Rifle reloading...

[HAWKEYE10]

I have been reloading for hand guns since the late 70's. I recently bought a Savage model 12 in .223 and want to start to reload for it. I can get a 1000 rounds of Lake City primed brass for $100. That seems like a good deal but is it good brass? I don't shoot in competition and only shoot out to 200 yards. Another question is do they make carbide sizing dies for the .223 or will I have to lube them? Also if you know of any good links to help me get started I would appreciate it. Don

 

[Ron H.]

Sir, LC is good brass. I've used a lot of it in 5.56, 7.62 and .30 M2. Even with a carbide sizing die, you'll still need to lube. You can get around that somewhat by just neck sizing, but you'll still need to full-length resize every half-dozen loadings or so.

The Sierra Edition V manual contains excellent info on loading for bottleneck rifle cartridges.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

 

[venomballistics]

Lake city ... if it was good enough for our troops, its good enough for me.
you wont find carbide dies for any of your bottle neck cartridges. body taper and the nature of the matierial makes them next to impossible to make in carbide .. at least not at a price you'd be willing to afford

 

[Lee Jones]

Dillon Precision offers carbide 223 dies, and they are expensive.
Where are you finding that brass at that price?

Shoot and pray daily.
Lee Jones (Celtgun

 

[moxie]

LC is good brass. As you've probably discovered, there is a lot of brass prep involved with rifles. You'll need to measure the cases after firing and sizing. Those longer than 1.760" need to be trimmed to 1.75". The easiest and cheapest method I've found for this is the Possum Hollow Trimmer. Just chuck it in your electric drill and away you go. Very fast. Here's the link. There's also a video showing how to do it.
https://www.possumhollowproducts.com/KWICK_CASE_TRIMMERS.html
KWICK CASE TRIMMER(17 Rem. 221, 222, 222 mag., and 223)
.223 Case Trimming Possum Hollow Kwick - YouTube
You will need a handheld chamfer/de-burr tool. Midway and others sell the L.E. Wilson version. It works well. Need to do it on new cases and after trimming.
Yes, lube is needed. Hornady One Shot is perfect. No mess, easy to use. Spray some over a bunch of cases in a tupperware container or similar. Shake them around a bit and you're ready to size.
As far as dies, get a full length set. I like my RCBS dies. Neck tension is really tight. No problems there.
For powder I like Alliant Reloader (RE)-7 and RE-10X. Inexpensive and a little goes a long way. Best place to buy this is: Powder Valley, Inc. The 5 lb. jugs are the best deal.
Get your small rifle primers from them too. CCI and Federal work well. Prime whichever way you prefer for handguns.
Shop around the internet for the type of bullets you like.
That should get you started!

 

[TheTinMan]

Everyone has their favorite lube, IME Redding Imperial Case Wax and Redding's Imperial Dry Neck plus Imperial "Application Media" work great for me.

For a bolt action rifle, you only want to neck size most of the time. Full-length re-size only as needed (4 or 5 cycles?). If you haven't bought dies yet, I would suggest looking a Forster's Neck Sizer & Bench Rest Seater 2-die set and then add an RCBS X-Die for full-length sizing. In .308 Winchester, the X-Die almost eliminates the need to trim brass - basically you do it once. Trimming brass is a huge PITA and I expect that you'd get the same results with .223. The Forster BR Seater is a "better mousetrap" - same design as Redding's Competition Seater but no micrometer and half the cost. The case and the bullet are centered much better than other seating dies do.

 

[shovelwrench]

Neck sizing definitely makes things easier. Cartridges tend to grow less, so less trimming. No sizing lube. And better accuracy... REALLY speeds up reloading.

Drawbacks...They only work in the gun they were fired from. Can't be used for autos....

 

[David Sinko]

If you are getting Lake City brass and it's already primed, the primer pockets are probably crimped too. You can expect to have to remove the crimp by either swaging it or chewing it out with a countersink.

Dave Sinko

 

[TheTinMan]

Case prep is essential in handloading for rifles. I forgot to mention a power tool for deburring, chamfering and primer pocket cleaning, but David's post made me think of it. I love my RCBS TrimMate. Hornady has just come out with its L-N-L "Power Case Prep Trio" which would be worth looking at too.

Trust me, after chamfering and deburring 50 cases manually, older hands start to hurt.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

Everyone has their favorite lube, IME Redding Imperial Case Wax and Redding's Imperial Dry Neck plus Imperial "Application Media" work great for me.

For a bolt action rifle, you only want to neck size most of the time. Full-length re-size only as needed (4 or 5 cycles?). If you haven't bought dies yet, I would suggest looking a Forster's Neck Sizer & Bench Rest Seater 2-die set and then add an RCBS X-Die for full-length sizing. In .308 Winchester, the X-Die almost eliminates the need to trim brass - basically you do it once. Trimming brass is a huge PITA and I expect that you'd get the same results with .223. The Forster BR Seater is a "better mousetrap" - same design as Redding's Competition Seater but no micrometer and half the cost. The case and the bullet are centered much better than other seating dies do.

I am looking on Sinclair's web site and I think I found the Forster 2 die set. Is this correct?

Forster Neck Sizer and Benchrest Seater Die Set, 223 Rem - Sinclair Intl

On Midway's site they have 2 RCBS X full length sizing dies. One says "small base" and the other one is this link.

X-Die Full Length Sizer Die 223 Remington

I notice they also have taper crimp dies. Do I need a taper crimp die?

Thanks for all the help. I am making progress. Don

 

[5-Shot]

I would suggest you take a look at a Lee collet bushing die set. Collet bushing dies work on an entirely different principle from regular dies. They require no lube, there's no case stretching and accuracy is outstanding. In addition, they don't cost much.
Occasionally you have to polish down the insert a little, but it's worth it. I've loaded sub-half minute ammo with these for several different rifle calibers.

Ed