Quote:
Originally Posted by frazod
I'm told that we now have all the components needed to reload .223. 
Just waiting for our gunsmith to come over and help us with the initial setup. Apparently it's significantly more involved than reloading pistol ammo. |
It definitely takes more work, but it is not that hard. Like anything, you can make it harder or easier and get a higher level of precision with diminishing returns. The main differences are you must prep the cases and lubricate. You will need to trim the cases (generally only once, maybe twice over the life of a .223 case). Many people also like to chamfer, many trimmers do that automatically. Additionally, most .223/5.56 brass is military brass, and the primer pockets have a crimp in them that must be swaged out.
My process for .223 on my Dillon 650 is two stages. On the first tool head, I have a decapping/resizing die in station one and in station three I have a Dillion 1200b Rapid Trim. The Rapid Trim actually does the resizing. I have the other die set up only to decap really.
Tool head #2 has the powder die in station 2, bullet seater in station 3. I have a factory crimp die that I could put in station 4, but I've never used it.
My .223 process:
- Tumble cases
- Put cases on cookie sheet covered in foil, spray with Dillon Case Lube, or RCBS case lube
- Use tool head 1 to decap, resize, and trim
- Use Dillon Super Swage 600 to swage primer pockets if necessary (you only have to do this once)
- Re-Tumble, gets the case lube off
- Use toolhead 2 to prime, charge, seat bullet
- shoot ammunition at various targets
- giggle
I HIGHLY recommend the Rapid Trim and the Super Swager 600. They are not cheap, and it will feel like you are just throwing money at it, but goddamn those things work so good.
I HATE trimming cases. All of the ways to do it, that do not include either a Giraud, Gracey, or Dillon Rapid Trim are annoying, tedious, imperfect, and irritating. I've tried using an RCBS rotary trimmer, the cheap Lee trimmers, and other hand methods. I even tried a lathe once. They are all workable, but if you are loading .223 in bulk - and if you have a Dillon 650, you should be - it is just too much work. They work fine if you are making a batch of 20 hunting rounds for the season, but if you are making a thousand, they are torture devices.