Video How To: Reloading 223 & 308

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XFirst Sergeant
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reloading 223 & 308 with 6x5 live fire last episode
Tuesday at 7:23 AM
I understand everyone has their own method to their madness and this is just what I do...... and I might be a little bias to this all LOL! But if you're new I really don't think you'll find a better playlist on how to reload for a semi auto.... or even bolt action if you full length resize:



reloading start to finish





























 
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New addition 6/30/19, the LIVE STREAM RELOADING EVENT where your regular joe starting out reloading is asking questions as we go! Might be long as it’s LIVE, but many questions from new reloaders are answered on the way! Check it out here!

(TEST RUN) LIVE STREAM, RELOADING PART1: SORTING, DECAPPING, WASH


LIVE STREAM, RELOADING PART2: SWAGE, REAMER, UNIFORMING


LIVE STREAM, RELOADING PART3: ANNEALING WITH ANNEALEEZ


LIVE STREAM, RELOADING PART4: HEADSPACE OVERVIEW, LUBE, SIZE, & 2ND / FINAL WASH


LIVE STREAM, RELOADING PART5: TRIM, DEBUR, CHAMFER, SEAT PRIMERS


LIVE STREAM, RELOADING PART6: DROP POWDER, SEAT BULLET, DONE!
 
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Here is my playlist link of me using the ANNEALEEZ annealing machine which is currently being sold for $275 as of 6-29-19:
FC41521D-E969-42C1-8F32-EEFBCA80C23E.jpeg
 
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Regardless of how carefully I reloaded for 308, I continued having an occasional case sticking in the chamber in my gas gun until I began using a small base sizing die. The Forster small base die solved the problem, and the rifle is now very reliable.

FWIW, that gas gun has one hell of an extractor...if a case would stick in the chamber the extractor would tear a chunk out of the extractor rim..not bend it, but actually rip a chunk out of the rim. I keep a foot long piece of .25" bronze brazing rod in my range bag for just such occasions. The bronze rod would easily knock the stuck case out. You can buy bronze brazing rod at welding supply places.
 
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never had to use a small base die. in my own experience with stuck cases = headspace was never bumped... when I run into people having the same issue and think they need a small base die (which im not saying you didn't need one), and I ask them how much they are bumping the brass headspace from fireformed & they can't answer that questions = more times than not they don't know and is most likely their problem of not headspacing the brass correctly (about .003 to .005 from fire formed)...

Regardless of how carefully I reloaded for 308, I continued having an occasional case sticking in the chamber in my gas gun until I began using a small base sizing die. The Forster small base die solved the problem, and the rifle is now very reliable.

FWIW, that gas gun has one hell of an extractor...if a case would stick in the chamber the extractor would tear a chunk out of the extractor rim..not bend it, but actually rip a chunk out of the rim. I keep a foot long piece of .25" bronze brazing rod in my range bag for just such occasions. The bronze rod would easily knock the stuck case out. You can buy bronze brazing rod at welding supply places.
 
The first things I checked was how much the shoulder was set back, and brass length. I was also measuring ammo for run out, and checking darned near any other measurements I could think of including neck thickness of the cases. The regular 308 die just wasn't sizing the lower portion of the case sufficiently. The small base die fixed my issue, even though the shoulder set back, and case length remained the same (like you said 3-5 thousandths). The same ammo through a TRG22 worked just fine, but the chamber in the TRG was a little larger.

The only variable that changed in order to get the rifle to work reliably was small base die. I fought that darned rifle for a couple of years before I tried a small base die as I had never needed a small base die for any of my 5.56 rifles.
 
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Thanks for doing the videos and sharing here dude. Just getting into reloading .223 and well needless to say I need to learn more. I appreciate the head space how to and DIY annealer.
 
Quick taste in 58 seconds of what it takes to produce elfster reloads. Everyone has their own method to their madness. This is just mine LOL ?



