Thanks to everyone that provided feedback on reloading equipment.
This past weekend I went to shoot 60 rounds of 223 and 100 rounds of 9 mm from my first reloading batch. I did not fire the 223 from my S&W M&P 15 Sport AR but rather my Savage bolt action (1-9 twist, accu-trigger).
First off, I did not find it too much more laborious to reload 223 than 9mm. The Lee 9mm set I have has 4 dies and the 223 set has 3 dies so the overall amount of labor was comparable. Granted only a few of the 223 brass I had needed to be resized. I used the Lee brass trimmer for those, it worked great.
FWIW here is the load data for what I did.
223 - 55 gr FMJ Hornady (bulk) - PMC brass (once fired), Wolf 223 primers, Hodgdon 322 powder
I did three loads, 20.5 gr, 21.5 gr and 22.0 gr. The low and high loads were crimped, the middle load was not. The crimped rounds were more accurate than the non-crimped which surprised me from what I had read on various forums (again, I shot these from a bolt action, not an AR, all rounds should be crimped if shooting from an AR from what I understand).
Of the higher and lower loads, the accuracy at 100 yards was comparable and quite good (given I am not that good of a shooter). The series of 4 were within an inch for 3 with one outlier about an inch on average (probably due to me moreso than the gun). The middle load which was not crimped was more inconsistent.
For fellow inexperienced reloaders, here are some observations I made for this first batch.
- The 223 primers required way more pressure than the 9mm ones to seat. After reloading the 9mm shells I initially thought something was wrong when priming the 223 shells. This was with a RCBS hand priming tool.
- In terms of reloading equipment, the biggest positive surprise of the tools I got - the Wilson 223 shell gage (that's how they spell it). This tool is fantastic compared to caliper-measuring the brass.
- For lubricating cases - less is more. I followed the instructions for the lube pad and put a tablespoon of lube on it the day before reloading - way too much. I had some buckled necks and ended up wiping off a bunch of lube before resizing. This is with Lee 223 dies in a RCBS rock chucker press.
If anyone is interested in the 9mm loads they were 4.3 gr Winchester 231 in once-fired federal 9mm cases, using 124 gr FMJ precision delta bullets. The 4.3 grain was middle of the road according to the Speer reloading book but I think it was a bit too hot for my purposes, recoil a bit snappy and accuracy not particularly good (this is which a cz-75B). I am doing the next batch in 4.0 gr which is the starting load in the Speer book. Also trying out some 124gr montana gold bullets CMJ for the next 9mm loads, those bullets look really nice.
So far I have hand-measured all loads on an RCBS 5-0-5 balance beam, working up to trying out my powder thrower.
Anyway, just some info that might be of interest to people starting out reloading, from one beginner to another.
This past weekend I went to shoot 60 rounds of 223 and 100 rounds of 9 mm from my first reloading batch. I did not fire the 223 from my S&W M&P 15 Sport AR but rather my Savage bolt action (1-9 twist, accu-trigger).
First off, I did not find it too much more laborious to reload 223 than 9mm. The Lee 9mm set I have has 4 dies and the 223 set has 3 dies so the overall amount of labor was comparable. Granted only a few of the 223 brass I had needed to be resized. I used the Lee brass trimmer for those, it worked great.
FWIW here is the load data for what I did.
223 - 55 gr FMJ Hornady (bulk) - PMC brass (once fired), Wolf 223 primers, Hodgdon 322 powder
I did three loads, 20.5 gr, 21.5 gr and 22.0 gr. The low and high loads were crimped, the middle load was not. The crimped rounds were more accurate than the non-crimped which surprised me from what I had read on various forums (again, I shot these from a bolt action, not an AR, all rounds should be crimped if shooting from an AR from what I understand).
Of the higher and lower loads, the accuracy at 100 yards was comparable and quite good (given I am not that good of a shooter). The series of 4 were within an inch for 3 with one outlier about an inch on average (probably due to me moreso than the gun). The middle load which was not crimped was more inconsistent.
For fellow inexperienced reloaders, here are some observations I made for this first batch.
- The 223 primers required way more pressure than the 9mm ones to seat. After reloading the 9mm shells I initially thought something was wrong when priming the 223 shells. This was with a RCBS hand priming tool.
- In terms of reloading equipment, the biggest positive surprise of the tools I got - the Wilson 223 shell gage (that's how they spell it). This tool is fantastic compared to caliper-measuring the brass.
- For lubricating cases - less is more. I followed the instructions for the lube pad and put a tablespoon of lube on it the day before reloading - way too much. I had some buckled necks and ended up wiping off a bunch of lube before resizing. This is with Lee 223 dies in a RCBS rock chucker press.
If anyone is interested in the 9mm loads they were 4.3 gr Winchester 231 in once-fired federal 9mm cases, using 124 gr FMJ precision delta bullets. The 4.3 grain was middle of the road according to the Speer reloading book but I think it was a bit too hot for my purposes, recoil a bit snappy and accuracy not particularly good (this is which a cz-75B). I am doing the next batch in 4.0 gr which is the starting load in the Speer book. Also trying out some 124gr montana gold bullets CMJ for the next 9mm loads, those bullets look really nice.
So far I have hand-measured all loads on an RCBS 5-0-5 balance beam, working up to trying out my powder thrower.
Anyway, just some info that might be of interest to people starting out reloading, from one beginner to another.
