Ammunition & Hand Loading > Cartridge and Shotshell reloading

I am finally handloading .223

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Dan W:
It has all come together. ( I think ?)

Last piece I needed was a Dillon case/headspace gauge.

And I decided to upgrade my single stage press to a 4 hole Lee Classic turret.

Redding  2 die set (full length resize), plus an  optional carbide free floating neck sizer (to eliminate the need to lube inside the neck)

Redding Case lube (applied by a lube pad )

Redding shell holder

Redding powder trickler

Hornady primer pocket cutter (for removing crimp)

Lee Auto Prime hand priming tool

Lee Universal Decapping die (to remove crimped primers)

Lee case trimmer, deburring tool and Lee perfect powder measure

Franford Arsenal loading blocks.

And since I already reload tons of pistol ammo, I have the requisite tumbler, digital calipers,ccccccc Digital and mechanical scales, bullet puller etc. I might still need to upgrade to a collet style bullet puller for rifle boo-boo's

Now I have cleaned, resized, trimmed to 1.750", deburred, removed the primer crimp and re-primed 300 cases. If that sounds like a lot of work...it is.

I will be trying out Hodgdon H335 and Ramshot TAC powder... first up 23.5gr H335 behind a 62gr Amscor FMJ COL 2.250" Magtech SR primer. Brass is TW73 headstamped M193 surplus, once fired in my rifles. A light crimp into the cannelure will be applied

Definitely not the highest grade components, but I thought it best to learn on something less expensive(and actually available)

Once I have mastered learned the techniques I will try to produce some consistently accurate hand loads for  my 18" RRA Rifle.

If any NFOA members have suggestions to help me achieve this goal, I would appreciate the help. I am a total noob when it comes to reloading bottle necked rifle cartridges

bkoenig:
I use the same press as you, a lot of people bag on them for being cheap, but I've had excellent results with mine.

I've heard H335 is supposed to be good stuff for .223 but I haven't tried it yet.  Varget has worked well for me, too.  25.5 grains of Varget with a 55 grain Vmax bullet is my .223's favorite load.

Dan W:
As you probably know Varget has been very difficult to obtain lately, so when I came across 3 lbs  of H335 at Acher Arms a few weeks back, I snapped it up.

What COAL are you using the cartridge you mention above? I would like this thread to be a record for future handloading. Give me all the particulars for your pet load

I find the Lee Classic turret press to be very smooth and the heavy cast iron base quite stable. I really like the tube for catching spent primers. I am not using the auto advance or the primer ram, as I am prepping brass and priming in batches until I am really comfortable with the process. This press is allowing me to head-space the brass very accurately compared to the inconsistent results I was getting from the Lee C frame I had previously.  That cheap little press is good for applying a Lee final crimp die to pistol cartridges or for a quick removal of a damaged primer , but not much else

Rich B:
I reload .223 as well with a set of Lee Dies as well as an RCBS X-Die.

If these will be for an AR with lots of high-volume shooting, get an X-Die.  The X-Die prevents case growth during the sizing process.  One initial trim is all you need!

For case trimming, look at a Possum Hollow Kwick Case Trimmer.  It chucks into a drill and works like a pencil sharpener.  The adapter for the trimmer also fits an RCBS chamfer and deburring tool (which can also remove crimp). 

For OAL, I generally seat/crimp to cannelure.  For bullets without a cannelure, I load them long enough to fit in the magazine with some room for error, generally around 2.250". 

I've used RL7 for light bullets and Varget for 68gr OTMs.  The rest of my loading is with H335 and 55gr FMJBTs.  Comparable powders include TAC and AA2230.  I charge cases with a Lee Pro Auto Disk and ball powders like TAC, AA2230, and H335 meter very well with it. 


When I started with .223, I was over-crimping.  This flared the shoulder and caused jams, so, don't over-crimp.

I'm also paranoid about using "soft" primers like Federals in my AR, so I run CCI, either the standard SR, magnum SR, or #41 military.

Dan W:
Rich, Not a lot of info on the Magtech SR primers, but a few reports have found that the cup is of sufficient thickness and hardness for AR15 use.

And, I over crimped the hell out of my first 5, then got the adjustment down to where it just takes the sharp edge of off the neck. It takes 9-10 hard whacks with a kinetic bullet puller to get them babies back out.

Do you mind sharing your recipe for 55gr FMJBT's and H335? 

I have already figured out that my 18"  RRA likes 55's  much better than PRVI 69gr Match cartridges. That might not be the best in match ammo either...The Armscor 62gr bullets are not very consistent in OAL or Ogive, thus not real accurate, but IMHO good enough for me to learn the ropes

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