Thread: 222 from 223

Bit of a waste of time as 222 brass is easy obtainable but I never researched it
But thought id have a play as I have plenty of 223 brass with no rifle
Flying completely by the seat of my pants as I didn’t even know it could be done

I started by anealing the 223 brass i then trimmed the 223 brass to 1.690”
222 trim length in my manual
That’s alot of triming trust me from a 223 case

I then lubed them well and run them through my 222 fls die

Yep perfect 222 brass that chamber fine in my 222

Next step will be to fireform a couple with no projectile just use a small charge of pistol powder and fill the case with cream of weat and see how they go

Ok, I'm intrigued. what're you gonna shoot with cream of wheat, are you hunting loaves of bread or something?

Lol just saves wasting projeiles for fireforming
Just put them in and pull the trigger it still sounds like a gun going off so not in the center of town but there is no projectile so pretty safe
As long as nobody is worried about the noise
Just makes sure the Case is the right size for the chamber pressures move the bass to fill the gaps

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Lol just saves wasting projeiles for fireforming
Just put them in and pull the trigger it still sounds like a gun going off so not in the center of town but there is no projectile so pretty safe
As long as nobody is worried about the noise
Just makes sure the Case is the right size for the chamber pressures move the bass to fill the gaps

It’s not so much to save using a projectile for fire forming, it’s more that cream of wheat, walnut etc physically forces the brass out to chamber dimensions.

Great stuff, had wondered about doing the same thing, and if the brass would handle it. Do you have to hold the rifle upright when firing ? (to avoid flash-detonation across the powder, rather than a "burn"), or does it not matter due to lack of pressure, with the absence of a projectile ? You might start a "run" on .222's, ...free brass, and $25-$29 for 100 projo's on TM --with free shipping ! Doesnt get much cheaper than that.

What is the neck diameter of the loaded 222 round?

Originally Posted by rewa

Great stuff, had wondered about doing the same thing, and if the brass would handle it. Do you have to hold the rifle upright when firing ? (to avoid flash-detonation across the powder, rather than a "burn"), or does it not matter due to lack of pressure, with the absence of a projectile ? You might start a "run" on .222's, ...free brass, and $25-$29 for 100 projo's on TM --with free shipping ! Doesnt get much cheaper than that.

Its a small change of powder then the case is Topped up with cream of weat then a small wad of cotton to hold it all in
So no you can even just point it at the ground
Ive never actually done it before but just been doing some reading most guys ive seen do it just put the rifle on a bipod and sit beside it feeding cases and pulling the trigger

Originally Posted by rupert

What is the neck diameter of the loaded 222 round?

Will messure a couple today for you

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

Bit of a waste of time as 222 brass is easy obtainable but I never researched it
But thought id have a play as I have plenty of 223 brass with no rifle
Flying completely by the seat of my pants as I didn’t even know it could be done

Belmont have been doing it for around 40 years.

@rupert 0.249” for a reformed hornady 223 case
Pmc factory 222 brass 0.429 also
Both messured 0.241 unloaded also

Rambo: thanks for that. I thought about using 223 brass to make thicker necked 222 for an over-generous factory 222 chamber (must be about 0.256" in the neck diameter). But as the difference between your PMC factory load neck and a reformed 223 case is zero, I don't think I'll bother. Incidentally, by my measurements of the reloads I have: Lapua 222 loaded rounds are the largest diameter at about 0.250" and PMC the smallest diameter at about 0.246" (I must have a completely different lot of PMC brass from yours). Also, I found PMC brass to have the most consistent neck thickness out of Lapua, Sako, Norma, and the Nth American brands (Win, Rem, Fed, Imp).

@rupert not sure if 5.56x45 nato brass is thicker
Might be worth a look?

Thanks for that idea. I'll check it out.

I am unable to follow why 222 cases made from 223 cases need to be fire formed.

Depending whose drawings you take the dimensions from, both cases are within a couple of thou of an inch of being the same diameter at the neck/shoulder junction. Again depending on whose drawings are referred to, this junction is 1.260in ahead of the bolt face for the 222. It is 1.433 ahead of the bolt face for the 223, so at 1.26in ahead of the bolt face the body diameter is about 0.013 in larger than the 222 body diameter.

The usual reason for fire forming is to either reduce the body taper of a case or to move the shoulder forward – or both. When a 223 cases is re-sized to 222, the rate of body taper is increased (i.e. the diameter at the neck/shoulder junction is reduced) and the position and angle of the new shoulder is determined by the setting of the full length sizing die.

I have made 222 cases from 223 cases myself. I used a 222 form and trim die to push the 223 shoulder back to ALMOST the correct 222 length, doing it in two stages, which worked better than trying to do it in one. Then I ran the cases through my regular 222 full length sizing die, which was set up to match my rifle chamber. As expected, the finished cases measured up exactly the same as fired ‘native’ 222 cases run through the same F L die. No need for any fire forming.
I checked the neck thickness and found that with the Federal brass I was using, the neck diameter of loaded cartridges was still an easy fit in the chamber neck, so there was no need for neck turning or reaming. However, it is possible that it could be needed with other brands of 223 brass.

I have ended up with a few marks from sizeing probably just my die
Fire forming would just get rid of any little in perfections
In the case