To Re-Load or Not???

[shadyvalleyman]

For Christmas my wife bought me a Lee Classic Cast Press. For the money you cannot go wrong with this press.

I have reloaded now for over 35 years. During this time I have purchased MAYBE 200 rounds total, and then only to get the brass for reloading. Even with the increase in prices of components I still find reloading to be cheaper and is very satisfying to harvest game with a load I have developed.

 

[BHarada]

Took my first batch of .223 reloads to the range today, and am happy to say that there were no catastrophes. haha

I loaded Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT, Ramshot X-Terminator powder, CCI 400 primers, and mixed range brass. I started off with the Ramshot listed minimum of 22.5gr and did .5gr steps up to 24gr, staying a full grain below their published max.

All four loads shot well at 100 yards with only two strings out of 22 over 2" (both were 2.25"). My best load was at 24gr which produced on 1" 5-shot group and another at 1.25". Definitely want to see how much free-floating my barrel can improve on these results.

The bad news is that I have only one pond of X-Terminator, but have 16 pounds of surplus 844 coming next week. So hopefully that powder will yield a good load as well.

 

[stavman11]

Nice BHarada... where you get yer Products from??? meaning Lead, Powder and stuff.

I am a rollercoaster on this... some days i wanna start.. some not sure..

the Lee Turret does look inviting and inexpensive....

what to do what to do....

LOL

Stav

 

[BHarada]

Grover asked me to post pics or it never happened.

1" 5-shot group at 100 yards off a bench with sandbags...

1.25" 5-shot group at 100 yards off a bench with sandbags...

But the spread on the upper four shots was only .75"...

Stavman11, to answer your questions about components, I've been collecting brass at the range (both my own and whatever 223 brass is lying around the bench I'm shooting at). Most of it is Lake City,but all the reloads for this range trip was mixed PMC, Remmington, Winchester, etc...

The bullets are Hornady 55g FMJ-BT which I ordered from Midway. They're on sale for $81/1000 but are backordered with unpredictable shipping dates. When I placed my order the listed ship date was in June, but I got it at the beginning of May. So place your order and take your chances. haha

Powder and primers I picked up at my LGS mainly because I was getting impatient waiting for my bulk supply order to ship. The surplus 844 powder I ordered if from Wideners which at $85/8 lb is a bargain in today's market. I also ordered another 3000 primers from them to save on the hazmet fees.

I've also ordered cast lead bullets for my 44 mag from Missouri Bullets and powder and primers from Powder Valley.

As for reloading hardware, I've bought a lot off of Amazon when it's available with Prime shipping. Otherwise I go to Sinclair (which is a subsidiary of Brownells) and Graf's. The nice thing about Graf's is that they have a $5.95 flat shipping rate.

Pick up a Lee Perfect Powder Measure, It's got a great reputation and is typically found around for under $30. With the X-Terminator powder it metered very consistently.

 

[BHarada]

Forgot to add that the 24g X-Terminator load was giving me right around 2900fps (measured ~6' from the muzzle) out of my Sport.

 

[oneyeopn]

Great Shooting my friend, now when Ranier gets that free float handguard in stock...LOL

 

[mchech]

I've been reloading since I bought my RCBS RockChucker for $29.00 from Cabelas and that's been a while to say the least. Before that I watched and helped my uncle for several years load rifle stuff on a Lyman press. Once I got started I added a little bit of good equipment each year. In my opinion the most expensive part of loading is buying equipment twice. Best advice I can share is find someone local to mentor you. If you don't know anyone find, join and hang around a gun club. You will find many who are willing to share knowledge and maybe even find good used equipment cheap. Good Luck

 

[stavman11]

WOW some GREAT shooting and awesome Info guys


I am Kinda leaning towards the Lee Classic Turret system to start out... $300 vs $900 is a BIG difference.... and since Most will be .223 rds there is MORE time involved in prep than reloading.....

