2 categories: 5.56/.223 to be run through carbines, loaded on the Dillon 550 (soon to be XL650 after the 25th) which is mixed brass minimal prep, and the precision stuff that I use for yote hunting and shoot through my bolt gun. The latter gets the full Monty for prep.

Chuck


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE

tallying things up I am getting close to being a 5K round a year shooter ,and it doesn't seem like I shoot that much

it sounds like you must get in excess of 10K rounds 

Appleseed is very static , when you go Appleseed known distance you do a lot of walking we stage our gear at 300 and walk up to 100 with 3 mags one for 100 yards , 2 for 200 yards transition to seated with relaod , then when you get back to your gear at 300 2 more mags there for transition to prone with reload and carry one back to 400 with you for slow fire prone , but you don't move an inch once you have your shooting position


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## Chuck R.

GPC,

20-25K in pistol alone, then about 2-5K in 2..23/5.56 (depending on what's going on), right around 800 in precision rifle. Last year I took 3 classes; Carbine, Fight Focused Concepts (Pincus) and Vehicular Combatives (Spaulding) which boosted the round counts a little. Our bi-weekly IDPA match is 6 stages for about 125-150rds a match. 

My next big endeavor is to get more into the precision rifle game, so the other round counts should drop some. I used to heavily compete in NRA Silhouette and LR (couple matches a month and state/regionals), but got out of it when my son was born and we bought our acreage. He's older now, and the land is pretty much on a glide path, so I've got more time. 

Chuck


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