Order of operations .223 New reloader

[15Krounds]

I was hoping some of you experienced reloaders could give me your thoughts and impressions to get started. My original intention was to start with a Lee Classic turret, instead I'll be getting a Dillon RL550B. What I plan on doing is using a cheap single stage press to de-cap with a Lee universal decapping die first. So here are the steps as I understand so far. I'd appreciate any comments to fill any holes that I may have to do this correctly.

1- De cap on single stage
2- Stainless steel pin tumble
3- Dry brass
4- swage primer pockets on single stage (if necessary)
5- Lubricate
6- Full length resize
7- Trim
8- De burr case mouth
9- Load!

Now here is where I'm a little unsure on how to set up the Dillon. I'll be acquiring the RL550B alone and without the extras required (dies etc.). I do already have a case gauge.

I need to know what to order to set up the Dillon properly for .223 and if the Dillon dies are worth spending the money.

As a side note, I've gathered some TAC powder, CCI #41 primers and 62 grain SS109 bullets (also have some SMK's 69 gr) for a 16" 1 in 8 twist barrel.

All the suggestions and knowledge I have gathered here has been really great. I'm looking forward to this new hobby.

Thank you in advance.
15K

 

[SMSgt]

That's pretty much it. I don't decap first. Never saw the need for sterile primer pockets. I can't help you with the Dillion questions as I still use a single-stage press.

 

[2hawk]

I think you've got it. I have a 550, and use the Dillon dies. I clean before depriming, and use a universal decapping die in place of the sizing/dacapping die. I use the .223 sizing/decapping die in a separate toolhead. This seems to give me better consistency on the loads, having less of the press effort being used for the sizing and decapping while the other operations (belling/powder drop, seating, crimping) are taking place. Use a good case lube (Dillon is good, the Hornaday One-Shot gave me problems but seems to work ok for others), and watch the case lengths.

You will have to trim the brass at some point, usually after the first or second firing. This is not a step to be ignored as it can lead to over-pressure situations if the brass is not to spec.

The Dillon 550 and Dillon dies have produced thousands of quality rounds for me, and you sound like you have a handle on the components. Be safe, and enjoy shooting good ammo that is not much more than what 22 is going for these days!

 

[Coastie762]

I reloaded .223 using a single stage press for many years. Awhile back I set up a tool head on my 550 to load .223s. However I still do my case prep on my old Rockchucker.

I full length size on the Rockchucker, check case length and trim as needed. Primer pockets are then swaged if needed and cleaned. Typically I'll batch prep a couple hundred cases at a time. After prepping, they get tumbled in corn cob to remove any residual lube then stored until ready to load.

I mounted a decapping die in the first position just to ensure the flash hole is clear of tumbling media prior to priming . All other operations are completed on the 550.

You will find TAC to be an excellent powder for .223/556 and it meters well through the 550's measure. I have not used Dillon's .223 dies but have used their handgun dies in several calibers and found them to be of excellent quality.

 

[15Krounds]

Is there a need to remove the lube before dropping the powder? It would kind of hold up the process if you have to resize then re-tumble.

I would guess that trimming is best done after resizing as the resizing will change your overall length so you'd have to stop the process to trim. Or no?

Thanks for your responses.
15K

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Congratulations on going with the 550b. I hope I can help with some of you questions. First I have done and agree with the universal decapper and wet pin cleaning, this will leave your primer pockets and the inside of your cases in like new condition. Primer pocket swadging can be done before or after cleaning. As far a lube is concerned. If you use a spray on dry lube like Hornady One Shot or Dillion's equivalent, you won't need to remove it at all. On case length trimming; If you feel that you need to do this, On your single stage press, full length size and decap first, then clean, then trim to length, debur, swadge pocket, then load. On bottle neck rifle cartridges, Dillion dies ore OK but so are RCBS, Redding and others. Just avoid very short dies! In the 4th position I like to use a Lee Factory Crimp die (especially without case length trimming) Tac, WW748 and H335 are all good powders in Dillion's powder measure.

My most important advise is to develop a load that shoots well in your rifle, then develop the way to mass produce it! you can do that on your single stage press in small batches of 20 or so for an AR and batches of 5 or 10 for a bolt gun. I did a batch of 20,000 55 grain FMJBT in 223 mixed military brass in the mid 80's on my Dillion 450 (now a 550b). They shot on the poor side in my Mini-14's, but they shoot very well in my AR (less than 1/2" @ 100 yards) and fantastic in my bolt gun (less than a 1/4"). But I knew what the load would do before I messed with the progressive. Ivan

 

[scooter123]

Another Stainless Pin user here so I'm familiar with the benefits of this process. I am also one of those cheapskates who will purchase once fired range pickups at a gun show. One of the reasons I reload is to save costs on each round fired and if you inspect each case for obvious stretch symptoms it's a safe way to save a bit more on each round. BTW, you should ALWAYS be checking for a "stretch ring" with any case you plan on reloading, whether it be range pickup or you own fired case.

