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This is a post about reloading for centerfire rifles -- specifically, the .223 Remington cartridge. TFR got me started reloading, so I wrote this up in an attempt to give something back in the one specific area where I have at least a modest amount of knowledge. I'll try to add some pictures for illustration. Why reload .223 Remington? Tools, components, and information for the caliber are widely available. It's inexpensive enough that you can shoot (and therefore load) a lot of rounds, it's easy on barrels, has very little recoil, and is very accurate by most standards. Why SHOULDN'T I reload .223? Factory ammo for plinking is cheap, you don't have to spend time on it, and you don't have to chase your fired brass around. It takes a non-trivial amount of time to reload, so if you're working 60 hours a week and your wife just gave birth to triplets, it's not the best hobby to take up. So what are we actually doing here? When you buy a factory rifle and factory ammo, it works together because both presumably adhere to SAAMI standards for the given chambering/cartridge. The outside dimensions of the cartridge are slightly smaller than the inside dimensions of the chamber, so everything fits when you drop the round in the chamber. When the primer ignites the powder, the pressure inside the cartridge case causes the brass cartridge to expand to fill the chamber. This rapid pressure buildup causes the bullet to exit the cartridge to make its way down the barrel. With the inside pressure relieved, the "springy" brass cartridge shrinks to a size that allows it to be extracted from within the chamber, although not quite to the cartridge's original dimensions. To reload that cartridge you have to work the brass to get it back to the point that it will enter the chamber and contain that pressure that sends the bullet on its way. This is accomplished with a full-length sizing die, so named because it can adjust all of the critical outer dimensions of a cartridge to allow it to be fired again. With the cartridge resized, you need to assemble the components, insert a primer, pour some powder, seat a bullet, and you have a finished round, ready to be fired. How is doing this myself going to benefit me over buying factory match ammo? First, the obvious part: handloading allows you to select the exact components (brass, primer, powder, bullet) that work for your gun. Using the scientific method, you can test a few bullets with varying powder charges and probably end up with ammunition that shoots as well as factory match ammo. Maybe even better. Not to trivialize that "load development" part, but often overlooked is the preparation that goes into the cartridge case itself. It needs to hold the bullet concentric with the axis of the barrel, and to expand and release the bullet uniformly when fired. This part holds big implications for what you can do with load development. Getting the case dimensions right is also critical to safety and reliability, and adjusting the tools is completely up to you, so don't think it's just a matter of putting things together and pulling the lever on the press. Some good reading on the subject of case measurement and sizing: German Salazar - Measuring Cases German Salazar - Headspace The basic centerfire rifle reloading setup I consider this to be must-have stuff, and we're assuming a basic level of quality here. - Press - Full-length sizing die - Bullet seating die - Shell holder - a means of seating primers - Case trimmer - Case mouth chamfer/deburr tool - Primer pocket uniformer - 6" calipers - Scale - Powder funnel - Loading block - a way to clean cases  Components: The popularity of the .223 Rem means that myriad components are available, and, likewise, there are plenty of opinions on what combinations work best. * Bullets: Sierra and Hornady make good ones. Pick two or three appropriate to your barrel twist/length and use those for testing. Don't dismiss the lighter bullets at short (100-200 yard) ranges. Given a competent level of reloading skills, the bullet is almost certainly the biggest determinant of accuracy, so choose wisely. * Powder: I like Hodgdon H335 or H322 for lighter bullets and Varget for heavier. See what's available locally or from your favorite mailorder joint and choose accordingly. If you buy mailorder you'll end up spending about an extra $25-30 per shipment in hazmat fees, but it's usually worth it if you're buying in bulk. * Brass: Good brass is important, and Lapua is the best that I've seen. For a bolt gun, I can't recommend anything else. For an autoloader, Lake City is a good choice. Once-fired brass is fine, but if the primers are crimped that's one extra step (and one extra tool) that you need. Lapua is pretty much good-to-go out of the box, which saves you about an hour per hundred pieces in prep time, in addition to having great uniformity and generally lasting longer than lesser brass. * Primers: I haven't done a lot of primer testing. I use Remington 7-1/2s in my bolt gun and Wolf Small