Figure ill shoot 200-400 rds a week ish.... depending on 1 or 2 trips to desert.... so I should be able to keep up with that amount no problem

Gunna hit cabelas on way home after racing and just check some $$$$

 

[oneyeopn]

WOW some GREAT shooting and awesome Info guys


I am Kinda leaning towards the Lee Classic Turret system to start out... $300 vs $900 is a BIG difference.... and since Most will be .223 rds there is MORE time involved in prep than reloading.....

Figure ill shoot 200-400 rds a week ish.... depending on 1 or 2 trips to desert.... so I should be able to keep up with that amount no problem

Gunna hit cabelas on way home after racing and just check some $$$$

Now your coming to a whole new level, and the fascination with seeing how well you can shoot with your own bullets is just amazing...good luck and seriously welcome to the Club!!

 

[BHarada]

Great Shooting my friend, now when Ranier gets that free float handguard in stock...LOL

Thanks, Grover. Combo wrench and upper vise block have been ordered so it's only a matter of time...

 

[cass]

A buddy of mine just bought a complete RCBS outfit with two presses, scales, several different dies - the whole thing for 150$ off of Craigs list. He's ready to go. All he needs is the powder, primers, and bullets. I could never be so lucky.

 

[stavman11]

No Kidding cass

may just leave the Shop/races early and go see what i can Find at cabelas

 

[goldenbb]

Was your post intended to talk yourself into buying a reloading setup or talk yourself out of it? I'll tell you this: I could never afford to shoot much centerfire if I didn't reload. On the other hand, it is an expensive hobby in itself and you never run out of little doodads you need to buy for this or that. I'd say, start with the pistol caliber stuff first and do that for awhile and then worry about adding the slightly more complicated rifle stuff. It takes a lot of patience to be a good reloader. If you're not a meticulous person who will check and double-check everything, you may not want to do it. Reloading is easy, but it's also easy to make huge mistakes that can be potentially dangerous, even with a single-stage press setup. I've been reloading since sometime around 2001 or 2002 and although I've made a few mistakes, none of them blew up a gun or even came close. About the worst problem I ever had was a run of .223 match ammo that would not chamber because I didn't have the sizing die adjusted quite right. Enjoy!

 

[BHarada]

I did some calculations and came up with some per round costs of my latest effort. My impatience-driven reloads using LGS bought powder and primers ended up costing 23.1¢ per round. I'm not counting the cost of brass as I bought that as pre-loaded ammo which I didn't intend on reloading when I bought it.

Now when my small bulk powder and primer order (16 lbs of powder an 3000 primers) comes in the per round cost will drop to 16.3¢

With the cheapest brass case ammo running over 31¢ a round shipped it's a decent saving.

 

[stavman11]

man oh Man

I have read and Read and watched Videos......

I REALLY REALLy want to reload .223........ but am thinking the Preping is too much TIME and pain for me

Cleaning is easy.... just load and wait for 3 hrs.... no big deal
Case prep.... To bench and PUNCH primer ......
Swagging Primer
Deburring and MORE prep...

Seems i would spend at least an hour per 100 or 150 rds just prepping case (after cleaning)
QUESTION!!! is swaging or prepping primer pocket necessary in remington purchased Brass??????

Am i missing an easier way or process ta get to the RELOADING stage


FREAKING awsome day shooting today for Sure..... thus have spent another 2 hours researching......LOL

Stav

 

[mosquito]

Mosquito...you say that you use mostly cast bullets, are you shooting cast bullets in your AR?. I was just wondering and if so how does it work. Do you size and gas check them also?

No, No, No........NO LEAD IN AN AR! I shoot lead in pistol rounds. You should not use lead in any piston gun as it can clog the piston! Also, I have a H & K P7 PSP that has a piston (as well as Polygonal rifling) so I reload .9mm for that gun in Plated or TMJ only! They say not to even shoot FMJ with a lead exposed bottom in that one. Glocks are also polygonal rifling so lead in a no no there too!

