OK, just to be perfectly honest, I hate everything about it. There isn't a single thing that I find enjoyable about it. I find none of it particularly relaxing, fun, or anything else.
But, I do appreciate being able to do it. Using plentiful 223 pickups to convert to 300 blackout takes a lot of the bite out of sourcing brass. And lets' face it, a lot cheaper too.
I know there are a lot of other tutorials out there that is probably better, but since I finally sat down and converted a bunch of it this evening, I decided to take a few pictures for anyone that was curious about it.
Step 1
find a bunch of 223 brass. I sorted out a bunch of my brass and only chose to use the lake city brass. Mainly just so everything is consistent.
Step 2
Clean it. It doesn't have to be all shiny and new looking, but I don't like clumps of old mud rolling around inside of the brass either.
Step 3
Here's where it starts to get interesting.
Use the jig and small chop saw to cut the existing shoulder of the 223 off.
Next up after you get them cut, you have to run them all through the sizer and deprime them and decrimp them. It works so much easier to keep the die lubed up well for this step.
After that's done, you have to trim the length. I try to have my jig bolted down in the saw so I have very little to trim because it's the most difficult part of the whole process.
I do like the WFT brand case trimmer. It chucks up in a cordless drill and I leave the depth of cut slightly below the max length so I only have to do it the first time I reload the cases.
And once all that is done, it's ready to be reloaded. new primer, powder and bullet.
I have been loading some of my original brass for a couple of years now and many of them have been loaded more than a dozen times.
Granted I only shoot subs out of them, but don't think that it's easier on the brass than full house loads because the Enforcer and #9 powders that I mainly use burn fast and quick and reach chamber pressures almost up into 223 territory. At least upwards of 50k psi chamber pressures according to those online calculators.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you a run down of what's involved if you were thinking about converting your own brass.
But, I do appreciate being able to do it. Using plentiful 223 pickups to convert to 300 blackout takes a lot of the bite out of sourcing brass. And lets' face it, a lot cheaper too.
I know there are a lot of other tutorials out there that is probably better, but since I finally sat down and converted a bunch of it this evening, I decided to take a few pictures for anyone that was curious about it.
Step 1
find a bunch of 223 brass. I sorted out a bunch of my brass and only chose to use the lake city brass. Mainly just so everything is consistent.
Step 2
Clean it. It doesn't have to be all shiny and new looking, but I don't like clumps of old mud rolling around inside of the brass either.
Step 3
Here's where it starts to get interesting.
Use the jig and small chop saw to cut the existing shoulder of the 223 off.
Next up after you get them cut, you have to run them all through the sizer and deprime them and decrimp them. It works so much easier to keep the die lubed up well for this step.
After that's done, you have to trim the length. I try to have my jig bolted down in the saw so I have very little to trim because it's the most difficult part of the whole process.
I do like the WFT brand case trimmer. It chucks up in a cordless drill and I leave the depth of cut slightly below the max length so I only have to do it the first time I reload the cases.
And once all that is done, it's ready to be reloaded. new primer, powder and bullet.
I have been loading some of my original brass for a couple of years now and many of them have been loaded more than a dozen times.
Granted I only shoot subs out of them, but don't think that it's easier on the brass than full house loads because the Enforcer and #9 powders that I mainly use burn fast and quick and reach chamber pressures almost up into 223 territory. At least upwards of 50k psi chamber pressures according to those online calculators.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you a run down of what's involved if you were thinking about converting your own brass.