Rifle Magnums in my AR. Equipment: * Presses: The press brings the cartridge and die together and provides the force necessary to shape brass or seat a bullet. All I know are single-stage presses (one die at a time, meaning one operation per pull of the lever), which is what you should buy to start loading rifle rounds. Even if you outgrow it it'll be handy to have, and they're not that expensive. I started with a Lee Hand Press for a truly compact setup. I used a Lee Classic Breech Lock press for a while, and I recently got a Forster Co-Ax. Find a highly-rated one that fits your budget and learn how to use it. * Dies: In general rifles need a minimum of two dies: a full-length resizing die and a bullet seating die. The sizing die reshapes the critical dimensions of the brass so it will fit in your chamber the next time around. I have used dies from RCBS, Redding, Forster, Lee, and Wilson and have settled on the following as producing the best ammo for me: For a semiauto I use the Forster Ultra 2-die set with the expander mandrel polished down 2-3 thousandths. For a bolt gun I really like the Lee Collet die. To seat bullets I use a Wilson hand die in an arbor press. Other good seating dies that work in a standard press include the Forster mentioned above, and the Redding Competition bullet seating die. I used to recommend the Redding Type S FL sizing die but I'm no longer convinced that bushing dies are the most accurate way to go. * Shell holder: Brand is not terribly important here, just get the proper size(s) for your caliber(s). As an aside, I really like the Redding Competition Shellholder set for ease of headspace adjustment. * Priming: I'd like a Sinclair hand priming tool, but I'm not going to pay $100+ for one. I use a Lee Autoprime (edit: they seem to have redesigned it and reviews are not as good), and the accompanying shellholder, and it does a pretty good job. Wear safety glasses when you prime - seriously. * Case Trimmer: I have what is probably the best hand-powered trimmer in the Wilson Case Trimmer in the Sinclair stand. I've also got the attachment that allows you to run the cutter in a powered drill, which you need if you have to trim a lot. The holy grail of trimmers is probably the Giraud, which is a really nice system, especially since it does the chamfer/deburr at the same time. Gracey makes a similar trimmer which may be a better value and is probably decent. Trimming brass sucks enough that I would not steer you away from buying the Giraud even if you're just getting into reloading. It'll hold its value well and trimming 1000 cases by hand - or even with a powered drill - and then having to chamfer/deburr them - sucks. * Case Mouth Chamfer / Deburr tool: I have the one from RCBS. There is some debate about what angle(s) are optimal, and some tools differ in this respect. I'd buy a basic one to start with, but you will want to use it after each trimming. This operation just takes a quick twist or two, so there's no cause to put it in a drill or anything. If you buy the Giraud trimmer you won't need to do this step. * Primer Pocket Uniformer: Cuts primer pockets to a uniform depth. It also helps clean residue out of a fired and decapped cartridge, so I do this with each loading sequence. You're just trying to control the depth - not trying to widen the pocket at all - so don't feel like you have to go crazy. I use the tool from Holland's, and I can chuck it in the drill if I need to process more than a few. * Flash Hole Deburr tool: On brass that has the flash hole punched rather than drilled, you'll sometimes see burrs inside the flash hole. I have the Sinclair "gen 2" deburr tool, which I guess indexes on the flash hole opening, which means cartridge length doesn't throw you off. Just a couple of clockwise twists are all that's needed. You only need to do this to a given piece of brass once during its life, but there is some debate as to how useful it is, particularly on Lapua brass and the like. * 6" caliper: This is one place where my kit is lacking, in that I only have a ~$15 no-name digital caliper. But I also have a decent 0-1" micrometer that I can use as a standard, so I keep that in mind and have honestly never had any problems. At that price, buy a couple of them (and some extra batteries) and see how they work for you. I still intend to get a quality caliper from the likes of Mitutoyo or Starrett. * Scale: I think electronic is the way to go. Treat it well, check it often, and you'll be fine. I have an RCBS Chargemaster (two, actually) that I like. If you're not after big volume or speed, just get a very nice digital scale and some powder scoops. Get a scoop that will "throw" about half a grain below your target weight and trickle the rest. * Powder Funnel: A universal funnel is fine, though I prefer the Satern funnel. It's worth the $10 or whatever. * Loading Block: Something to hold cartridges when you're loading them. They're cheap, so buy a couple for each caliber as needed. * Case / neck lubricant: The best stuff to use depends on what you're doing