I have reloaded for many years but always straight wall pistol cases. I have been working on getting everything together to reload 223 .I have a lot of range brass and I have cleaned, deprimed, swaged where necessary and trimmed where necessary. I have read this and other forums as well as load data for this round and still have questions.
1. I have been shooting factory Federal rounds with a 55 Grain FMJ in a ruger 556 and they have performed well. Their OAL is 1.90 and the brass is 1.45 in length. A lot of what I am reading states to load to an OAL of 2.20-2.25. My Lee load data shows a minimum OAL of 2.20. All there measurements are longer than the factory loads I am shooting which leads to question #2.
2. I trimmed with my Lee trimmer to 1.54 and am loading 55 grain FMJBT bullet into dummy rounds with no primer or powder to see how they perform in my rifle ( see photos). I am crimping on the cannelure and my OAL is coming out to 2-2.10 which is longer than the factory rounds but shorter than the 2.20-2.25 everyone seems to recommend.These fit my magazine and have ran through my rifle with the exception of 3 rounds (out of 15) that caused a failure to feed and 2 of them actually had bullet setback where the bullet slipped back into the case. (See photo). This was probably my fault because I was using these to adjust my dies and probably seated them too deep.
3. I have read that it is necessary to seat the bullets at least one diameter deep which would be .224. Where I am crimping gives that approximate depth but still shorter than 2.25 OAL. I have some range brass that measures as short as 2.35 so someone has shot those and that leads to next question.
4. I am just loading plinking rounds and wonder how critical the brass length is. As mentioned, I have a lot of range brass and they vary from the mentioned 2.35 to long enough that needs trimming. I have had a hard time finding a minimum OAL and wonder about that. I know it is probably best to load in batches with similar brass lengths to make sure the bullet seats correctly but is there really a minimum OAL?
I am loading on a Lee Turret Press with their 3 die set. I haven’t purchased any powder yet but considering Varget.
I know these are a lot of questions and I am overthinking and over analyzing this but I would rather ask dumb questions than get in trouble on a reload. Thanks for any help.
1. I have been shooting factory Federal rounds with a 55 Grain FMJ in a ruger 556 and they have performed well. Their OAL is 1.90 and the brass is 1.45 in length. A lot of what I am reading states to load to an OAL of 2.20-2.25. My Lee load data shows a minimum OAL of 2.20. All there measurements are longer than the factory loads I am shooting which leads to question #2.
2. I trimmed with my Lee trimmer to 1.54 and am loading 55 grain FMJBT bullet into dummy rounds with no primer or powder to see how they perform in my rifle ( see photos). I am crimping on the cannelure and my OAL is coming out to 2-2.10 which is longer than the factory rounds but shorter than the 2.20-2.25 everyone seems to recommend.These fit my magazine and have ran through my rifle with the exception of 3 rounds (out of 15) that caused a failure to feed and 2 of them actually had bullet setback where the bullet slipped back into the case. (See photo). This was probably my fault because I was using these to adjust my dies and probably seated them too deep.
3. I have read that it is necessary to seat the bullets at least one diameter deep which would be .224. Where I am crimping gives that approximate depth but still shorter than 2.25 OAL. I have some range brass that measures as short as 2.35 so someone has shot those and that leads to next question.
4. I am just loading plinking rounds and wonder how critical the brass length is. As mentioned, I have a lot of range brass and they vary from the mentioned 2.35 to long enough that needs trimming. I have had a hard time finding a minimum OAL and wonder about that. I know it is probably best to load in batches with similar brass lengths to make sure the bullet seats correctly but is there really a minimum OAL?
I am loading on a Lee Turret Press with their 3 die set. I haven’t purchased any powder yet but considering Varget.
I know these are a lot of questions and I am overthinking and over analyzing this but I would rather ask dumb questions than get in trouble on a reload. Thanks for any help.