I have read til I am blue. Reloaded for 7 mag bolt guns years ago. But this ar 223 stuff brings different issues. Seems like hard to tell if crimped. Just seems would have been cut and dried as to which commercial brass is crimped. Thanks for the guidance.
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223 Brass Worth Reloading?
- Thread starter bbowles
- Start date
I have the Dillon Super Swage, and I have never (repeat..., never) bought .223/5.56 brass.
When I moved up here to Central NY from Northern NJ, I was also departing my role as shooting team captain for my local Marine Corp League Detachment. The team gave me a parting gift consisting of a 5 gallon pail, mostly full, of once-fired 5.56 brass.
Since then, I have bought loaded commercial ammo and some open market MilSurp ammo; prepping and reloading after initial firing.
A large portion of the commercial ammo is actually steel cased, boxer primed TulAmmo 55gr FMJ. It reloads just like MilSurp brass, I forget whether or not the primers are crimped, the only special step requires inside neck chamfering to eliminate shaving the bullets while seating them. Up to 5 reloadings down the road, zero issues, and the cartridges use my 75gr Match load with exactly the same degree of accuracy.
Seriously, in these times; any Boxer primed brass is worth reloading except Norinco, which I have picked up at the range with split shoulders after its first firing. Thanks to a previous President's Executive Order banning ammo imports from China, we won't be seeing any of that stuff new in the foreseeable future.
Greg
When I moved up here to Central NY from Northern NJ, I was also departing my role as shooting team captain for my local Marine Corp League Detachment. The team gave me a parting gift consisting of a 5 gallon pail, mostly full, of once-fired 5.56 brass.
Since then, I have bought loaded commercial ammo and some open market MilSurp ammo; prepping and reloading after initial firing.
A large portion of the commercial ammo is actually steel cased, boxer primed TulAmmo 55gr FMJ. It reloads just like MilSurp brass, I forget whether or not the primers are crimped, the only special step requires inside neck chamfering to eliminate shaving the bullets while seating them. Up to 5 reloadings down the road, zero issues, and the cartridges use my 75gr Match load with exactly the same degree of accuracy.
Seriously, in these times; any Boxer primed brass is worth reloading except Norinco, which I have picked up at the range with split shoulders after its first firing. Thanks to a previous President's Executive Order banning ammo imports from China, we won't be seeing any of that stuff new in the foreseeable future.
Greg
i reload 223 cuz i get the brass for practically nothing at the range .... i reloaded 993 rounds already and doing another 1000..... and i still have brass left over... mind you i do this on my single stage but i dont mind taking my time, the lyman case prep center i have makes quick work of the cases and so does the rcbs swaggin die, couldnt affor the dillon swager,
When in doubt just swage. Won't harm commercial brass and that way you won't have any uncrimped brass slipping through. As you get more experience you'll be able to tell in no more time than it takes to look at a headstamp.
Actually, some commercial "un-crimped" brass is improved by swaging. I've run across S &B brass that has tight pockets with a square edged mouth. More then enough priming problems with them that I just throw then in the "Swage when I feel like it" bin.
You are the first person I have heard of that is reloading steel case. Interesting - I thought it was a one-shot deal - kinda like Berdan primed stuff. Learned something new today.
There are a few around here that load the steel stuff. For most, it's not worth the effort. There's no way to keep the coating from gumming up dies unless you practically grease them. The extra effort needed to size will make you right arm look like a "Popeye Arm".
Clearly not worth the effort but if someone wants to----------
As for Berdan Primed cases, Berdan primers have been available in some areas more than the regular primers. Again, a PITA to de-prime berdan primed cases but some people are natural born masochists I guess.
I'll go along with that. I haven't noticed any gumming of my dies, but it may just be getting ready to let me know. The steel cases show very little evidence of any kind of wear; the worst I've seen yet is a slightly dulled finish. Primer pockets and necks seem just like they did the first time around.
I think a lot of this depends on the loads one uses. Being that it's all still just an experiment, I've been keeping the loads on the milder side (23.5gr Varget for 75gr HDY HPBT Match, 24.0gr Varget for 69SMK's, 26.0gr Varget for 50gr HDY V-Max)).
This is mainly a measure to preserve my brass cases for the time being. Who all knows what new booby-trap legislation is waiting in the wings?
I'm just still pleasantly surprised that it works at all, and as well as it does besides. Every reloading saves one on what may suddenly become irreplaceable brass, given the current political climate. I live in New York, and what we have (outrageously bad/wrong/schmuckedup) is probably headed your way soon, too.
Oh, and I first heard about this practice from some other posters here on The 'Hide, so it's not coming completely out of thin air.
Greg
I think a lot of this depends on the loads one uses. Being that it's all still just an experiment, I've been keeping the loads on the milder side (23.5gr Varget for 75gr HDY HPBT Match, 24.0gr Varget for 69SMK's, 26.0gr Varget for 50gr HDY V-Max)).