to the brass, but look into Imperial Case Wax (for a smear-on application) and Hornady One-Shot (spray-on). * a way to clean cases: a vibratory cleaner works fine. You can clean cases by hand, if you want. I have recently started tumbling cases with a Thumler's Model B tumbler and stainless steel pin media, and really love how well it works. You don't have to buy anything special to clean cases. An inspired individual could certainly find a number of homemade solutions based around stuff like vinegar. Don't use anything that is corrosive to brass, obviously. If you do a wet cleaning, make sure your cases are 100% dry before putting primers and powder in them. The Process: Heavily biased towards precision ammo New brass initial sort / prep: For new brass, I take a small selection of cases (maybe 20 for a 500 piece batch) and take basic measurements: length, neck diameter, weight, and headspace. I scribble this stuff into a spreadsheet, take a look at it, and determine if there are any variations outside of my expectations. Throughout this process, if I see any cases that look suspect (dented case mouths, body dents, other oddities) I'll pull them aside. Even from the best brass I expect a 1-2% rejection rate. This is fine, because those pieces can be used to set up and test the equipment. My most recent lot of brass (Lapua) measures up very nicely... so nicely that I hardly need to do anything to it. Headspace is a thousandth or two below minimum, length is good, neck diameters are great, weight is great. It's hard to overstate how nice it is to work with the good stuff. Were this once-fired brass, I would expect to spend about an hour per hundred cases to prepare it to a level that even approaches what the Lapua is out of the box (and there's still a marked difference when it comes time to shoot). However, because I like to tinker, I'm going to do a few minor things to it: 1. Uniform primer pockets - Using my Holland's Primer Pocket Uniformer in a cordless drill, I uniform the primer pockets to the tool's preset depth. In my experience, this is a couple of thousandths off of how the Lapua arrives. I'm not enlarging the hole any, just doing a slight machining of the pocket. 2. Deburr flash holes - Lapua doesn't really need this since the flash holes are drilled rather than punched (or so I'm told), but the idea is to knock down any burrs that could inhibit the primer's flash and therefore the ignition of the powder. I use the Sinclair tool. 3. Set neck tension - A new case measures about 0.2487" +/- .0005" and with a bullet seated in the neck measures 0.2505" so we colloquially say that it has a neck tension of .0018" or so. This is where the Redding Type S dies are great: I'll run these through the .248" bushing to attempt to even them out without working the necks much, but to be sure that I size them consistently. I will not be using an expander ball on these cases. If I had more than a handful that had out-of-round mouths, I'd use a Sinclair Gen 2 expander mandrel (sized .001" under bullet diameter) and die to uniform them. With a standard die, the expander enters the neck of a fired case easily, the neck is resized by the die, and the expander pulls back through, sizing the neck. Pulling an expander ball back through the neck while the shell holder grips the cartridge from the head has been identified as a common problem area, so most precision shooters eschew the use of an expander button. Loading: With my cases prepped and my components chosen, it's time to prime the cases. I use a Lee Auto Prime, which works well. I only have one good eye, so I am very strict about wearing safety glasses when working with primers. I seat them pretty hard, and with the primer pockets uniformed I expect the primer cup to be just below flush. Primers are sensitive to moisture, obviously, so my primers stay in a humidity-controlled environment until I'm ready to prime and load. The actual loading is straightforward. Primed cases are placed in a loading block, and the funnel is started at the top left position. I use the RCBS Chargemaster to throw charges, but use whatever method gives you charges that are +/- 0.1gr or better. Pour the charge, move the funnel to the next round, and return the tray to the scale all in one motion and always in the same sequence. Habits like this help prevent double charges and squib loads. Set up your bullet seating die according to the manufacturer's instructions, and test it on a dummy round (no primer/powder). You can use your caliper to measure the COAL ("cartridge overall length") and adjust your die to get the desired number. Be sure to load a few dummy rounds before you start loading real rounds. COAL will sometimes vary by 0.015" or so even on very uniform rounds, so just because one round measured at 2.260" don't assume that to be the median or max... TEST a sample for yourself. Shooting: I am assuming that you are a good enough shooter that you can configure a setup solid enough to shoot accurately, and that you have the skills to do so. You know how everybody says of their run-of-the-mill factory rifle, "Well, it may not be a fancy target gun, but it'll shoot better than I can!"