Hey Elfster, I'm enjoying your new reloading videos done in real time. I'm going to start reloading for my AR15s and your previous videos are a great help. I want to try and make some ammo that's more consistent than the factory match stuff. Your new videos are super in that it gives me an idea of how long each procedure takes and the questions you take and answer are also a big plus. I just got the Lyman brass center tool and the Dillon 600 swager you recommended and have a lot of other stuff on their way. You're saving me a lot of time figuring out what things are really needed and what works well. Oh, and I got the .223 WTF tool. LOL

Thank you very much and hope you keep doing your great videos!!!!
 
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You betcha my friend! Glad I can help and kick me any questions ya might have! Take it easy!

Hey Elfster, I'm enjoying your new reloading videos done in real time. I'm going to start reloading for my AR15s and your previous videos are a great help. I want to try and make some ammo that's more consistent than the factory match stuff. Your new videos are super in that it gives me an idea of how long each procedure takes and the questions you take and answer are also a big plus. I just got the Lyman brass center tool and the Dillon 600 swager you recommended and have a lot of other stuff on their way. You're saving me a lot of time figuring out what things are really needed and what works well. Oh, and I got the .223 WTF tool. LOL

Thank you very much and hope you keep doing your great videos!!!!
 
Hey, I have a question for you. With brand new Lake City brass, are there any steps that can be skipped in brass prep? I would guess swaging the primer pocket and the initial cleaning won't be needed to be done.

Do you have more photos of your t-shirts, what colors are available, are they 100% cotton, and how's the sizing?

Thanks!

Earl
 
With crimped brass, you only need to initially swage the first time and uniform the first time. Cleaning is always needed as you need clean brass for lubing and sizing

Hey, I have a question for you. With brand new Lake City brass, are there any steps that can be skipped in brass prep? I would guess swaging the primer pocket and the initial cleaning won't be needed to be done.

Do you have more photos of your t-shirts, what colors are available, are they 100% cotton, and how's the sizing?

Thanks!

Earl
 
I'd like to buy a large and a med. How do I do that?

Oh, and my question was on brand new unfired Lake City brass. Do those have the primer pocket crimps on them?
 
Sent ya a private message on the shirts.

Yes, all lake city military brass has a crimp that you initially need to swage or use a reamer on, or cut out (carefully not to cut out too much)

I'd like to buy a large and a med. How do I do that?

Oh, and my question was on brand new unfired Lake City brass. Do those have the primer pocket crimps on them?
 
Sent ya a private message on the shirts.

Yes, all lake city military brass has a crimp that you initially need to swage or use a reamer on, or cut out (carefully not to cut out too much)

I have a whole bunch of Hornady once fired brass and brass from .223 Fiocchi that I shot that has a GFL stamp on it but you seem to like the Lake City brass so I ordered a lot of it and will use that on my first reloading attempt to keep things as simple as possible.

Thanks for the Paypal link. Those are nice looking t-shirts.

Got another dumb question. I'm thinking of setting up my reloading equipment in my house. Is that a good idea or should I set it up in my attached garage or separate shop? Where do you reload?
 
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Good chance that I’ll will be going LIVE STREAMED tonight for part 4 of the live reloading event at 5:30 to 6pm central time. Will try to give a 30min heads up of the exact time on my Elfsters Rifles and reloading Facebook page and on YouTube comments sections. If ya missed the first 3 parts:
 
I will be STREAMING LIVE Sunday 6/23/19 11am central time for the 5th installment of the reloading start to finish series! I will be doing another GIVEAWAY during the live event also! And it’s not going to be a t-shirt this time around! Going over topics of trimming, chamfering, deburring, and seating primers = done with brass prep hell! Here are the 1st 4parts of this LIVE series I’d you missed it, where you can questions as we go, LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyPEnjRX7eZkje82YqbMCV1ETBeFBSxB
 
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Elfster4321 [IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/media.scout.com\/media\/avatars\/4\/5\/Elfster4321.gif"}[/IMG2]


XFirst Sergeant
Rating: 2.9/5 this site
1332 posts this site
reloading 223 & 308 with 6x5 live fire last episode
Tuesday at 7:23 AM

I understand everyone has their own method to their madness and this is just what I do...... and I might be a little bias to this all LOL! But if you're new I really don't think you'll find a better playlist on how to reload for a semi auto.... or even bolt action if you full length resize:



reloading start to finish






























Thanks for sharing!