G

 

[BHarada]

man oh Man

I have read and Read and watched Videos......

I REALLY REALLy want to reload .223........ but am thinking the Preping is too much TIME and pain for me

Cleaning is easy.... just load and wait for 3 hrs.... no big deal
Case prep.... To bench and PUNCH primer ......
Swagging Primer
Deburring and MORE prep...

Seems i would spend at least an hour per 100 or 150 rds just prepping case (after cleaning)
QUESTION!!! is swaging or prepping primer pocket necessary in remington purchased Brass??????

Am i missing an easier way or process ta get to the RELOADING stage


FREAKING awsome day shooting today for Sure..... thus have spent another 2 hours researching......LOL

Stav

Stav,
I would suggest you buy some ammo from freedommunitions.com. They sell excellent reloaded .223 rounds which do not have crimped primers. That way you get the immediate satisfaction of going out to the range to shoot, and have a supply of pre-prepped cases to reload.

Based on what I've picked up off the range floor, anything with a colored ring around the primer and all Lake City (LC headstamp) brass will need to be swaged. PMC is about the only other headstamp I routinely find and those are not crimped.

If you buy factory fresh, unprimed brass you should have no problems as the crimping is done after the cases are primed. But if you buy pre-primed Lake City brass those would need to be swaged after the first firing.

 

[oneyeopn]

No, No, No........NO LEAD IN AN AR! I shoot lead in pistil rounds. You should not use lead in any piston gun as it can clog the piston! Also, I have a H & K P7 PSP that has a piston (as well as Polygonal rifling) so I reload .9mm for that gun in Plated or TMJ only! They say not to even shoot FMJ with a lead exposed bottom in that one. Glocks are also polygonal rifling so lead in a no no there too!

G

I wasnt sure I knew that I wasnt about to run cast bullets in mine but the way you threw that out there I had to make sure. So when you buy your cast bullets do you size them and put gas checks on them or do they come that way?

 

[mosquito]

I wasnt sure I knew that I wasnt about to run cast bullets in mine but the way you threw that out there I had to make sure. So when you buy your cast bullets do you size them and put gas checks on them or do they come that way?

When you buy bullets, you just load them and shoot them. I do not use gas checks and they are pre-sized. I run at the lower end of the velocity spectrum. No leading and much better accuracy!

G

 

[Gomizzou1954]

man oh Man

I have read and Read and watched Videos......

I REALLY REALLy want to reload .223........ but am thinking the Preping is too much TIME and pain for me

Cleaning is easy.... just load and wait for 3 hrs.... no big deal
Case prep.... To bench and PUNCH primer ......
Swagging Primer
Deburring and MORE prep...

Seems i would spend at least an hour per 100 or 150 rds just prepping case (after cleaning)
QUESTION!!! is swaging or prepping primer pocket necessary in remington purchased Brass??????

Am i missing an easier way or process ta get to the RELOADING stage


FREAKING awsome day shooting today for Sure..... thus have spent another 2 hours researching......LOL

Stav

Stav, Most commercial brass is boxer primed and you don't have to swage the primer pocket. I also at times bought bulk Lake City brass (Berdan primed) from Midway that was already swaged. The only time I champfer or debur the case mouth is on new brass or after I have trimmed it. You can buy a cheap hand held tool that does a good job of that. Go ahead and reload for .223. After you clean and inspect your brass, you need a brush so you can lube the inside of the neck so the expander doesn't get stuck. I have a lube pad, that you roll the brass lighly on to keep it from sticking in the sizing die. Then you can get a cheap Lee hand held priming tool to prime your brass, and then you are ready to charge and seat the bullet. I would advise buying a digital caliper so you can measure case length occasionally. You will also need a trimmer and for convenience a powder measurer and scale. As others have stated, it is relaxing.