? That's bullshit - shooting 1/2 MOA isn't a ridiculous feat given good equipment and technique. The best advice I can offer is to be completely objective, and to test with sample sizes large enough that you don't have to guess as to the validity of your results. A single 5-shot group on a given day means almost nothing by itself. See if you can repeat it again and again. Further thoughts/tidbits: For load development methodologies, have a look at Optimal Charge Weight and Ladder Testing. I will again emphasize that you should be sure that your brass prep process is as good as it can be before you start worrying too much about load development. If you're churning out cases with crooked necks and doing your load development, you're probably going to be frustrated with the results. Case capacity matters. Lake City tends to have the highest capacity. If you change any component, the prudent thing to do is to work up your load again using the new combination of components. This is as much for accuracy as it is for safety. Other aspects of brass matter too. Brass of a different manufacturer, headstamp, and even of different lots can vary. You should at least segment your brass by headstamp and adjust your dies accordingly. For example, I'll use a different size bushing or a different die height based on whether I'm sizing Lake City versus Lapua. Get a Redding Precision Mic (or a similar "Mo's Style" headspace gauge) so you can measure how much you're bumping the shoulder when you resize. Buy this tool the same day you buy your dies and press. Along the same lines, look at the Redding Competition shell holder set. These shell holders let you adjust headspace in .002" increments without touching your die lock ring. It's brilliantly simple. Full-length size every time unless you have a good reason to just be neck sizing. Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Apr 22, 2013 around 17:32 |
| # ¿ Jun 24, 2011 12:36 |
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| # ¿ May 21, 2013 09:58 |
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gimpsuitjones posted:I hate lubing cases. Suggestions for making loading bulk(ish) .223 easier, in light of this? I prefer to use Imperial and put a dab on the case body and maybe just a touch on the neck (takes ~3 seconds per case, done as you're putting it in the press). I use the Redding Ti bushings with no expander button so my necks don't really need lube. If I'm sizing mixed brass for plinking ammo and don't want to worry about neck thickness, I just use a big bushing (.249) and the expander button. Since the bushing is barely sizing the case down, the expander doesn't have trouble pulling back through the neck.
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| # ¿ Jun 24, 2011 14:09 |
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Brownell's just started carrying ammo, so they've got a deal going where you can use coupon code CXL to get 5% off and free shipping on orders over $199 that contain ammo. Sinclair's (their sister site) has good prices on Varget and Remington primers right now, so I picked up two 8# jugs and 5000 primers, and threw in a $3 box of .22 ammo to get the discount. Buying locally and not in bulk is almost twice as expensive for me. edit: a $25 hazmat fee still applies, of course, but it's still that much cheaper
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| # ¿ Jun 27, 2011 20:11 |
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Can't you just ski over to the Lapua factory or something?
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| # ¿ Jun 30, 2011 18:08 |
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Heintron posted:Welp, time to get one of those universal depriming dies with a shitload of extra depriming pins.
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| # ¿ Jul 1, 2011 13:13 |
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Buy a Chargemaster and then tweak it for maximum speed according to your powder and charge weight. ... but for me, the benefits are not so much about speed* than about having one important step automated for me. With the Chargemaster (or similar) throwing weighed charges, I can concentrate more on the task at hand. * I bought a second one to handle that
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| # ¿ Jul 5, 2011 23:16 |
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Yeah, the Chargemaster combo at Natchez is $290, which is still a good deal, particularly if you buy another $10 worth of misc RCBS stuff and get the $50 rebate.
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| # ¿ Jul 6, 2011 12:39 |
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Uncle Caveman posted:Are Prvi cases generally thicker than other brands? I managed to get the expander stuck inside the case twice, even with a proper amount of lube. Checking with the calipers shows the necks to be ~0.004" thicker than my Black Hills brass.
