To Re-Load or Not???

[JaPes]

Guys... I've been pondering something... tell me if my logic is wrong...

I can't find small rifle primers. Thank god I bought some while they were plentiful. Since demand for factory ammo outstrips supply and ammo manufacturers are producing rounds as fast as possible, wouldn't it be logical to assume that ammunition components would be allocated to producing complete rounds instead of offering the components for sale separately?

Same goes for lowers.

 

[GMC man]

I cut the 5.56/.223 cases with my rcbs trimmer to just above the trim length.

I went to wally's and picked up a adapter for a 20 lb propane cylinder to the torch and cut a 3/4 PVC pipe with a dremel to set up my torch and secured the pipe in a vice.

then used the lee lock stud from the .223 trimmer kit in my cordless drill and about a 1/4 from the tip of the flame heated the brass until there was a light blue ring, hopefully it worked but I will not know until I fire them

 

[BHarada]

Nice setup. I think if you you can't deform the neck easily with a fingernail and it holds neck tension you should be fine.

 

[zip777]

I cut the 5.56/.223 cases with my rcbs trimmer to just above the trim length.

I went to wally's and picked up a adapter for a 20 lb propane cylinder to the torch and cut a 3/4 PVC pipe with a dremel to set up my torch and secured the pipe in a vice.

then used the lee lock stud from the .223 trimmer kit in my cordless drill and about a 1/4 from the tip of the flame heated the brass until there was a light blue ring, hopefully it worked but I will not know until I fire them

My little baby reloading table feels so inadequate now. lol you hurt his feelings. Haha

 

[zip777]

In order to console my baby table I fitted him with hardware today and bolted down his little friend press. He feels much more adequate now. lol

 

[mike smith 1002]

stavman
I been reloading since 1970 when i got back to states now I am teaching my grandchildren. the cost saving is tremendous but the hobby itself is addictive making your own ammo that shoots great groups is satisfaction you cannot purchase. I still use my first single stage press and reload 11 different calibres including .223, .308 , 7.5 swiss,30-30 rifles. Handguns are very easy rifles take more work buy the best equipment you can buy one piece at a time. You will decide which load you like OR your gun likes. It is about being in control of what bullet weight what velocity, recoil ect. AND if you dont like it selling reloading equipment is very easy. I saw a used turret press for sale this weekend at the gun show for $129 bucks (I would buy New). Hope you join in the hobby
Mike

 

[Gear13]

Reloading .223

I've been reloading for over a year now & love it. I just found .223 dies at Titan Reloading & ordered them. I use Lee dies & their press (50th anniv kit). Be careful which dies you get, as some .223 dies are for bolt action rifles only

 

[oneyeopn]

Yep you need full length sizing dies for semi auto's.....I was looking at some used die sets and they had a couple of sizes listed on them...I think its like my 45acp also do 45gap.

 

[fyimo]

Well I have loaded for nearly 30 years with a single stage RCBS press for both pistol and rifle and I have produced all the ammo I need for practice and hunting. Now if you have a 223 or 7.62x39 semi auto and you like to go bust up 500 to 1000 rounds in a week then the single stage is out.

But for the normal shooter the single stage will serve you well for a long time for pistol and rifle ammo and you can get started for $300 or less. For 223 I have a source for sized and primed brass and then I can just drop the powder and seat the bullet and that works for me. After shooting it the first time then I reload it in 100 round lots where I resize the brass and add the new primer, drop the powder and seat the bullet.

 

[GMC man]

Got brass

I got my brass in today and counted and sorted it in 1k there was only 4 that are unusable for the .300 and 8 for 5.56 which for the price isnt bad and BTW i got 1,005 cases total lol

 

[rebs081]

Glad you guys are shooting, it is so friggin cold here and over a foot of snow. I have only been shooting 22 pistol and rifle at the club's indoor range. Tomorrow the weather is calling for over a foot of new snow. Two coyotes went threough the yard the other day, even they are having a hard time finding food. I will be glad when the weather breaks.
I have been wanting to get a spotting scope and some more brass but the budget is tight and brass is so expensive and so is a spotting scope. I have been looking for a used one. There is a gun show close to here this weekend and I am going to take a look at what they have there that might be in my budget range.
What load and OAL with H335 powder are you guys loading with the Nosler 55 gr varmageddon bullets in your Sports ? What kind of groups are you getting ?

