I want to use Lapua 222 brass and re-size it to work in my 221 fireball. T/C .246 neck. The problem is I dont know how to do it. I have a set of redding dies for my 221 and neck turning tool, case trimmer etc. Could someone please explain in detail what I have to do and what I need to buy to make this work. I thank you in advance for your help .Scott

Pull the expander ball unit out of your 221 sizer die, get some Imperial Sizing Lube, and go for it. The drawbacks:
you will likely get some creases in the shoulder of the formed brass; these will fireform just fine....annealing the case neck (in this case, the shoulder area) of the 222 brass will help.
A 221 "trim" die would be very useful for cutting off the excess neck after forming; otherwise cutting them uniform length will be challenging.
Then you finish with your trimmer/turner, dies, etc.
Good luck!

For about $60 Redding sells the form die set to do exactly what you are trying to do.......works for .223 brass too. If you have the newest Midway catalog (2004)there is a page at the end of the Redding reloading section that lists all the different form dies they make as standard. When my current supply of .221 Rem. brass run out that is my plan.

Mule - When I tried that I got alot of failures....of course that could be operator error. My .221 die wasn't cut deep enough inside to accomodate the length of the .222 which I suppose I could have cut first but then I had shoulders collapse even with correct lengths.
But now you got me thinking ..........I may have to revisit that. .223 brass is pretty easy to come by in these parts. Good stuff too..

Why not just buy Fireball brass?

Cabela's has .221 Fireball brass, 100 for $22.99!

I haven't seen that problem with the batch of brass that I have!

Yikes! I have been using Remington 221 Fireball brass in my Fireball Rifles since 1994 and have had great accuracy and long brass life with it.

I do have some friends that make both Fireball and 17 MachIV brass using the forming dies and what ever brand of brass they think is better than the Remington stuff.

Indeed my Dentist friend from Seattle has the most accurate 221 Fireball I have ever seen! It is a factory stock Remington 40XB-KS with 27 1/4" factory heavy stainless barrel. I have seen this Rifle shoot groups (at a leisure pace) of right at .250" at 100 yards! This was done with handloaded Remington brass and Varmint appropriate bullets. How much better does anyone think reformed LaPua brass (or any other brand) can achieve? I mean I am asking directly what kind of groupings on a windless day at ones own pace can LaPua brass make? Or how much better than this as noted 40X does anyone think it would shoot using LaPua brass?

My Kimber Ultra Varmint single shot with 24" medium weight barrel and a 12X Leupold scope has shot many groups in the low .4's using Remington brass. I have a Remington 700 Classic in 221 Fireball that shoots consistently under .750" groups using Remington brass and a 12X scope. Its all stock except for a trigger job.

I wonder if the effort and expense would be worth the gain in accuracy (if any) over the Remington brass?

My custom 17 MachIV uses Remington 221 Fireball brass and its a one step process to neck it down in a cheap 17 MachIV sizing die. Anyway with 8.5X25 scope and Shilen barrel the last four pre-Safari sight in groups measured .264", .339", .322" and .262"! These groups were each made in a different year by the way. I would not even consider doing the work neccessary to get LaPua brass to fit in my 17 MachIV Rifle.

My friend Doc from Lakewood, Washington does just this very thing though for his 17 MachIV! I have seen him shoot groups under .500" at 200 yards with his MachIV. I will ask him next time I am out on the coast if he noticed a measureable improvement over the Remington brass and, if he ever tried the Remington brass.

Perhaps if you want to "select" your Remington brass by weight I think that might have merit accuracy wise. Again this would be hard to quantify but I will take a WAG here and say it might shave .05" to at most .100" off of your five shot groups at 100 yards.

Good luck if you decide to work over the LaPua brass.

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

I agree with using Fireball brass, but some people don't mind the extra step in re-forming 223 or 222 brass. My original Fireball ( a converted 788) does very well with factory brass (and I have used several hundred over the years), but my Classic is still in "test" mode.
I just neck-size my brass for a reasonable chamber fit, but can't knock the idea of a good neck fit.

I also use 221 cases for my 17 Mach IV, and its tight neck demands turning the brass, so they come out just fine. But others swear by the use of the 223 cases, but I chose to put my labor elsewhere.
I guess I'm fortunate or forgiving, as factory brass works for me.
But if I ever have lots of time on my hands, I sure have a bunch of 223 brass around!