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| # ¿ Jul 7, 2011 00:54 |
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I noticed the same thing with primer pockets on .223 (not crimped 5.56) Prvi brass. And the case head / extractor rim seemed to be a little oversized, making it difficult to insert into a shell holder. edit: Heintron posted:Can anyone tell me how many grains the chargemaster can throw at once? Please tell me it is at least around 250gr Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Jul 7, 2011 around 14:41 |
| # ¿ Jul 7, 2011 14:36 |
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I am looking for a nice solution for when reloading .50 BMG.
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Uncle Caveman posted:I prefer the Hornady ones as there's no chance of a setscrew damaging the threads. I like the Sinclair ones a lot. ilkhan posted:With bottleneck brass its good to keep ammo separated by number of times reloaded (or at least trim every time) because the neck elongates. Right? At least for rifles, I try to avoid having more than one lot of ammo per gun. I don't want to have 200pc of brass that have been fired once and 200pc that have been fired three times, unless there was a specific reason why I kept those two lots of brass apart.
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| # ¿ Jul 7, 2011 20:22 |
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$290 at Natchez Shooters Supplies if you want to feel that kick in the nuts a little harder.
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| # ¿ Jul 7, 2011 20:54 |
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Heintron posted:Poop. I am eyeballing the lyman LYMAN 1200 DPS 3. This guy seems to have a nice trick for loading 94gr loads fast. Bogon posted:Add $10 to your total and your eligible for the $50 MIRB
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| # ¿ Jul 7, 2011 21:14 |
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Maybe I misunderstand, but does a colander and cookie sheet take up much room in your house? I do basically what you described, and if you're not using any media (like stainless steel) I'm not sure that the process is any more involved than separating dry media from cases. If it's hot and sunny (which is every goddamn day lately) I put the cookie sheet in the sun rather than the oven.
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| # ¿ Jul 12, 2011 22:42 |
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Wet cleaning definitely is more of a pain in the rear end. I'm not terribly space-constrained, so I have both a vibrator (dry cleaning) and a tumbler (wet cleaning). My present strategy is to throw cases in the vibrator to get them clean enough to lube and run through the sizing die (which also decaps) and then use the tumbler to clean the lube off and get everything squeaky clean, including primer pockets, and to a lesser extent, the insides of cases. Reversing that order works too, but requires a separate run through the press with a decapping die. I know that's of no help to you, but short of my "trick" of putting cases in the sun to dry (or using the portable dehumidifier that we have for purposes other than realoading), I'm not sure that there's a straightforward solution. Out of curiosity, how well does a liquid-only bath (no media) do in terms of cleaning? Do you agitate them at all or just soak? edit: I'm guessing that since you don't have A/C you may live in an area where the brass-in-the-sun trick is less effective than it is for me Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Jul 12, 2011 around 23:36 |
| # ¿ Jul 12, 2011 23:33 |
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QuarkMartial posted:It'd be nice if there was a case trimmer with some sort of stop on it, so I could set it to the length I wanted and pop my brass in and out without having to measure each individual piece. It does require a case holder for each caliber, but it cuts case mouths perfectly square. I use the power drill adapter and have the Sinclair stand with the "sharkfin" lever.
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| # ¿ Jul 13, 2011 15:16 |
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QuarkMartial posted:This looks pretty badass, especially after seeing it used in videos. But I don't like the friction ring mechanism to hold cases. quote:What about the Forster Case Trimmer? Any advantage/disadvantage, other than cost? quote:Fake E: Hell, it'll be forever and a day until I can have time to reload, why shouldn't I just go all out? Not Nipsy Russell posted:I read this as "I use the power drill adapter and have Sinclair standing by with the "sharkfin" lever.
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| # ¿ Jul 13, 2011 16:08 |
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bunnielab posted:Also if I cant get a LEE collet neck die what is the next best thing? Thinking in terms of both function and brass life.
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| # ¿ Jul 15, 2011 00:18 |
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bunnielab posted:Heh, it is for a 6.5creedmore, so there is only one brand of brass available. Any dies are going to be expensive, the LEE collet dies are very well though of by a lot of people, esp for being so cheap.
