New to reloadind rifle

[glockadict]

I have been reading a lot of threads, and reading manuals. I am not new to reloading, just reloading rifle. I am starting with 223 then moving to 308. I have a Dillon 650, and I just purchased the caliber conversion, case feeder plate, dies, swager, and case gauge, all Dillon. I am getting going to purchase a Giraud case trimmer next week. I just wanted to make sure I have everything down before I get into it. The first question is is there any headstamp brass that I should stay away from? Is it alright to swage all my brass? Do I need to separate military, and commercial brass before loading? How many times can 223 and 308 brass be reloaded? Do I have to trim every time I shoot? As far as the order of operation: clean, inspect, lube, size/deprime, trim, swage, remove lube, load, case gauge? I know I have a lot of questions, i just want to verify before I start. Than you for any, and all help.

[David Sinko]

Many on the Forum do not like FC brass, claiming it is too soft. I have a lot of FC brass that I know to be once fired and have loaded some of it seven times. I use the CCI Small Rifle primers exclusively and have never experienced loose primer pockets. The necks will usually split at around the seventh loading but I have never had a primer pocket leak. BUT I did find some reloaded FC brass that somebody had left behind and some of those primer pockets were loose, so I will not use them. Picking up .223 brass at the range is a lot like picking up women on the street corner - you just never know what you're getting your hands on and much of it will be tainted and polluted to some degree by who knows what and often abused.

I do not swage my primer pockets, I ream them with a countersink. I find it to be fast, easy and very effective.

I find that my greatest concern (even among once fired brass) is the length of the case. I measure all of them before they are loaded, as even one that is too long with lock up the gun or at least run the pressure very high if it does chamber and fire.

I am a cheapskate and load all my .223 on a 550 with a minimum of accessories. It can be done most effectively, but processing the brass is what takes a long time. I have a lot of experience loading many handgun cartridges and I can say that I do not enjoy volume loading of the .223 or any other rifle cartridge for that matter. It is something that must be endured and I find the disaster factor to be much higher.

Dave Sinko

[glockadict]

Thank you for the reply, that helps a lot. I lubed and sized some cases today. I ran them through my 650 with just the sizing die. I am now going to run them through my Dillon Case gauge. I ran a couple through the case gauge before sizing a big lot to make sure the headspace was alright. That part was confusing me, I kept reading about headspace it and figured it out. Tommorow I will run the rest of my cases through, and swage the primer pockets. I don't have my trimmer yet, so I will measure and load the cases that do not need to be trimmed. Do you still need to chamfer the cases if you do not trim?

[00bullitt]

I second what David mentioned about the FC brass. It may be fine if it is once fired but I just purely do not reload it. It has bitten me too many times. Blown primers are a pain in the ass. They lock the gun up in a hurry. Over length should be your biggest concern. You don't have to chamfer if not trimmed but it does aid in easier bullet seating and will not damage the jacket. I do not unless I trim them on my friends Giraud. I go through and case gauge all my brass after full length sizing and sort out everything that is long. When I get a about 1000 pieces.....I go over to his place and trim for about an hour.

Edited February 18, 2008 by 00bullitt

[David Sinko]

I just discovered another huge problem yesterday. I had been processing my .223 brass by resizing it on an old heavily utilized Lyman turret press than I had gotten for free. I hadn't realized that it was developing excessive play in the turret and now resized brass is suddenly not resized enough and is very tight in the chamber. The rounds will chamber and fire OK but are now very stubborn when I have to unload and show clear. I should've just sized them all on the 550 anyway and been done with it. Live and learn... I have not experienced any blown primers yet and my biggest concerns are cases that are too long and cases that have not been resized properly. A long case will lock the gun up tight and improperly sized brass can potentially cause a large quantity of loaded rounds to lock the gun up tight. It's good to stay on top of this so you don't load up a thousand at a time that don't work. And if that sizing die starts to back out there will also be hell to pay.

Dave Sinko

[Eagle40]

Good day to all, here in this thread. With all do respect glockadict. I just want to start reloading .223 too. But, I have some questions too in case preparations. So, I'll just add it to this thread. I just wanted to know, how do you lube the case? Do you do it one by one or by bunch and what kind of lube do you guys use? Thanks!

[00bullitt]

I take a large flat plastic tray that I acquired and lay all the cases out. I then spray them with Hornady One Shot case lube or Dillon case lube and take the tray and slide it back and forth and let the cases roll around to get fully coated. I like the Hornady because there is less residue and its faster to apply. But the Dillon is better due to the heavy lanolin base for rifle cases. Loaded ammo just needs to be tumbled again to remove the residue if you use the Dillon lube. But lube is a must even with carbide dies for rifle. Too much lube and you will get shoulder denting. Just a good spray pattern to assure uniform coating and then shake pan and it will disperse to other cases as it dries for uniform coverage.

[Eagle40]

Thanks for the info "00bullitt". I get the idea now.

[Mr. Chitlin]

I put my brass in an old tupperware bowl and give it a few shots of Dillon lube. Put the lid on, shake it for a few seconds and it is ready to go. I have never had a stuck case in 10's of K of rounds... (Knocking on wood... )