Newbie seeks your experience in reloading .223/5.56

F

Frankly

New member
Hello folks,

Elsewhere I have been pestering you for advice on handgun reloading. I am well under way on that front, thanks to all your tips.

A few moments ago I hit the buy button to order 4000 .223/5.56 bullets and a lee die set and turret for same. I have many boxes of milspec green tips stockpiled from before the most recent Obama scare took them off the retail shelves at every Walmart across the country. These green tip rounds come out at around fifty cents per round.

First question is, given that I am seeing new brass for this caliber runs about the cost of a fully loaded green tip cartridge at Walmart, should I just continue stockpiling the factory green tip ammo as an investment in cases rather than buying new brass for reloading this rifle caliber?

My second question is, how many reloads (roughly) are you getting out of brass in this caliber?

And finally, I have picked up on the fact that reloading for bottle-necked rifle rounds is a completely different pastime from reloading straight-walled sidearm rounds. Any distinctions you can make that I haven't already absorbed would be most appreciated.

Yes, I know, I have just opened a huge can of worms. Let's go fishing!

Thanks in advance for your experienced views.

Frankly
 
If money is your only reason for reloading then just do the math, compare, and if factory ammo is cheaper, buy it.

If the "once fired brass" is military surplus, then the primer will be crimped in. If it's military surplus brass with the crimp removed it has been reloaded at lest once. Commercial brass is more difficult to determine how many reloads they have been through. Otherwise just figger it all as "used" and take your chances (I have purchased .223/5.56 "once fired" brass and have had no problems, military or commercial).

The only difference between straight walled and bottle necked reloading is the case shape. The bottle necked case will stretch more during firing/sizing than a straight walled case and need to be trimmed. A bit more care is needed to size bottlenecked brass due to it headspacing on the shoulder. Otherwise it's same old-same old...

I don't shoot my .223 in an AR so I can get 12 reloads out a case easy. :cool:
 
Frankly,

I would continue buying off the shelf and continue on your path to reloading. Remember, you can't own too many guns and you can't own too much in reloading components. You just never know when some or all will disappear forever from shelves.

There are good reasons to reload, other than price. As Larry Potterfield (Midway USA) says, you have the satisfaction of a job well done, you can load for hard to find ammo, and you can tweak your loads to your requirements.
 
Shootest says you will have to trim your brass eventually. The good thing about trimming is, you don't do it every time.
 
Buy Military Surplus brass, and a primer pocket swager or reamer.

The LEE reamer works fine and cost very little. But you will quickly learn what PAIN IN THE ARSE really means. the Dillon is about $100 but effortlessly swages 400-500 per hour. And it comes from Dillon ready to use on all calibers. No more parts to buy.

Don't waste good M855 ball just to get the brass.

Good decision getting 4K bullets. Buy primers and powder in bulk as well.

By the way, the Remington # 71/2 small rifle primer meets MilSpec. Remington uses it in all of their military ammo.
 
Most new reloaders start with the cases they've been shooting. However, Wally World isn't a really good barometer for milsurp stuff. They could take it into their pea brains to stop selling it at all.
"...Any distinctions..." Your rifle matters. Any semi-auto requires full length resizing every time. Plus checking the case lengths(trimming, chamfering and deburring only as required) and the OAL. For a bolt action you can neck size only if you're using brass fired out of your rifle. And the brass will need FL resizing eventually.
All new brass needs FL sizing, checking lengths, plus trimming, chamfering and de-burring as required too.
Case life is entirely dependant on the load used. Regardless of the cartridge.
"...quickly learn what PAIN IN THE ARSE really means..." Lotta that in reloading milsurp cases. Just part of the game. You might save a buck, but it costs you in your time.
"...good M855 ball..." 'Good' being a relative term. Military ammo isn't loaded for great accuracy. Its loaded to be reliable.
 
Shootest, those are some really great prices, but how do you know the brass has been fired only once?
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No guarantee that it’s once fired but its good brass that has the crimp removed. I get 10 or even 15 loads out of it so does it really mater if it’s once fired?
 
...good M855 ball..." 'Good' being a relative term. Military ammo isn't loaded for great accuracy. Its loaded to be reliable.
For 5.56X45 NATO, "good" means it will feed and fire every time, and is accurate enough to hold "Minute of Puke."

In my heavy barrel 6MM Remington custom bolt gun, "good" means < 1/2 inch for 5 shots at 200 meters.
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If money is your only reason
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No, but a big part of it. These hornady 75 grain match bullets I ordered come out to about 15 cents a round (on special right now at Midway). Can't beat that with a stick... but also I want good defensive rounds to load. M855 are NATO approved in part because they don't do what police and civilians want their ammo to do in a defensive situation: put their attacker out of action. But the nato rounds are very cost effective for target plinking, as factory ammo goes...
 
Top Brass is another complete processor.

If you are finding new brass a $0.50/round, it is probably Lapua or Norma or some other expensive brass. Regular brass should be closer to half that in military and normal commercial grade. Here's an example that is probably about $0.24/case when shipping is included. Widner's has one, too.
 
My gameplan is to stock up on milspec ammo for plinking and save the brass to reload for varmints or precision shooting. IMO either the XM855 or XM193 would be just fine for defense purposes. Currently I am finding XM855 for .40 per and XM193 for .33 per.

I'm picking up my brass and when i get 500 or so I intend on starting to get other components to reload for accuracy.

Reloading bottleneck cartriges is not too hard, just a few more details to look out for. I have been sucessful developing loads for .300 WM and .375 H&H that meet my needs (I deer hunt with a reduced power .375). Good luck, keep this up to date, I am interested to see how you shake out price wise per round.
 
Frankly said:
Hmmm.... okay, there's a curve. So what does this involve?
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From my understanding, you deprime it as per usual but you have to remove the crimp prior to placing a new primer. It involves swaging (sp?) or using a reamer to remove the crimp. After that you reload as per normal.
 
#1 - you can buy processed brass and that is a pretty good option, but in the days of $340 per 1000, I would buy loaded ammo. It will be impossible to buy processed brass and load it for that price.

#2 - I really can't say. I seem to do pretty well though. I'll bet I lose them and scrounge others before it matters. I have pitched some, but they had case head damage.

The difference is reliability. A bolt rifle will take a lot of variation and deliver hunting accuracy. In 5.56 AR ammo, I find myself being more picky with cases and settings. I take run data so I know how it varies over the 1000. It is quite fun!

You don't trim everytime, but you do need to check!
 
Flapjack, not familiar with the 193, but have fired an awful lot of the 855. In my opinion, it would be a terrible round for le or civilian defensive purposes. But if I can repurpose the cases to build some truly effective defensive rounds, it seems cost effective to keep buying the stuff for plinking, no? I've been meaning to check the local Wally Worlds to see if they are getting it back in yet... usually there is a big time lag before the return to normalcy after the gun haters start a panic over a particular firearm or type of ammo...
 
Frankly said:
Crimp removal. Hmmm. So, what are the most desirable tools for doing this, and why?
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http://m.dillonprecision.com/mcontent/p/9/pid/25263/catid/8/Super_Swage_600

This was copied off my tablet so it is a mobile link, if it doesnt open google search dillon super swage 600. Supposed to be a quality tool (and something that I will purchase at some point). There are a couple good YouTube videos showing how it operates as well.

I have no doubt that with the quality components available you could make a very high quality defensive round for far less than possible purchasing an off the shelf product.
 
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