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| # ¿ Jul 15, 2011 01:32 |
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11b1p posted:For those that reload, would you consider the ammo you produce to be match quality? Say you buy quality components, are you actually making better quality than the factories higher grade stuff? Yep. I have a post a few down from the OP that details my components, equipment, and methodologies.
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| # ¿ Jul 16, 2011 02:27 |
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Ferris Bueller posted:This is probably a more appropriate spot for this question then the long range thread. Back story buying a rifle in .280 rem. Want to make some good rounds, so what dies do you guys prefer, and what other reloading stuff is nice to have, other then the basics? Tools like the concentricity gauge, headspace gauge (RCBS Precision Mic), and vernier micrometer let you check the process with some certainty. I like my Redding dies and Forster press; the combination makes for good accuracy. I enjoyed this book as an easy read that helped me understand loading rifles for accuracy. If you're a seasoned rifle reloader you may not get much from it, but as a supplement to The ABCs of Reloading it's good.
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| # ¿ Jul 18, 2011 21:18 |
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Dumb question, but is it possible that you didn't actually resize that piece of brass?
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| # ¿ Jul 20, 2011 15:59 |
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QuarkMartial posted:I've got a Lee single stage press, the one with the quick-change bushing feature. The thing is, the bushings are made of a softer metal than the pin that locks them in place. Since I don't use the quick change feature anyway, is there a way to lock the bushing permanently in place, like maybe by using red loctite or something? I think what you're talking about is a fairly common modification to those Lee presses, along with the ol' O-ring-under-the-die-lock-ring trick.
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| # ¿ Jul 24, 2011 18:52 |
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I wouldn't imagine that you'll save a whole lot unless you're shooting a decent volume and you don't mind spending up front and buying in bulk. I lowered my reloading cost 25% by being wise with sales and coupon codes, and buying a shitload of hazmat stuff in one order. On the other hand, for guns that beat up the brass pretty good, commercial ammo is a lot less trouble. Fifty or sixty cents a round doesn't sound all that bad to save yourself a lot of trouble.
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| # ¿ Jul 29, 2011 22:52 |
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I don't [yet] anneal cases, but this is loving cool. yours for $395
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| # ¿ Aug 4, 2011 02:02 |
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Frozen Horse posted:How does one go about developing new cartridges? Is it just a matter of building a barrel and chamber with a piezo-transducer, modifying brass, and trying various loadings and powders? It seems like this would require a lot of trial, error, and the occasional sound of barrel pieces bouncing off the test lane's blast shield. To what extent is it science versus alchemical noodling?
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| # ¿ Aug 23, 2011 11:59 |
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Not Nipsy Russell posted:Thanks for the info. It turns out the lee dies I have are stretching my Prvi Partizan brass very significantly. It's either the shoulder or case rim. I'm on my phone at work, so I'll post numbers/pictures tonight showing fired, unfired, and resized. What kind of case lube are you using?
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| # ¿ Sep 19, 2011 19:54 |
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I did the secret handshake and contacted the supplier that the OP mentions in this thread. They're magnetic, which can be handy. I use the Thumler's Model B tumbler, a little dish soap, and a squirt of that Lemishine stuff. It works well. It is not particularly fast, at least if you want really shiny brass and nearly-spotless interiors and primer pockets. You can definitely get them "clean enough" in about an hour, though. Sorting the stuff isn't that much of a pain. I use a plastic colander that fits over a 5 gallon bucket. I rinse and shake the brass until all of the pins have fallen out of the cases and into the bucket. At that point I've got a bucket with dirty/soapy water and media at the bottom. Just pour it off carefully. I add some more clean water and repeat the pouring a couple of times so that it's just media left in a little clean water. The stuff I have has been fine to store wet for at least moderate (6 months) periods. It's more trouble than dry tumbling but it saves me from having to clean rifle primer pockets after each firing. And the extra cleanliness should theoretically help you when inspecting brass.
