RL550 + .223 + Method???

[WhiteyMacD]

Guys, I finally expanded my reloading gear to include .223 on the Dillon 550. If you have a 550, or I guess any progressive loader (this is only for plinking, I already have an established system from my hunting loads on my single stage for precision .223) and reload .223, what is your process from start (picking up your brass/buying new brass) to putting your boolits in the box?

 

[aeropb]

Sweep brass. Inspect. Tumble. Lube. Deprime/Resize+Prime, 25gr Varget, Grab a 55gr hornady 9 cent bullet, Seat. Repeat.

 

[WhiteyMacD]

Sweep brass. Inspect. Tumble. Deprime/Resize+Prime, 25gr Varget, Grab a 55gr hornady 9 cent bullet, Seat. Repeat.

You just resizing with a regular .223 resizing die?

This may all sound like stupid questions, but I have seen some bad stuff happen with .223 reloads. And with no experience in reloading .223, I want to make sure I dont lose fingers.

 

[GlockCop]

Well for what its worth here is mine....
I tumble the brass then run them through an old single stage press I have to resize
After I get a hundred or so rounds deprimed and resized you can either wipe the lube of with a rag or clean the lube off however you want
Load as you normally would any other pistol round. I know it sounds kind of labor intensive but it is the best way I have found to have ammo that will fire and be accurate when it needs to be. YMMV and Im always on the lookout for better methods. Hope this helps.

 

[aeropb]

Yeah. Forgot to add lube before Resize/Deprime. Regular old steel resizing die. I use a tub of Hornady Unique lube I got years ago.

 

[Leadlobber]

So yous guys don't measure or trim yo brass ??

 

[Fyrtwuck]

I use a Dillon XL650.

I first tumble clean and then lube all my brass.

I have three toolheads set up for reloading .223. The first toolhead has a Lee Universal decapping die. I have found that Dillon decapping pins break easily and they are NOT covered by their no BS warranty. Next on the same toolhead is the Dillon 1200 electric case trimmer. The size die in the trimmer sizes the case as the trimmer trims the case at the same time. Next on the same toolhead is the Dillon size die. The sizing die on the trimmer sizes the case down. The sizing die after the trimmer has an expander ball and expands the case neck to the proper size.

Next, I tumble the brass again to get the lube off the brass.

On the next toolhead, I have a Lee decapper die to knock any case media out of the primer pocket and flash hole.

Then, I check all the brass to see if the primer pockets are clear of tumble media and see if they need swaging.

On the last toolhead is the powder die, then the bullet seater and finally the crimp die.

Sounds like a lot of work, but it produces some VERY GOOD quality reloads.

 

[Shadowrider]

I've been working with some brass that I bought off of a board member. I work about 1K at a time so keep this in mind.

1) Tumble clean

2) Decap in a RCBS decapping die.

3) Swage all pockets
(I've found it easier just to do them all than sorting all the crimped cases out and processing them separately)

4) My press set up is station 1: size, station 2: prime, station 3: charge, station 4: seat, station 5: crimp w/Lee factory crimp die (this is optional and not an option with your 550 being a 4 station press. Don't sweat it, it's not really necessary to crimp for an AR. I have the station available so I do it.)

I've found that the brass that I got has alot of Lake City brass and that it had been reloaded once because the primer pockets were already swaged in most of it. Which brings the discussion to trimming. I was rocking along and noticed that the cannelure was disappearing on some of my rounds. I found these cases to be a little long. So now I'm trying to figure out a way to trim large quantities and not take 6 months to do it. Setting a Dillon trimmer up on the press seems to be the best route of all the ideas I've had but I haven't bought one yet. One thing to keep in mind on trimming, is that MY die makes them grow about .008" after sizing. This is normal as the brass has to go somewhere when it's sized back down. (When it's fired it will shorten as it expands to the chamber.) This will vary with each individual sizing die and chamber combo but I suspect it's a pretty typical amount of growth. Also, get yourself a case gage from Dillon. My die sizes them just about perfectly with a good firm cam over. I was using the comparator gages from Hornady and found that with my die I had to cam it over pretty firmly to get about .003" shoulder setback and when you check the loaded round in a case gage it sets just perfectly.

Obviously when you reload the second time you can skip steps 2 & 3 from the above list. Hope this helps.

Edit to add:
I use Imperial case sizing wax for lube. Just rub a little in both palms and grab about 5 cases at a time and rub them in your hands. A tiny bit of this stuff goes a very long ways, when you think you have enough, you probably have too much. After finished loading either wipe them off or I tumble the rounds for a few minutes in untreated corncob. They sure are pretty.

 

[grwd]

My technique on the 650 is the same as firecops, only I use two toolheads. I chamfer primer pockets to lose the crimp on a drillpress right after resizing, when they're still full of Dillon lube.
A good lanolin based lube is important to use; I love hornady one shot for pistol brass, but it don't cut it for necked cases.

 

[KurtM]

Polish brass. Lube w/ Hornaday one shot, run through power trimmer on tool head. Replace tool head w/ tool head that has size die, powder drop, seating die. Load all cases. drop ammo into tumbler w/ media that is slightly damp w/ alcohol. run for 10 min. drop into ammo can.....gently. Takes about an hour to do 300 or so.