Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading

Reloading 5.56x45/.223 Rem

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mott555:
So far I've only shot .223 Remington through my AR-15 though it has a 5.56 NATO chamber. I've kept all my brass and I have enough now to start thinking about reloading. I don't have a die set for this cartridge yet but I'm looking at the RCBS .223 Rem 2-die set. I have some questions since I've never dealt with interchangeable cartridges before.

1) Would a .223 Rem die set work fine on 5.56 brass? I know there are minor differences but I don't know if that matters here. I haven't actually seen 5.56 dies anywhere.

2) Since I have a 5.56 chamber, would it be possible or desirable to reload my .223 Rem brass to 5.56 specs?

3) So far most of my saved .223 brass is remanufactured Ultramax, I assume that means they were commercial reloads, should I be concerned about that?

4) Any miscellaneous tips or general suggestions for 5.56/.223? I'm fairly new to reloading and so far the only cartridge I've done work with is 7mm Remington Magnum in a bolt gun, not sure if semi-auto changes things up at all.

tstuart34:

--- Quote from: mott555 on December 03, 2014, 03:14:54 PM ---So far I've only shot .223 Remington through my AR-15 though it has a 5.56 NATO chamber. I've kept all my brass and I have enough now to start thinking about reloading. I don't have a die set for this cartridge yet but I'm looking at the RCBS .223 Rem 2-die set. I have some questions since I've never dealt with interchangeable cartridges before.

1) Would a .223 Rem die set work fine on 5.56 brass? I know there are minor differences but I don't know if that matters here. I haven't actually seen 5.56 dies anywhere.

Yes for the most part dimentionaly the brass is the same most of my brass is Lake City which is a little heavier dimensionally

2) Since I have a 5.56 chamber, would it be possible or desirable to reload my .223 Rem brass to 5.56 specs?

More then likely you will not be able to load to 556 specs because finding a powder to get the velocities out of that load is difficult load to you manual and watch for pressure signs. Don't push things there is no need to blow up your face.

3) So far most of my saved .223 brass is remanufactured Ultramax, I assume that means they were commercial reloads, should I be concerned about that?

always inspect your brass for signs of fatigue ie cracks dents etc

4) Any miscellaneous tips or general suggestions for 5.56/.223? I'm fairly new to reloading and so far the only cartridge I've done work with is 7mm Remington Magnum in a bolt gun, not sure if semi-auto changes things up at all.

--- End quote ---

Same thing just smaller

JAK:
The difference between the .223 and 5.56 is the 5.56 has a longer throat (area between the chamber and the start of the rifling) which changes how pressure develops when the cartridge fires.  To the best of my knowledge there is no difference between a die for .223 and one for 5.56.  I do not know if they even make a 5.56 die.

In order to load to 5.56 specs just use the 5.56 specs out of the reloading manual.  The latest Hornady manual has .223, .223 service rifle, and 5.56 data.

Check the back of the cartridge case and see if it as a small cross in a circle.  That is now NATO cartridge cases are marked.  Also most of the small arms ammunition comes from the Lake City Depot and is marked LC and the year of manufacture.  If you have either of those the cases are 5.56.   

They should have had the primer crimp removed when Ultramax loaded them so you shouldn't need to worry about that. 

The only other difference is they may have less internal volume then a .223 cartridge case.  The rule used to be to reduce all loads by one grain when using military catridge cases vs. commercial cases.  I have heard that the more recently manufactured military cartridge cases are exactly the same as the commercial, but have not been able to verify that.

Biggest difference between a bolt gun and a semi for reloading is that you must full length resize, otherwise you may run into feeding issue's.   

Hope that helps,

John K

shooter:
 when you buy your die set, a .223 set will be fine, but make damn sure you get a small base die set, it sizes the brass just a hair smaller so it works better in a semi auto.ive loaded several hundred thousand rounds with these.

   then make sure you check the primer pockets, the ones that have been loaded before will be ok, but military brass has crimped primers, and you cant seat a primer until you remove that crimp,

  on once fired brass , check over all length, make sure that it is within limits. if its to long the ammo may not fit in the mag,

SS_N_NE:
Basically, the 5.56/.223 are the same cartridge and .223 reloading dies handle reloading 5.56.
5.56 is more of a chamber specification than anything to do with the brass.

As with all brass...measure and correct before reloading. Such as, size and/or trim to correct length before each reload.

I have been using Lee Precision die sets with the additional "Factory Crimp Die" (pistol and rifle).  Since my firearms are auto loaders, the FCD ensures my rounds will chamber. Some rifle die sets have a neck sizing die for chamber sized brass (brass fired in your rifle chamber). For an AR, you most likely will be using a full size die (to size and decap), seat and crimp die, followed by the FCD to make rounds that should fit any firearm of that caliber.

For the brass, check condition, clean, ream primer pockets if needed to clear military crimp (can just chamfer with a case mouth tool to remove the sharp crimp edge...or use an expensive purpose swage die/tool) and run through resize die to decap and size. Measure length and determine if trimming is needed (cases can and often do stretch in length from being fired). It is not so much of a problem with fitting the mag as it is fitting the chamber.

Answers to questions:
1. Yes, use .223 die set.
2. Load per the .223 die set. I loading for accuracy, sort out bullet to rifling distance (most likely after sifting through a number of internet reloading forums). It seems distance the bullet travels before hitting the barrel rifling can influnce performance.
3. Main concerns will be condition and your processing to reload.
4. As per above. Main consideration will be sizing brass to chamber automatically. A factory crimp type die takes care auto chambering. The round will be looser than a chamber sized brass and accuracy will not be like a chamber sized brass in a bolt gun. You trade off a little accuracy for firing speed.

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