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| # ¿ Oct 1, 2011 20:44 |
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Just based on my knowledge of reloading for semiautomatic rifles, the "hard on brass" part is twofold: (1) chambers are generally loose in a battle rifle, so brass sized to SAAMI spec expands a lot when fired and is sized down a lot when resized, and (2) they probably bang the hell out of the brass on extraction. I'd stick with brass, just measure and size it appropriately for that particular gun. Also, you need an actual tumbler to use the SS media; vibratory cleaners won't work. Cleaning via SS media is a wet process, by the way.
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| # ¿ Oct 3, 2011 17:17 |
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I was really thinking more about the base-to-"shoulder datum point" dimension that is colloquially referred to as headspace. Rather than me give you a poorly-worded explanation, check this out, which I haven't read but which seems to have pictures that illustrate the point: http://www.303british.com/id36.html When you resize the brass after it's fired out of your gun, and assuming that said brass will be fired again in that same gun, you only want to bump the shoulder back a few thousandths, rather than all the way back to SAAMI minimum or below. In a bolt gun you can kind of feel it out by sizing gradually and trying to chamber the empty cartridge, but I prefer to measure with something like an RCBS Precision Mic (one of the most useful tools on my bench).
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| # ¿ Oct 3, 2011 19:00 |
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A Rem 700 and a PTR91? Yeah, you should use brass specific to each gun. The dimensions of the chamber for a given caliber have a range, so some chambers are significantly tighter/looser than others but are still within spec. For an autoloader - particularly a "battle rifle" - the emphasis is on feeding any type of in-spec ammo all the time. On the other end of the spectrum, benchrest guns have chambers that are typically close to minimum or even below in some cases (such as with neck diameter). When you fire a round the case expands to fill the chamber. If you've got a large-ish chamber, the relatively-undersized brass expands quite a bit (relatively speaking). If you size it all the way back down so it will chamber in your bolt gun, but then fire it again in your PTR, you've worked the brass a lot more than you need to. If you segregate your brass and keep it gun-specific, you want to size it down enough to allow reliable feeding but not so much that you're working the hell out of the brass every time you fire/resize it. I made a post on the first page of this thread that has some more relevant info and links. Check it out if you're so inclined, and read those Germán Salazar articles on measuring cases. It took me a while in my reloading journey to figure out how important that stuff is, which is why I preach it now. By the way, you may not know it yet, but you want the Redding Competition Shellholder set. Works great with the RCBS Precision Mic.
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| # ¿ Oct 25, 2011 13:11 |
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thermobollocks posted:What is it that the Redding competition shellholder gets you? Ability to tweak your seating depth in those increments without screwing with your die, or something else? edit: Maybe it's not clear, but the set is designed to give you less shoulder setback versus a standard shellholder. quote:I want to start taking more care in .223 with heavier bullets, and I think step 1 is getting a seater plug that doesn't mangle the longer bullets. What after that? Other than that, there aren't many special considerations*. I love working with boat tail bullets - they drop in to the cases easily. If you're using heavier bullets to shoot at longer ranges, you'll want to start paying more attention to case prep. * If you're shooting a bolt gun you may want to take some time to figure out the bullet's relationship to the lands. You can do this in a semiauto too but bullets that will reach the lands are too long to be mag-fed. Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Oct 25, 2011 around 15:35 |
| # ¿ Oct 25, 2011 15:30 |
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If those were Boxer-primed you could theoretically reload them but I wouldn't recommend it. As they are Berdan-primed, they are effectively not reloadable. If I were you I'd buy the cheap steel stuff for the PTR91 and use your brass cases for your bolt gun. (edit: which is to say, I wouldn't bother reloading for the PTR, but a bolt rifle is begging for good handloads) edit #2: Brown Bear is probably my least favorite of the steel-cased ammo; I do like Wolf and Silver Bear though. Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Oct 25, 2011 around 16:47 |
| # ¿ Oct 25, 2011 16:41 |
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Cheapest or best value? Widener's has bulk FMJs as low as $0.076 apiece, delivered. I have heard mediocre reports on accuracy, but I imagine they'd be fine for plinking. Best value... I guess it depends on the application, but it seems like you can get V-maxes for ~$0.13 per or Montana Golds for ~$0.11 per.