 

[BHarada]

I picked up a Chrony Ballistic Printer to use with my Chrony F1 chronograph. I took both out to the back yard and tested the setup with my son's spring-load airsoft pistol. Works really well, although the printer is an impact dot matrix so it's kind of noisy. Not a problem at a rifle range, but if you were using it at an indoor archery range it would probably annoy the hell out of your fellow archers. haha

I soon realized that the biggest feature missing from the F1 is multiple shot string memory. So I started looking into Chrony's higher end models and ended up on their website (since Amazon doesn't always list full product specs). While there I found out that ShootingChrony offers an upgrade program where you send in your Chrony, pay a discounted fee and shipping, and they upgrade the guts of your model to the higher end model of your choosing. Turnaround time is 2-3 weeks.

So I can send in my F1 and upgrade it to a Beta Master model (which includes a remote display that the printer plugs into) for $60 + two way shipping. The total comes out to about $80 compared to $130 to buy it new from Amazon.

 

[GMC man]

The guy that helps me at the range did that to his. I found out that the ones who use a drill to turn the brass to anneal use templaq inside the neck so you can see it while the ones who use the two torch machines put it on the outside where you can see it lol.

 

[BHarada]

The Hornady annealing kit comes with 475° Tempilaq that they instruct you to apply 1/4" below the shoulder, out of the direct flame. It also spins the cases using a drill with the supplied shell holders (they'd look silly selling the kit with a bunch of deep well sockets, ).

The idea is that when the 475° Tempilaq changes color on the case body the case neck has reached 750°. A reviewer on the MidwayUSA site confirmed this by applying some 750° Tempilaq (his own, not part of the kit) inside the case neck and the 475° on the case body as instructed.

 

[BHarada]

Just got back from a more enjoyable day at the range. Last time a bad magazine threw my entire day off rhythm, but today went as smooth as glass.

The Chrony and printer tandem worked great together. I turned the print function off until I was done shooting a string then pressed a button to get the stats for that string to print. In the summary it lists high and low values, avg, max spread, and standard deviation. It then prints out the velocity of each individual shot.

As for the actual load testing, .2gr more than my previous highest load with the Hornady 55gr FMJ-BT got me a small bit more accuracy.

With the Hornady 68 gr BTHP match bullets Grover sent me I found a load that comes pretty close to the Hornady factory match ammo's velocity...it also gave me my best group of the day.

 

[zip777]

That's awesome you got to get out Bill. I'm chomping at the bit here!!!

 

[BHarada]

Ok. I'm now a believer in washing brass.

I picked up some really grungy range brass today, about 60 cases in all. When I got home I decapped (them using a Lee Universal decapper), then tossed them into a small bucket with some Simple Green, hot water (about a 1:10 ratio) and a tsp of Lemishine. After sloshing them around for five minutes I was amazed at how clean they were.

After rinsing and drying them I did toss them into the tumbler for an hour, mainly to clean out insides and primer pockets. When that was done they looked as good as any brass I had left to tumble overnight.

I also tried the Simple Green/Lemishine wash after resizing the cases. It took less than a minute to wash off the lube and restore the shine. And now I don't have to worry about contaminating my polishing media with case lube.

 

[oneyeopn]

Ok...to pick brains....does anyone shoot their reloads through a mini 14 also? What can I expect or do I need to make special loads for it. I was hoping that the rifle will shoot the same loads as the sport but is that just fantasy stuff or ?

 

[GMC man]

Ok...to pick brains....does anyone shoot their reloads through a mini 14 also? What can I expect or do I need to make special loads for it. I was hoping that the rifle will shoot the same loads as the sport but is that just fantasy stuff or ?

I would think it depends on the rifling, what is the rate on the mini 14 in question?

 

[BHarada]

I've tried telling Grover that he still has another Sport for accuracy. The Mini-14 is strictly to provide covering fire.