Are you even bothering reloadin 223?

C

Chainsaw.

New member
I haven't checked prices in so long I had no idea how cheap 223 is right now. I load on a progressive press a load that is for all intents and purposes an XM193 copy. Last I checked, a couple years back, also the last time I loaded any real amount of 223, while not a glaring savings, it was infact a savings to reload 223. Plus it gave me something productive to do on all of our grey rainy weekends around here.
I dont know if I really have a question or perhaps Im just dumbfounded that Ill actually be buying rifle rounds. Sooo...do you still reload this ubiquitous cartridge? If so why? Quality? Hobby? To get away from the wife?
 
I load .223 aplenty...although I have no interest in replicating XM193 or M855 type stuff. For that it's probably not worth the effort to me. I do enjoy loading (most of the time) and I produce match grade ammo for about what I would pay for bulk stuff if I bought it (which I don't).
 
I'm still reloading .223 rem for two reasons.

One, it costs me about 37 cents per round to reload my prairie dog bullets. To buy a round that will shoot as well would still cost me about three times as much per round, and I'm going to shoot about 1,000 of them a year. That translates into more than a $800 difference. More importantly, those manufactured rounds can barely match the accuracy of the rounds I make.

Two, while my plinkers aren't saving me much (about .21 cents a round), I bought several thousand projectiles two or three years ago, and it just doesn't make much sense to me to buy bullets with all of those things laying around. Plus they're just more accurate than any cheap target ammo I can buy.

So I guess my answer is that I'm still reloading .223 for quality's sake.
 
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I load 223/5.56 all the time . Like others although I do save money on plinking loads and much more on match loads . No cheap factory ammo shoots as well as my taylored loads for each rifle . When you shoot multiple firearms of the same caliber/cartridge . You tend not to find a factory load that shoots great in all of them . So it still pays for me to reload 223/5.56 regardless of the cost of factory ammo .
 
223 is my favorite cartridge to reload. I load for 2 different bolt guns, and a Mini-14. I have more fun and much better accuracy with the bolt guns. The reason is I can do so many different things cheaply, maybe around bargain basement ammo cost, but probably less. I know I can achieve better than store bought accuracy and velocities in most of these (if they were even available as loaded ammo).

  1. 36 and 50 grqain Varmint Grenades*
  2. 40 grain Nosler Ballistic tips
  3. 55 gr whatever (Hornady are $19 per 250)
  4. 55 gr BTSP (Hornady are $19 per 250)
  5. 65 grain SGK BTSP
  6. Speer 70 grain SP
  7. Barnes All copper 55, 62, 70 grain
  8. Hornady 75 gr BTHP

* non-lead bullets for Calif carry. I use some surplus powder, and all my 308 powders also work well for 223. Mostly I am shooting at steel plates 100 to 500 yards. And 1" dots on paper at 100 yards.
I guess cheap whatever ammo is good for paper plates and spray paint on cardboard targets at 100 yards, and cycling most gas guns.
 
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My AR's normally get bulk bullets loaded with TAC using my progressive but if the kid's make a unexpected visit then I will go to the big box store and pick up a couple hundred rounds of whatever AR fodder is on sale that week

My bolt gun is a ton of fun to shoot and to reload for, 25 grains of powder and a few cents for a bullet and primer. I experiment with everything from 55 grain bulk bullets to 80 gr Berger VLDs. It is a accurate and inexpensive platform to practice shooting and reloading skills with so it gets ammo as carefully prepared as my match guns. CLosest thing to bulk ammo it has seen was some Lapua that I got for a cheaper price than buying the brass separately
 
I found this at Cabelas. I can buy 50 rounds loaded with 50 gr Hornady V-Max bullets for $25. That is 50 cents per round and they are more accurate than I can shoot them. I pick up a couple of boxes every time I'm in a Cabelas. Currently have about 1000 rounds.

The 55 gr FMJ isn't quite as accurate, but at $20/box is more accurate than any other bulk ammo I've found. There is a local store that sells it for $17/box.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/Fiocchi-Rem-Ammunition-Per/705991.uts?slotId=8

At those prices, and with that level of accuracy I don't load for 223.
 
I do not handload large lots of cheap plinker ammo. I load for match accuracy. So no matter how cheap .223 factory gets I will always be handloading. I do have my High Power competition short range practice ammo, and for this I substitute the match 77 and 80 gr bullets for standard 62 gr fmj's I'll load about 300 of these on my Dillon 650.
 
I handload .223 for my prairie dog rig, a bolt gun... and I also load it for my 14" Contender.

However, I don't load for any of my AR's because I feel like it's simply far too much work for guns that just eat and eat through ammo. I also seem to hardly shoot my AR's, but lately I have been buying ammo to feed them so that I do actually shoot 'em.
 
Ditto.
I shoot quite a bit of target/varmint ammo and anything close to what I load is 3x to 4x as much as I build my own for.
The blasting ammo that's 'Cheap' just doesn't do the job.
 
I’ve only owned one rifle in 223, that was a Ruger Mini 14.
Never loaded for it once.
Factory ammo was bought by the thousands, then we had a massacre, and those rifles were banned.
A fellow got a VERY GOOD DEAL on a few thousand rounds of ammo after that.

I see here ammo is very cheap also, so if I owned another, I probably would just by factory.

I handload for my 222, ammo is expensive here.

Cheers.
 
To me it's almost a wash when you consider the time element... particularly with general blasting ammos, and I feel the same way about 9mm as far as that goes. The biggest gig is trimming... I don't have a power trimmer, and the time it would take to work 10K 5.56mm cases is simply out of the question. Now, I do reload specialty 5.56mm rounds... 62 and 69grn BTHPs for long range work. The time I save not reloading 5.56mm is time I can spend on other rounds that I can't afford to buy.

Last time I checked, I had about 15-20K empties bagged up, I dumped the odd stuff in the recycle bucket, gave some away, and culled down to the good stuff... basically LC, FC, and PMC, and I'm down to about 5K now.
 
I only reload my ammo for highpower matches now. I have tens of thousands of once fired 223 brass that I collected with the intention of loading blasting ammo with and will probably never load more than a thousand of them now.
 
Yeah, I enjoy reloading anyways so not a big deal
I can make some far better for about the same(as blasting ammo)
The thing is I can make it if I have to, I remember the big O shortages
 
Yes, I load 223.

First, it has been a matter of principle and pride that I load everything I shoot (except rimfire).

Second, my standard load (a Hornady 60 grain spire soft point or spire hollow point) is not loaded by anyone commercially.

Third, I shoot to support my reloading habit.
 
Load, and load cast powder coated lead, too.

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Armored man, thats serious dedication. But hey, your saving money. I also like the fact that casting is one more step towards being insulated against ammo shortages.

Ive shot so little factory ammo I cant even recall what works in my guns. Probably be fine. I think Ill save my self a bit of time and buy a 1000.
 
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