I also size using a wet lube, specifically the RCBS case lube. I've found it works well if used sparingly, use to0 much and you get buckles in the case. BTW, I don't load at maximum charges and have found that a small dent or buckle is totally harmless at the near mid range charges I usually end up loading. My process with the RCBS lube is to keep the fingers on my left hand wet with lube and wipe the case down by pressing it through my fingers on the bench just before sizing it. Doing this leaves a very thin film of lube on the case that works perfectly. I also don't bother with decapping and cleaning before sizing, the cases for .223 come out of the rifle clean enough I don't think there is any benefit at all to cleaning before sizing. So, my process starts with a full length size and decap THEN into the bath with the pins.

If I am working on a new batch of Once Fired cases the next step will be to run every case through an RCBS Primer Pocket Swager. Because I've found that such a large proportion of .308 and .223 range brass features crimped primers that it's a waste of time to try and sort the brass. In addition with any sorting operation you WILL miss some of the crimped cases and destroy a primer if you try and force it into a crimped pocket.

Next step will be to check case length and trim the cases if it's needed. If you are shooting with a semi auto you will need to make checking case lengths part of your process to insure your cases feature a safe length to load. If you are shooting with a bolt rifle using fire formed cases this is not quite as critical but still a good habit to build. My personal Trim To length for the .223 is 1.746 inch and any case shorter than 1.749 inch gets passed to the Good to Use bin. Anything 1.750 inch or longer goes to the case trimmer where it's trimmed then chamfered immediately. I don't like having partially completed batches lying around because I've found it invites mistakes.

Once all these prep stages are completed then a batch of cases goes into my Thumlers for a good cleaning. Yeah, there is a lot of work that goes into prepping rifle cases. It's one reason why you won't ever see me just blasting away with my AR, I have to then re-prep every single case I fire. BTW, I purchased a Caldwell Case Catcher from Midway that attaches to the forward handguard with a velcro strap and can recommend it highly after re-bending the frame a bit to conform to my upper. For only 9.99 it's a darned good buy. Note, hot case do stick in the netting sometimes but haven't seen any stuck material on the cases and it's cheap enough to replace when the netting eventually gets too damaged.

After that the normal operations of Prime, Charge, Press Bullet, and Crimp (optional) are all that is needed. If you are really OCD about making your ammo "just perfect" you can finish up by hand polishing each round with a bit of Car Wax.

 

[Jamie]

The only thing I'd add to all the good advice, tumble AFTER sizing, trimming, etc. Any lube you'd like off the brass will be dealt with, also finishes off any deburring from trimming.

 

[15Krounds]

I also don't bother with decapping and cleaning before sizing, the cases for .223 come out of the rifle clean enough I don't think there is any benefit at all to cleaning before sizing. So, my process starts with a full length size and decap THEN into the bath with the pins.

What about the concern of scratching your resizing die? Is that a just one of those things that people talk about is a non issue?

Or get the carbide resizing die and forget about that concern?

This would save some steps in this order because I could just lube, resize/decap, tumble, swage, trim and then load.

Thanks all for the help getting started.
15K

 

[fla_gun]

What about the concern of scratching your resizing die? Is that a just one of those things that people talk about is a non issue?15K

Good point, carbon is an extremely hard material and can scratch the sizing die.

 

[scooter123]

Diamonds are an exceedingly hard phase of Carbon, Graphite on the other hand is an extremely soft phase of Carbon that is also an excellent lubricant. So, which phase of carbon is more likely to form from burning gun powder? I suspect that most of the Carbon components will be closer to graphite than diamonds. In addition I've found that compared to 45 ACP cases those out of the .223 are darned near spotless. I'm not concerned about scratching the fully hardened steel in my sizing die and if it does eventually become a problem I'll just purchase another die. For me it's a matter of the time involved in case prep and I would rather face a small risk of scratching my sizing die in order to avoid cleaning the cases twice. Because you do NOT want to have any wet lube on or in your cases when you charge them with powder.

 

[Twoboxer]

I was hoping some of you experienced reloaders could give me your thoughts and impressions to get started. My original intention was to start with a Lee Classic turret, instead I'll be getting a Dillon RL550B. What I plan on doing is using a cheap single stage press to de-cap with a Lee universal decapping die first. So here are the steps as I understand so far. I'd appreciate any comments to fill any holes that I may have to do this correctly.

1- De cap on single stage
2- Stainless steel pin tumble
3- Dry brass
4- swage primer pockets on single stage (if necessary)
5- Lubricate
6- Full length resize
7- Trim
8- De burr case mouth
9. Chamfer
10 - Load!

. . .

Added a missing step.

You can, of course, skip Step 1.

