Please Double Check my .223 on a 550b Routine

[grant22]

Well, I'm researching how I am going to be loading .223 with LC brass on my Dillon 550b. Through the research, I have come up with a routine that I think will work based on the equipment I HAVE and the equipment I plan on GETTING......please let me know if I'm missing something big here or if something is out of order. Remember, I know there's different or better ways to do this, but based on what I have and plan on buying, will this method work out?

1) Brass tumbled and polished

2) Brass sprayed with case lube BEFORE resizing

3) Brass placed in 550b for resizing and de-priming ONLY

4) Brass removed and military crimp removed with Dillon Super Swager

5) Brass trimmed/deburred/chamfered (I plan on biting the bullet and getting a Giraud)

6) Brass placed BACK INTO 550b (with resizing die removed), reprime, powder, bullet seated, crimped

7) Inspect bullet visually and place in case gauge

Once I get your 'ok's' I'll start buying the rest of what I need (.223 cal conversion stuff, Giraud, bullets, small rifle primers, etc.......I have the 550 and Super Swager.)

Edited September 8, 2011 by grant22

[assaulter]

You're going to want to tumble the lube off after you size/deprime. The Giraud is fantastic, you can only truly appreciate the work it does after you've done thousands "the hard way". Pay attention to your priming on the 550. It is easy to get high primers and that can be very, very bad if you have one detonate while chambering a round. I hand prime my rifle stuff before I go the 550. You don't NEED to crimp .223 but some folks do. YMMV.

[abn-rgr]

I agree on the no crimping. The rest looks good to go.

[biggdawg]

As stated add another tumble after the sizing/depriming everything else looks good

[grant22]

Thanks for the help. By 'crimping' I was referring to the last die after the bullet seats, the 550b crimps or removes the bell out of the case mouth (taper crimp die). Also, is there a lube that doesn't need to be removed? I was hoping the Dillon lube was thin enough to not require removal. If it does need it, I will gladly tumble the cases again.......

[Blackhawk_44SPL]

I typically deprime on a single stage press, then tumble, lube and run it through four normal dies (size, powder, seat bullet and it is a typically a good idea if you are running an AR15 to crimp).

Good Luck

[grant22]

I typically deprime on a single stage press, then tumble, lube and run it through four normal dies (size, powder, seat bullet and it is a typically a good idea if you are running an AR15 to crimp).

Good Luck

Thanks boys, you've all been a big help. .223 dies and quick change stuff and Giraud are all ordered........wish me luck!

[zero-down]

You're going to want to tumble the lube off after you size/deprime. The Giraud is fantastic, you can only truly appreciate the work it does after you've done thousands "the hard way". Pay attention to your priming on the 550. It is easy to get high primers and that can be very, very bad if you have one detonate while chambering a round. I hand prime my rifle stuff before I go the 550. You don't NEED to crimp .223 but some folks do. YMMV.

I'd give the same advice. Here is how I load 223 on the 550.

1) Brass tumbled and polished

2) Brass sprayed with case lube BEFORE resizing

3) Brass placed in 550b for resizing and de-priming ONLY (technically i use a single stage for this but it doesn't matter)

4) Brass removed, tumbled to remove lube, and military crimp removed with chamfer bit in drill press

5) Brass trimmed/deburred/chamfered

6) Brass hand primed using RCBS hand primer. I usually do lots of 3-400 at a time and I can do this on the couch watching tv with the hand primer.

6) Brass placed BACK INTO 550b (with resizing die removed) powder and bullet seated

7) I then take sample rounds to test in case gauge

The one thing I would recommend is if you are using the 550 for the resizing and depriming, buy an extra toolhead so you can easily swap out your die sets.

Edited September 8, 2011 by zero-down

[grant22]

You're going to want to tumble the lube off after you size/deprime. The Giraud is fantastic, you can only truly appreciate the work it does after you've done thousands "the hard way". Pay attention to your priming on the 550. It is easy to get high primers and that can be very, very bad if you have one detonate while chambering a round. I hand prime my rifle stuff before I go the 550. You don't NEED to crimp .223 but some folks do. YMMV.

The one thing I would recommend is if you are using the 550 for the resizing and depriming, buy an extra toolhead so you can easily swap out your die sets.

Absolutely, agreed.

[jar]

I've seen it suggested many places to get a universal decapping die and put it in the first station when loading. This pokes any stray tumbler media out of the flash hole.

[g56]

I've seen it suggested many places to get a universal decapping die and put it in the first station when loading. This pokes any stray tumbler media out of the flash hole.

That's what I do.

[Mike Morcillo]

I use a Lee Factory Crimp die to avoid bullet set-back due to recoil. I load one round at a time to feel the bullet seating pressure. If you do this you'll catch every split case neck. Ounce of prevention, pound of cure.

Edited September 18, 2011 by Mike Morcillo

[davestarbuck]

I use a two tool head setup for my 550

Tool head one has a lee decapping die in staton 1 and a rt1200 and trim/size die in station 3.

Tool head two has another decapping die in 1, power measure in 2, bullet seat in 3, and a Lee FCD in 4.

Basicly I tumble, lube and run the cases through tool head one.

Tumble again, if needed I use the Super Swage to remove primer crimps.

Tool head two is used to reload.

No belling, chamfering etc..

I have used this settup to clone mk262 ammo for my "SPR" and have achieved 0.75 moa at 200 yards, which is good enough for zombies and wild hogs!

[dmc_md]

Definately use two toolheads. Once you set your sizing die, you're not going to want to keep messing with it.

You have to get the lube off of the rounds somehow. As the others have said, I tumble after resizing to get it off.

Darren

[NoahK]

Tagged for future, thanks for the great info

[The Contender]

Very useful thread. Just getting into 223

[Alaskapopo]

Damn you guys do a lot of work. I simple run it through my dillon trimmer on my 550B. Then I load the ammo. This is after tumbling the brass to clean it. I don't bother to remove the lube. This has worked for me for years. I used to not trim every time either.

Pat

Edited April 6, 2012 by Alaskapopo

[halogrinder]

Sort.

Tumble with walnut and Nu-shine car wax.

Spray with oneshot.

Station 1: decap, reprime, resize.

Station 2: empty

Station 3: Dillion trimmer, resized again.

Station 4: empty

Then, Inspection of primers and mouth is chamfered with a pocket reamer

I'll do 500-800 like this...... Ready to go brass.

When I want to load:

Station 1: empty

Station 2: powder

Station 3 : bullet seater.

Station 4: crimper.

Bullets get retumbled again to clean and remove lube, sticky bullets suck!

And recently the bane of my AR's existence........ I must have picked up some 222 swift....... They made it into the magazine and into the chamber...... Acts like a hang fire and ruins your day until you get a cleaning rod to knock it out! Stupid 222's

[njd]

And recently the bane of my AR's existence........ I must have picked up some 222 swift....... They made it into the magazine and into the chamber...... Acts like a hang fire and ruins your day until you get a cleaning rod to knock it out! Stupid 222's

Case gage much?