case forming 22-284

[mountainhiker8033]

Alright this is my first posting so be gentile.

After a flurry of horsetrading I ended up with an absolutely beautiful custom Mauser, heavy barrel with blond thumb hole stock and ..... anyway it's a 22-284. Not my first choice for a coyote gun but..... It came with a set an dies,not cheap) and an additional 22-6mm die. Also came with ONE loaded round. So if I don't want to fire the one round and then head back to the bench to reload it I need to form some brass. Commercial case forming dies are "expensive" so I am hoping some of you can enlighten me as to some tricks to achieve the transformation from 284 to 22-284. I tried using the 22-6mm die as an intermediate die with no success. No clue why it was in the die box that came with the rifle. As an alternative I would rent forming dies from someone or pay to have case made.

What say you??

 

[Forum Boss]

First, start with 6.5-284 brass rather than .284 brass. That saves one caliber of reduction.

Then you need to neck down the case in stages. It's hard to figure out the cheapest options not knowing if a .257-284 die is available. But I'd consider getting a cheap 6-284 body die and a 6-284 neck-bushing die. Run your 6.5-284 brass in the 6-284 body die. Then neck down in increments,with the neck-sizing die) using 2 or three bushings.

Note, as you size down the necks the neckwalls will get thicker, and the brass will also build up at the neck-shoulder junction,below the bushing). I suspect before you get to your final dimension, you may want to neck turn the brass.

When you're down to a turned, 6-284 neck, you can probably jump down with a 22-284 die*, but,depending on your chamber) you may have to re-turn and go into the neck-shoulder junction as a final step.

If there is a more efficient procedure guys... please speak up.

* Redding does make a 22-284 die set, RED80720, listed as a "custom die".

 

[effendude]

I'm by no means an expert at some of this, but here is my suggestion. It works well for my wife's 22-243. If anyone more experienced has a better idea, please post.

I suggest buying Lapua 6.5 X 284 brass and a Forester shoulder/neck bushing die with several bushing dies down to your target diameter,measure your loaded round's diameter, and subtract .003 from the loaded round's measurement for your final target bushing). The -.003 is for brass springback. Start by necking the brass down to approx 6mm, then down to your target diameter as described above. You probably will have very thick necks after necking the brass down, so you WILL have to turn the necks afterward.

I have taken .243 Lapua brass directly down to .224 with no bad results, but gentler is better I'm told.
Good Luck,
Scott

 

[expiper]

all good advice....plus...dont forget the 22-284 seater die....it is a great die to get you "almost" there...and it helps avoid the donut and minimizes case ruout....Roger

 

[Preacher]

I just ended up with a 22/284 40X with a 251 neck and so far having good luck running them through my 25/284 Hornady dies, then on to the 3 bushings that came with the Neil Jones neck dies.
#1 = .285 about the same as the 25/284.... but the expander will iron out the defects,
not one in the neck die.
#2 = .265
#3 = .253
Then I ran a 22 caliber expander from K&M into the necks and turned them to .010
The only problem I see so far is the headspace seems long and I'm still about .007 from firm contact on the sized cases.... if I can't fix that I might set the barrel back a little...
Still looking for starting load data....