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| # ¿ Oct 26, 2011 02:16 |
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You'll always want to have a good single stage press, so if the RCBS is in good shape I'd go ahead and pick it up. I've never used a Lee Progressive but that's probably not what I'd want to start out with. What calibers are you going to load for?
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| # ¿ Nov 8, 2011 21:39 |
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IuniusBrutus posted:Definitely 9mm and .45ACP for right now, and very likely .38 special down the road. I'd like to get into 5.56, 7.62x39, and 7.62x51 if possible too. I haven't shot AR-15 brass to the point of failure, but I've got a ton of 2x- and 3x-fired brass. It's plentiful enough that by the time I get 5 or 6 firings on them I'll probably just toss them. I've only been reloading for a couple of years and I have a bunch of brass - enough to last me a lifetime, probably. A FAL may be tougher... I figure semiauto .308s are worth 3-5 firings, but that's a wild guess. You can maximize brass life by knowing what you're doing when you size your brass, and using good tools.
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| # ¿ Nov 8, 2011 23:52 |
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Unzip and Attack posted:Ok so I've been reloading off and on for a few months, mainly with .38 and .45 on my Dillon 550 and .308 using a Lee Handloader kit. I'm running into some issues with some of my reloaded rounds not fitting well into my Rem 700 on 2nd or 3rd reloads. I thought I was doing everything correctly - chamfering, cleaning, lubing, and case trimming, but the issue still persists. Should I just upgrade to a single stage and use it for neck sizing? I mean, is the Lee hand loading kit not up to that task? edit: the Lee hand press is not ideal but it can do rifle rounds - your issue is likely with die setup thermobollocks posted:My Chargemaster broke. Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Nov 9, 2011 around 00:49 |
| # ¿ Nov 9, 2011 00:47 |
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Whatever it is that drives the dispensing tube is choppy/jammed up.
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Sten Freak posted:I've asked this before but want to be certain. If I set the Chargemaster to 3.5gr, it will dispense exactly that every time, right? Not 3.6 or 3.4, but 3.5. Correct? It will also occasionally dispense too much or too little for whatever reason (clumping of the powder, etc.). You just have to glance at the final weight as you grab pick up the powder tray and confirm that it's correct. This should be pretty rare with proper adjustment, the McDonald's straw trick, etc.
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| # ¿ Nov 9, 2011 01:08 |
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Yeah, those little kits only neck size. Even in a bolt action, eventually the cartridge needs to be full-length sized. For a semi-auto, full-length sizing is a must each time. In fact, I would say that neck sizing should be limited to some very specialized applications; the default should be fully sizing it each time. The trick is to size the case enough to allow for easy chambering/extraction, but not so much that you overwork the brass every time you go through a fire/size cycle. Unzip and Attack, this is pretty basic stuff, so I'd really recommend reading up and making sure that you understand what you are doing when you resize, and how to ensure that you're doing it safely. I'm a big fan of reliable tools that help me measure the effects of my work. edit: You need a single-stage press, or at the very least one of those handheld presses (they actually work okay), plus a full-length sizing die and a bullet seating die. A press is about $40 and up, and die sets are about $25-35 per caliber. Easychair Bootson fucked around with this message at Nov 9, 2011 around 02:43 |
| # ¿ Nov 9, 2011 02:40 |
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Yeah, get a 2-die set and I don't think there's any reason you can't load them on the Dillon. Just make sure you're getting all the critical dimensions sized properly. I'll say it again: I really like the RCBS Precision Mic for setting up a full-length sizing die.
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| # ¿ Nov 9, 2011 03:23 |
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| # ¿ May 21, 2013 09:58 |
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Unzip and Attack posted:How about these two items? You'll also need a the proper shell holder for a .308 case (runs less than $10). Have I mentioned on this page how much I like the Redding Competition Shell Holder sets (they're more like $50)? And you'll need case lube - I like Imperial wax. As a cheaper alternative to the Precision Mic, you might want to look at picking up a case length and headspace gage. Don't forget to check your case length after each full length sizing. If it grows beyond the maximum, you'll want to trim and then chamfer/deburr. If you're not oversizing your brass you shouldn't have to do this often (but check the measurement each time you load).
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| # ¿ Nov 9, 2011 13:38 |
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