This is mainly a measure to preserve my brass cases for the time being. Who all knows what new booby-trap legislation is waiting in the wings?
I'm just still pleasantly surprised that it works at all, and as well as it does besides. Every reloading saves one on what may suddenly become irreplaceable brass, given the current political climate. I live in New York, and what we have (outrageously bad/wrong/schmuckedup) is probably headed your way soon, too.
Oh, and I first heard about this practice from some other posters here on The 'Hide, so it's not coming completely out of thin air.
Greg
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Been gone for a little bit. Lots of good advice here. Especially the Dillon Super Swage, best $100 spent.
The problem with guessing if it's crimped or not for commercial brass is that a company may crimp primers for military and law enforcement contracts than use the over run for commercial. You can get the same load from the same company in two different batches and get crimped and not crimped.
The problem with guessing if it's crimped or not for commercial brass is that a company may crimp primers for military and law enforcement contracts than use the over run for commercial. You can get the same load from the same company in two different batches and get crimped and not crimped.
I understand completely why most pick up brass at range. But is it better for me to buy factory ammo and fire it and then reload it? Or just buying new unprimed brass like lapua or some other brand (seems like only options right now are lapua and nosler which are expensive)? Thanks. I do most all my shooting on our family farm and don't go to a range.
223 is finally cheap enough again that reloading is almost not worth it unless you are shooting a high quality projectile for hunting.
I shoot mainly high quality stuff like Sierra matchking and hornady match. So can reload this stuff for half price and I think will be more accurate. So wondering if best to get my brass from firing hornady factory match and winch match with smk bullets OR just buy lapua new brass? Cheaper to buy lapua than buy 5 boxes of same lot factory match.
M
milo 2.0
Guest
There's some brass coming into our town from Montana, for the life of me can't recall the name, but seems to be readily available, and pricing wasn't bad, not great either, but. If you want I can look into it for you, I'm going to brave the sub-zero temps today and shop for my wife's birthday, and gunshops are on the way, even if they're 25 miles out of town.
Factory ammo may be cheaper now than in the recent past but until it goes below $0.16/round for brass cased boxer primed I'll keep on reloading. It only costs me about a nickel more to use a premium Berger bullet for my "precision" ammo.
Don't kid yourself, reloading will always be worth it. Even if the only perceived benefit is "Ammo when nobody has any for sale".
Milo,
That is VERY kind of u to offer! Don't bother if you have to go out of your way. I don't mind buying either factory match ammo or buy lapua to get quality brass that I don't have to remove crimp. Btw, anyone think the Hornady match factory ammo or the Winchester match factory ammo is better brass? Thanks again to all.
That is VERY kind of u to offer! Don't bother if you have to go out of your way. I don't mind buying either factory match ammo or buy lapua to get quality brass that I don't have to remove crimp. Btw, anyone think the Hornady match factory ammo or the Winchester match factory ammo is better brass? Thanks again to all.
Depending on if I use the price I bought the components I'm using or the last price I paid for components I'm .36 to .39 for a 77 SMK load for service rife competition. I think the last price I saw that you could buy Black Hills was just under a buck a round.
I have Varget ranging from $145 to $150 for 8 pounds. My last Varget was $208 for 8 pounds (Bought 10 pounds at $260 including HAZMAT, same price as LGS when they had it.) Not quite a panic buy but I have plenty of primers, bullets, and cases, didn't want to run out of powder. Almost all af my brass is once fired WCC crimped primer, loads well and shoots well at 600 yards.
I bought a bag of 100 cases once. Out of 100, 46 had flat spots on the mouth and they all varied in length . This meant I had to neck size the flat ones. Of course, now I had to neck size and trim all 100 since they were for 1000 yard loads. So after I bought virgin brass and still had to size trim and clean it I was out $35 for the brass and the same amount f time It would have taken to prep the brass I already had. The virgin Winchester didn't shoot any better than the once fired WCC at 600 yards.
I have Varget ranging from $145 to $150 for 8 pounds. My last Varget was $208 for 8 pounds (Bought 10 pounds at $260 including HAZMAT, same price as LGS when they had it.) Not quite a panic buy but I have plenty of primers, bullets, and cases, didn't want to run out of powder. Almost all af my brass is once fired WCC crimped primer, loads well and shoots well at 600 yards.
I bought a bag of 100 cases once. Out of 100, 46 had flat spots on the mouth and they all varied in length . This meant I had to neck size the flat ones. Of course, now I had to neck size and trim all 100 since they were for 1000 yard loads. So after I bought virgin brass and still had to size trim and clean it I was out $35 for the brass and the same amount f time It would have taken to prep the brass I already had. The virgin Winchester didn't shoot any better than the once fired WCC at 600 yards.
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