What am I doing wrong??

I am trying to neck down 6 BR cases to form 22 BR cases. Every one so far has crushed/collapsed the neck/shoulder junction.

I have tried it with the resizing die "as-is", no good. I tried doing it in stages, by backing the die out a few turns and sizing. I got a good pass about halfway down the neck, but when I screwed the die in a little to size it the rest of the way to the shoulder, it collapsed. I tried removing the expander ball (even though it's a 22 cal ball going down through a 6mm neck), again, crushed.

I'm using new Rem brass, and new Forster dies. I'm lubing the cases, including a good wipe on the outside of the neck. (BTW, it's not the "too much lube" shoulder dimples that I'm experiencing; it's simply folding the neck in on itself at the junction with the shoulder.)

I've looked at www.6mmBR.com, and under the 22 BR heading, they say "it's an easy one step process. Just run your 6 BR brass through a 22 BR FL resizer, and load 'em up."

I've necked up before (30-06 to 338-06), but this is my first attempt at sizing down.

I'm tired of ruining new brass, and getting nowhere.

Somebody help me out here, please!

Gary, Just wondering what lube you're using? My buddy uses Imperial sizing wax for his 220 Russian down to 22PPC short. Jay

I had this problem trying to size .308match brass down to .260. I finally bought a 7mm neck sizer die & sized them to 7mm first then down to 6.5. You are only going down one size so maybe try a neck sizer only.

Might want to try a 22br Redding body die to form with. I've only used Redding dies so hard to comment on another brand but may have too much lube. I just put alittle Imperial on the necks and form. I've never form any case with an expander ball left in the die. After the case is formed I use an Sinclair expander mandrel they also sell the body die for it and use that to open the necks up. I know the old RCBS dies had a lube hole might want to check on yours and make sure it's not pluged if it has one. Wish I could help more.

You have brass that has been excessively annealed at the factory. It is too soft. All your efforts will result in crushed shoulders because the case has little body taper and all the force is transmitted to the neck/shoulder junction.

Forget it! Buy Lapua brass!

Jay-

I had always heard fantastic things about Imperial Sizing Wax, but never "needed" it before. I guess I'm gonna be getting some now...


Fred-

Yep, just one step. I thought about that, but can't find a 23 caliber die to use in between.


Tom-

It's not too much lube. Like I mentioned, it's not the normal shoulder dimpling as happens that way. The Redding die has a "lube hole" like the RCBS, but I'm sure that's not it. However, like Jay, you mention Imperial, so I guess that's my next step...


Ralph-

If I don't get better results with the Imperial Wax, I may have to believe you. But I have a good pile of the Rem brass. Besides, that Lapua stuff is pricey! I was hoping to avoid "rebuying" more brass, but in the end, it might be cheaper than ruining all of the stuff I have.



Maybe I'll just switch gears, build a 6 BR instead, and forget my problems!

Thanks for the tips guys!

Cold Bore,

Chalk me up as another Imperial Wax fan! I still use spray lube for my Dillon loading, but imperial for everything else. No more oil dents, and no stuck cases either. Sizing 223 down to 20 caliber is a non-issue with it. Oh, and a tin of it lasts forever it seems, unless you are teaching a 10 year old how to reload and he scoops up a gob, more than you have used in a year...

Try it on one or two cases lubed with WD-40.

I have had some luck with it on smaller cases.

Garrett

Might try running it into the seating die first followed by the sizing die. I have done this a bit and sometimes it saves the cost of an intermediate die.
C.G.B.

A couple of possibilities the way I see it. First... are you sure you are not going to far and pushing the shoulder and all down past where you want them anyway ?
Second although you got information to the contrary I think your brass may be not annealed correctly or not enough. The step between .224 and .243 is as small as you will find in cartridge cases. It will take about one piece of brass to find out. Anneal it.....heat with a small torch or stove burner till it starts to turn different colors and cool it quickly in water and try that one piece if it works you know what to do with the rest. If that doesn't work send me two pieces of your brass I will do it and then tell you how.
One other possiblity is that the brass has unusually thick neck on one side and conversely thin brass on the other.... this is a difficult situation to resolve but it can be done.
I have brass that has been taken from a full .375 diameter down to accept .224" bullets with >1% failure rate.

I wonder if your die doesn't match your brass. As I understand it 6 BR dimensions vary, depending on whose brass the chamber/die is reamed for. I just took posession of a 6mm BR VVGC Encore bbl. aand will be developing loads soon.

If you decide to switch brass I might buy your Rem stuff.

Roger

SUCCESS!!

After reading through all of the suggestions, it seemed that I needed to try a different lube. Couldn't find any Imperial locally, and too impatient to order some , so I just used regular old carnauba car wax. Bingo!

Out of the next 17 cases, I lost one to a split neck. Otherwise, they came out great.

Thanks to all for your help!