Questions about reloading .223

[BuckFuller]

Back years ago I used to load a lot of handgun rounds, mainly 357 and .45 auto. Now I am wanting to load .223 and have been reading. I think case trimming is pretty much a must but I am curious to know how many or you all loading for your ARs actually do the head space/case length go/nogo gage on each of your reloads? I guess I am planning to, unless you all convince me otherwise. I sure never worried about this with the handgun stuff so I thought I would ask for advise. Thanks!

 

[ASP785]

The only time I use a Wilson type case gauge is to size match grade loads. For general plinking, my rounds don't see any type of gauge.

 

[BuckFuller]

The only time I use a Wilson type case gauge is to size match grade loads. For general plinking, my rounds don't see any type of gauge.

Thanks for the info. Most of what I will be doing is just plinking and I tend to agree but I saw a video that I ran across on loading .223s for ARs yesterday. The guy was talking about how important it was to GO/NO GO check each round you reload. My thoughts were, if you are confident with your press, your abilities and your dies, an out of size case should not slip through... but who wants to take a chance on an out of battery situation.

Input from anyone else?

 

[SPCAS]

Same here. Occasionally I'll spot check length of a case if it looks off but mostly I just polish, size, and load
None of my .223's seem to care

 

[dennishoddy]

I run mine across the trimmer every time, to weed out any range brass pickup that gets in there, then work up a load, chamber check a few, shoot for accuracy, and start loading.
Your chamber is the best go-no go gauge out there.

 

[BuckFuller]

Your chamber is the best go-no go gauge out there.

Good point!

 

[JamesP82]

I check case length and trim if I needed. My loads are well above max, so I keep everything else to spec.

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I check all the ammo I plan to use the day before a match. Plinking, not so much.

 

[jc5420]

If you are just wanting to go out and shoot bottles and cans or just a paper plate I would not worry too much about trimming. I would just make sure that your brass does not get excessively long and that you taper crimp your reloads. For accurate loads I make sure everything is uniform from case to case. I also have dropped the AR platform for the time being and have focused more on my bolt guns. A friend of mine does not own a case trimmer and he reloads for his mini-30 with enough performance that he is fine with it. He too also loads a lot of pistol ammunition. I would go as far to say he shoots roughly 1k/month from his pistols combined.

 

[BuckFuller]

MAN.... I really appreciate all the input, it IS appreciated!

I actually ended up getting a little Lee Breech Lock Challenger press. I have loaded many thousand rounds of ammo in the past with this press. Since I was concerned about trimming my cases, I got the .223 auto trim attachment and it looks like it will work great. I actually did end up getting a Wilson go/nogo gauge and I am now glad I did. There seemed to be difference of opinion so I opted to be on the safe side and get one. After resizing and de-priming the first 100 rounds I did not find a single case that would not pass the sizing test. I did opt top use RCBS dies and I was using Hornady Spray case lube. Some were on the long side of length but all were great on diameter. I am glad I spent the $25 for the guage.