New to reloading... Help?!?

J

JayDoublePew

Inactive
A buddy of mine passed recently, and his wife gave me all his reloading stuff.

So now I have an RL550B press, a .223 die setup (was in the press), and some issues. I loaded some pre-primed brass that he had, that worked great (both loading and testing the rounds). Now that I've added the decapping/sizing die and tried reloading once-fired brass, I'm having issues. The bullets are basically loose in the case - so I'm assuming that the sizing die may be the issue, but when I look at the die I don't see any adjustments that can be made.

I'm not 100% sure what die set I am using. I have 2 boxes - RCBS 11103 and 11101. The dies currently setup say: RCBS 223 REM FL- -5 and RCBS 223 REM SEAT -2.

I have 2 dies in one of the boxes, that say RCBS 223 REM SEAT 5, RCBS 223 REM SB.. 2.

Any help/guidance would be appreciated. I'm not sure if I just need to tweak what I have (and which die would need tweaking) or if I should swap either die out.

Lastly, I am reloading for an AR-15.

Thanks!
 
If you are not sizing the necks then either your die is a body die, or it is not advanced far enough into the press. I am not familiar with those model numbers, but does are pretty universal I'm operation.
 
Jay,

Welcome to the forum.

Check with RCBS, but I am guessing from your numbers and letters that you have a seater die and standard FL resizing die and a Small Base resizing die. Many folks use the latter to resize military once-fired brass, then switch to the standard one after it has been fired in their own chamber once.
 
I have RCBS .223 Rem dies sets.

The "standard (non-small base)" Full Length die set is 11101. The "small base" die set is 11107. I don't know what the 11103 is - maybe a neck sizer??.

You didn't mention having the 11107 die set; but it does appear you do have a small base die - the: "RCBS 223 REM SB 2." The "2" is the year of production btw, i.e. 2002.

Your "RCBS 223 REM SEAT 5" is a standard seating die ("5" = 2005). If it was a taper crimp die, it would read "RCBS 223 REM TC SEAT (year)."

Off topic amusing note: Because California took all the fun out of AR sport shooting, I haven't loaded for .223 in over 4 years. My AR's are dismantled. Upon looking for my dies to help with your questions, I found that I have two unopened SB die sets for .223 - on top of the two sets I was using. I also found an unopened SB die set for .308 - I don't even have a .308 gun :D. I don't remember buying any of these lol.
 
What I would do.
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I would Clean the Brass, Lube the Cases, and Resize with the Small Base Die in station one on the 550 Dillon. Do nothing else but size the cases and remove them from the turret.
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Then clean the case lube off the cases, and either prime on the Dillon or prime with a priming tool. Using a priming tool would be preferred.
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Remove the RCBS SB Sizing Die from the 550 so that you do not punch out the primer. Now reload like you did with the sized and primed brass you started with.

Bob R
 
All you should need is the standard RCBS part number 11101 and set up the dies according to the RCBS instructions.

The SB dies are small base dies and RCBS makes a few in 223 Remington. P/N 11107: Small base resizer with taper crimp built into seater and P/N 11103: Small Base resizer with roll crimp built into seater. I would not worry about those for now.

Just work with the basics of reloading, asking questions as you are and taking small steps. Rather than explain die setup for your dies I am pretty sure if not included with the die sets you can find the instructions from RCBS online.

Ron
 
I would use the small base dies for your AR15...at least the first time around.
you would be assured they'd fit your gun and any other gun.....oh and use a case gage to set your die.
 
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