Step 4 only needs doing once if you keep "new" old brass separate from "old" old brass

Step 7 is interesting. Trimming is not always required. When not necessary, it still may be useful if you need/decide to swage and if similar case lengths are important to that operation for you.

And I guess I'm obliged to add my usual lol: I've learned that if I don't wet my brass, I don't have to dry it

GLHF and stay safe.

 

[15Krounds]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Can't wait to get my test loads set up and dial in a load for my rifle.

I'm pretty optimistic that those 69 grain tipped SMK's I have on the way are going to work pretty good!

15K

 

[scooter123]

As long as you aren't running an antique with a 1:12 barrel I expect your bullets will work just fine. My personal favorite accuracy load is a 68 grain Hornady BTHP with 23.7 grains of Varget. Off a sandbag with the gun on my shoulder that's good for 1 MOA. One of these days I want to borrow a rifle sled from a co-worker and see what my rifle can really do from a solid 2 point rest. Yeah, it's cheating but I have a hunch that I may have built a sub 1/2 MOA AR.

 

[Pocketfisherman]

Here is my workflow for 223
1) Decap with universal decapper (does not resize)
2) Tumble wet in stainless pin media, separate media, dry with a blow dryer while shaking brass in a big tupperware bucket.
3) Inspect case and swage Primer Pockets with RCBS tool/die if needed.
4) Resize cases
5) Trim length with Hornady bench mounted hand tool (if needed)
All of the above done on a Lock N Load in single stage mode.

6) Prime with RCBS Hand Primer Tool.

7) Charge Powder, Seat Bullet, Collet Crimp on Hornady Lock N Load in Progressive mode.

 

[Coastie762]

Regarding cleaning:

I didn't own a tumbler for the first 15 years as a reloader. Fired cases were wiped off with a paper towel and a pass using fine steel wool to knock off heavy carbon deposits on the case neck/shoulder area. I also used a nylon bristle brush on the insides of the necks of bottleneck cases.

In my early days volume loading was not much of an issue (except maybe for .38/.357 cases) and this method gave me an opportunity to inspect each case and weed out cracked or otherwise suspect cases.

About 20 years ago I picked up a vibratory case cleaner, mostly for the use on handgun brass. I don't worry much about shine, an hour or two in walnut gets them as clean as I need for my purposes.

I still don't find the need to tumble cases fired in bolt rifles. Semi-auto rifles and handguns are another matter. Aside from removing carbon, tumbling also removes dirt, sand and other contaminants that may have been picked up (It's hard to attach a brass catcher to a Garand or an M1A).

For lube, I have gone to either Imperial sizing die wax (now marketed by Redding) or Dillon spray-on lube for larger runs. Carbide handgun dies as a rule do not require lube; however I have started using a light spray of Hornady One-Shot to reduce the sizing effort on heavier cases. I have never used a carbide rifle die but understand that lube IS required for those dies.

Although the newer generation of lubes are marketed as not requiring to be removed after sizing, as I mentioned above I will frequently run a large batch of sized and prepped cases in the tumbler using corn cob to remove any residual lube. When using the Imperial sizing wax, I'll size the batch of cases to be loaded then wipe the lube off by hand with a paper towel before continuing the loading process.

My methods and habits have evolved to suit my needs and goals over my reloading "career". Lots of good information and techniques have been posted by others here. Don't hesitate to continue to ask questions, there is a wealth of knowledge and experience on this forum.

 

[fredj338]

If your brass is prepped, just lube cases & start reloading. Does like the RCBS X dies will eliminate future case trimming for the useful life of the case.
I load on my 550 as well. For crimped brass, they get decapped & prepped then dry tumbled, then loaded using the x dies. Size in one, powder in two, powder check at three & seat in 4. I am not old on crimping for my ar, if so I run them all thru a LFCD after. The only bullets that seem to benefit from crimping are my home swaged from 22lr cases.

 

[moxie]

First step, regardless of the cleaning process you use, is to rinse the brass with water, then dry thoroughly. Especially if you shoot outdoors you need to remove the sand, grit, spiders, etc., and the carbon you mentioned. A cheap plastic kitchen colander works well for this.

 

[scattershot]

One further caveat, be sure not to get too much case lube in the shoulder/neck area. When you resize overlubed brass, you can get oil dents in the shoulder of your resized case. These are harmless, but look unsightly.

FWIW, I'm in the tumble first, decap second school. That way, if there's any media left in the case, it will be forced out by the decapping pin. I use crushed walnut media, so it may not be a problem with the steel pins.

 

[scooter123]

Consider this an addendum to my prior post about not bothering with cleaning. Today I picked 500 once fired Lake City cases and those are dirty enough that I would not even consider trying to size and decap them as they are. So, this batch of brass, and any future batches in similar condition, will get a somewhat curtailed cleaning in a wet bath featuring stainless steel pins before any other operation. After that cleaning they will get sized, decapped, trimmed, pocket swaged, chamfered, and finally a second thorough cleaning.