223 Reloading For The Range

[rgkeller]

I would like to load some 223 for the practice range, 100 yards maximum. 55 grain.

I will be using a 650.

How important is the brass trimming? If I buy the processed once fired brass, load it and shoot it, will I have to trim the fired brass after resizing once? Twice?

Not worried about a little inaccuracy. I am, of course, worried about any unsafe condition.

Thanks.

[TCK]

Bottleneck cartridges headspace on the shoulder unlike straightwall pistol rounds that headspace on the case mouth. It depends on how hot your loads are in that how much the case will stretch. I trim rifle brass every loading but I suppose you could get by with every other. You might want to take some measurements and see just how much stretch your getting and also compare SAAMI dimensions to your once fired brass. I wouldnt let it go over more than .005-.008.

[rishii]

I HATE triming and de-burring.

got a rcbs x-die, trimmed my cases and set up the die per the instructions.

and I've never trimmed them again.

just tumble, lube with hornaday one shot, and load. I don't even bother taking the lube off after loading.

[milanuk]

If you trim the brass to the recommended trim-to-length in most manuals, i.e. 1.750", based on my experience I'd be very surprised if you don't get at least four, probably five firings before you reach 1.760" and need to trim the cases. If you are using once-fired mil-surplus to begin with, which seems to come at 1.760" right out of the bag... well, I think I got my money's worth out of my Giraud trimmer. I think that unless you have a custom barrel w/ an intentionally short free bore, you are going to have to go over the 1.760" mark by another 5-10 thou at least before you'd really start running into trouble...

YMMV,

Monte

[anachronism]

Practically every piece (billions and billions) of once-fired brass I've ever seen has been at or over max. case length. If you're planning on using once-fired, plan on trimming it all. Now, there are different levels of processed brass, are you buying brass that's already been trimmed, or is it just cleaned, and the primer crimp removed? Brass must be sized first, before trimming, so if your brass isn't sized, it hasn't been trimmed.

[wsimpso1]

Short answer is that you have to trim your brass befor it engages the throat and prevents free exit of the bullet. With most throats, you can probably let it get longer than 1.760", but that is the safe number.

Your resizing adjustments have a big impact on this. The case fits in the chamber between the shoulder and the bolt. There has to be some free play here, or closing the bolt and then opeing the bolt will require big forces... When the firing pin strikes the primer, it drives the case shoulder against the chamber shoulder, leaving the free space between the case head and the bolt. Then as pressure starts building, the neck , shoulder, and forward part of the body expand and grab the chamber, then as pressures rise further, the case head sets back to the bolt, stretching the case wall at the rear of the case body, just forward of the solid head portion of the case. So, the case length will increase by the headspace clearance you leave from sizing. And the fired case is pretty representative of the chamber it was fired in.

Military ammo usually fits pretty loosely in military chambers - for reliability. After firing, they are long. Then you size the case (squeezing the case down in diameter, which shoves metal towards the free end, which is the neck) and it gets longer. Then, when you fire it, the neck gets shoved towards the tapered throat, which can prevent the neck from releasing the bullet, and pressures can go way high. Kabooms are BAAAAAD!

Far better to size your cases only as much as you need to get reliable chambering (the Stoney Point tools are nice for setting this up), then trim to 1.750", and then when sized length on any measured case goes back to 1.760" or more, trim the whole batch.

For NRA High Power, most of us who pay attention to this stuff, will size fo 0.001 to 0.002" clearance. That could give several sizings between trims. If you like to go a lot of rounds between chamber cleaning, you might need more to maintain reliability. But if you set your sizer per factory instructions, you might have to trim every firing.

One last point, when you are building accuracy ammo, like for High Power or the 330 m course I fired yesterday, you will want to trim and deburr every time in order to square up the case mouth for uniform bullet release, but that is another matter.

Enjoy,

Billski

Since you are loading for range work, the cases will last longer, and so will your barrel, if you shorten the powder charge a half grain. At 100 yards, you will never notice the difference in velocity, it is generally (but not always) more accurate.

[George]

Once fired is the point where you "really" want to trim it. Once a case has been fired and trimmed, the case neck will grow a little less on subsequent fire/size/trim cycles than it does the first time the brass is stretched and smooshed. I have seen brand new brass that has not been work hardened yet grow from 1.750" to longer than 1.760" after just one firing. The first trim after the first firing/sizzing is the most important trim ;-)

For my match grade AR ammo, I trim after each and every sizing for safety and accuracy reasons. When a batch of brass is trimmed uniformly, the case necks are the same length and they grip the bullet with more uniform tension. This makes the bullet release tension more uniform and accuracy goes up as a result.

[TBF]

I ran into a batch of once fired LC brass that was .020 - .030 over trim length.

3K of this brass wore out the cutters on my Gracey.

Giraud makes a nifty carbide replacement for the Gracey , I need to get mine installed and see how it works.

As above trim AFTER sizing to get the correct dimension.

You can trim shorter than standard trim length ( .010 - .020 ) and reduce the number of times you will have to trim by quite a bit. Just check to be sure you are not longer than max .

Travis F.