I've got quite a few 223 brass,is it worth the time to make 221 fireball brass out of it. I've done it in the past, but have had problems during resizing with cracks in the neck before trimming. How do I stop this problem, do I cut the 223 case down before sizing? Thanks

ARC LITE , cutting the cases down will help maybe, but the cracked case necks is probably from case hardening from the resizing or previous firing. You can anneal the case neck over a gas flame, which will soften the brass. Be forewarned if you anneal the case too much you will make the shoulder soft and shoulder collapse and/or stretch can occur during resizing. As to the fact that you are cutting the case down from 223 to 221 Fireball annealing the part of the case you are going to remove maybe of benefit for the resizing process. Simply Take the case and play the neck around in the Flame till or right before you see the brass get a slight rainbow color on the brass, (Personally I use an alcohol lamp for this process as you can control the heat much better). This will take a few tries to get the temp right for the brass, only experiment and experience will tell you when you have this process down pat. As you fire the cases, all brass through firing and resizing gets case hardened; this is the main reason for cracked case necks after many firing. Annealing case necks a little after many firings can sometimes extent case life also.

FreeBird LaL, thanks for the reply, I'd forgotten about the annealing, as I did this when I had a contender in 221. Seems like I heated them while rotating them in my fingers till they were getting to hot to hold. Then, let them cool I recall the rainbow affect you mentioned. I've found 221 brass fairly cheap, but, reforming is kind of challanging. And, to me, makes the loading process a little more meaningful. Yes, I did buy some fac. cases in case it gets to be" TO MEANINGFUL!! "