New to 223 Reloading

[jgedmond]

I was new to 223 reloading until a couple of thousand rounds ago.

Separate PMC/fc/FC brass. It is not worth the trouble for me anymore. I have about 1500 rounds loaded up and will just leave them on the range.

LC is pretty good stuff.

Premier brass like Hornady, WW, Remington, I keep separate.

If I go to RM3G again, I will use either LC or my premier brass that has been reloaded a few times. A lot less headaches.

I trim to slight less than 1.75, not much.

I taper crimp all my rounds.

Try Scharch for brass. Some folks here recommended them. Great service. Three Gun season is over for me so I put all my reloading stuff away after I loaded about 4k worth of rounds. Next year, now that I am no longer a rookie, I will use Scharch brass almost exclusively when I need new brass. Way easier.

Thanks for the tips and advice. I just found out about Scharch from another source earlier this evening. Definitely sounds like the way to go.

[trlcavscout]

I was just going to ask this same question. I have the Hornady full size die set for 223 and was just offered a bunch of 5.56 brass. I also have a lot of winchester brass. I will use the WIN civilian brass for coyote out of my AR and load the MIL brass for fun. I just wanted to get the skinny on the 5.56 brass.

[lucky #7]

I found that my Hornady .223 sizing die did not bump the shoulder back enough. It would only bump it back to 1.434". This caused my accurized AR to not chamber them. I switched to standard RCBS FL dies, and they bump the shoulder back to 1.427" which is perfect for an AR. My fired brass measures 1.430" to the shoulder so the Hornady die just wasn't the correct dimensions for my chamber. I've seen a lot of posts and reviews on the web that echo this same issue so you are not the only one to encounter this issue with Hornady .223 sizing dies.

[Kevin J]

I second that on the Hornady resizing die for .223. I was going manic for a while trying to figure out why I was having the same issue. I've been having really good success with the RCBS dies.

[jgedmond]

I think that the problem with the heads of my cases expanding was due to excessively screwing down on the full-size resizing die. I bought some brand new Lapua brass. I ran 50 cases fresh out of the box through a case gauge and all checked fine. I started resizing and re-checking each case. The third case would not fit into the gauge because the case head was enlarged! I crimped the mouth and tossed it.

I then readjusted my dies per an article in Shooting Times November issue (reprinted from 1978). The author (Bob Milek) advocated starting with the die 0.10" above the shell holder, sizing, and checking how far down the neck resizing went. If not to the bottom of the neck then screw in some more and repeat until the whole neck has been resized. My die was not screwed in as far as before, so there was much less resistance when it cammed over. I did 48 additional cases and all gauged just fine.

Edited September 29, 2010 by jgedmond

[jmurch]

I then readjusted my dies per an article in Shooting Times November issue (reprinted from 1978). The author (Bob Milek) advocated starting with the die 0.10" above the shell holder, sizing, and checking how far down the neck resizing went. If not to the bottom of the neck then screw in some more and repeat until the whole neck has been resized.

This is how you should always set sizing dies, seating dies, bell dies..............

Jeff

[Powder Finger]

The shoulder needs to be bumped .002-.003 from fired case dimension(warm load, primer removed)

if you can't get that with out the die stopping on the shell holder then get the height of the shell holder reduced.

If the case has no chamber clearance (case head space?) you are going to start tearing up the bolt lugs.

[jgedmond]

The shoulder needs to be bumped .002-.003 from fired case dimension(warm load, primer removed)

if you can't get that with out the die stopping on the shell holder then get the height of the shell holder reduced.

If the case has no chamber clearance (case head space?) you are going to start tearing up the bolt lugs.

These were new, unfired cases. I'll see how this die setting works on some fired cases soon.

Edited September 29, 2010 by jgedmond

[Powder Finger]

These were new, unfired cases. I'll see how this die setting works on some fired cases soon

i should have said differently.

Keep a case from that rifle that was fired and fairly warm (test case). (this case will be about .001 short of accual chamber head space)

So if you set up your die to bump the shoulder of another few cases -.002 to -.003 from your test case.

you might not bump a new case from it's as new dimension as it is likely shorter already.

So counting the case spring back (the .001) if you size to -.003 from fired, you end up with .004 cartridge clearance.

That's good for a gas gun. A bolt can go .002 total.

[jgedmond]

These were new, unfired cases. I'll see how this die setting works on some fired cases soon

i should have said differently.

Keep a case from that rifle that was fired and fairly warm (test case). (this case will be about .001 short of accual chamber head space)

So if you set up your die to bump the shoulder of another few cases -.002 to -.003 from your test case.

you might not bump a new case from it's as new dimension as it is likely shorter already.

So counting the case spring back (the .001) if you size to -.003 from fired, you end up with .004 cartridge clearance.

That's good for a gas gun. A bolt can go .002 total.

powder finger, thanks for the detailed clarification - got it

[Powder Finger]

powder finger, thanks for the detailed clarification - got it

Da nader