Newbie Reloading for .223

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Hey Calguns,

I'm thinking about starting to reload for .223 given prices of ammunition for the caliber lately and AB962, which I understand applies to handgun ammunition, but I can see a lot of e-tailers out of state begin to stop shipping ammunition to California, so I figure I should just start getting into the reloading game anyways.

I'm looking for an inexpensive, no-frills reloading setup that will produce reliable ammunition. I understand that between "good, fast, and cheap", I may only choose two, so I suppose "good and fast" would be a priority, but I'm wondering how much into "cheap" I can get into.

I have a variety of concerns and options. I guess my budget for equipment (press, tumbler, dies, etc.) would be around $300-400:

Option 1: get a Lee classic 4-hole turret press from a friend, buy the necessary dies (deprimer/resizer, bullet seater, crimper) and powder feeder, and crank out ammunition this way.

Option 2: buy a Lee Pro 1000 progressive press .223 kit and make ammunition this way, but I understand that the Lee Pro 1000 has a variety of gripes by owners and is probably inexpensive for a reason. Most of the complaints seem to revolve around the auto primer, which I could just not deal with and use a hand priming tool.

Option 3: something else? Consider getting myself a higher quality but more expensive press like a Dillon?

Concerns:
As for brass preparation, which I understand to be a lot of the work with reloading to begin with, what's a good way to prep .223 brass? I have tons of range pickups which I assume would be good to go given proper treatment in tumbling, resizing, etc. Would I need to trim all once-fired brass, or is there some leeway? Also, for brass trimming, what's a good tool to do this without being too tedious?

I live in a small ish apartment, so huge reloading presses are probably a no-go. I also have concerns about a tumbler being pretty loud for myself and neighbors, so does anyone have any recommendations for a good case tumbler, or barring that, methods to reduce case tumbler vibratory noise? Also, I'm thinking about getting synthetic media for the tumbler, any input on this?

Thanks for any response, Calguns! I have faith that you guys will help show me the way in reloading.

[joelogic]

Honestly, unless you are shooting hundreds of rounds a month just shoot Wolf. Its price is coming down.

[Low-Pressure]

Have you considered getting a single stage? You can get the Lee Challenger Breech Lock for $81.99 right now (sale)http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=423081. It comes with most of the things you need to get started.
Heres what I've been doing:
prep: tumble..... about 2-3 hours with walnut media
deprime
full length size the cases (Lee Die)
measure cases, trim if necessary (Lee case gauge and Lee Trimmer)
deburr case mouth (Wilson deburring tool)
clean primer pockets (Lee primer pocket cleaner)
measure powder and charge cases (get a good scale)(everybody recommends RCBS 505 or RCBS1010)
seat bullet (Lee die)
crimp case (Lee die)
shoot and have fun

[Syntax Error]

Honestly, unless you are shooting hundreds of rounds a month just shoot Wolf. Its price is coming down.

I'm not planning on shooting that much, but I can get reloaded ammunition at around ~$.19-.20 cents per round of the component costs. Of course, the reloading setup itself is going to cost more, but I figure that's the cost of doing business and is another nice skill to work on over time.

Have you considered getting a single stage? You can get the Lee Challenger Breech Lock for $81.99 right now (sale)http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct...tnumber=423081. It comes with most of the things you need to get started.
Heres what I've been doing:
prep: tumble..... about 2-3 hours with walnut media
deprime
full length size the cases (Lee Die)
measure cases, trim if necessary (Lee case gauge and Lee Trimmer)
deburr case mouth (Wilson deburring tool)
clean primer pockets (Lee primer pocket cleaner)
measure powder and charge cases (get a good scale)(everybody recommends RCBS 505 or RCBS1010)
seat bullet (Lee die)
crimp case (Lee die)
shoot and have fun

Interesting suggestion for doing a single-stage for .223. I'm looking to maximize utility by getting a good press that would minimize overall time, and that's why I've kind of erred away from a single stage, despite being the "simplest" to learn on. Many people advocate learning on single stages for precisely this reason.

My main concern is regarding powder feeders...I will have to check every round initially to make sure that every round is getting the proper amount of ammunition, of course, and double feeds are always a danger to watch for when reloading.

[mif_slim]

How much are you planning to shoot in a year?

If not much, yes, just buying factory ammo is good. If you plan to shoot a bunch, like.. 1k per year or so...reloading might be your answer. But word of advise; you'll keep buying more and more reloading equipment, and by the time you noticed, you've used up more money then just buying factory loads. 150 rounds @ walmart (40 buck per 100rd?) will get you a set of dies, another 150rd will get you a tumbler, another 150 will get you case prep tools (debur/chamfer tool, gauges, shell holders, etc), 300rd will get you a scale, 400rd will get you a press, 100rd will get you misc parts...and thats just the start.

So lets total this up: getting started, you'll get 1250rds worth of ammo.

My dad loves to shoot but he only shoots about ~20 rounds per year, so he never got into reloading. His saying, "a box of ammo should last you 20 years."
But for me, I shot alot, train alot, plink alot (easy 8k per year) excluding shotgun, so I reload.

PS: Just this year alone (3 month span), I've already shot 1259 rounds, tomrrow I'll be adding more to that.

[Full Clip]

Honestly, unless you are shooting hundreds of rounds a month just shoot Wolf. Its price is coming down.

Wolf is low-priced because it's also low-quality.
For plinking, I've moved over to Hornaday's steel-cased training ammo.
If you are going to reload, use high-quality components to make high-quality ammo, then your savings will rack up quickly and you'll be shooting much better ammo than you could otherwise afford.

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How much are you planning to shoot in a year?

Hard to place a number on the amount of ammunition I plan on expending this year for my rifle, but I would say a few hundred every couple of months or so would be the norm. I shoot rimfire out of my AR much more ever since I got my conversion kit, but it would also be nice to have a steady supply of centerfire ammunition from reloading as well.

Over the long run, it just seems more economical for me to reload as I don't see .223 brass cased ammunition going down significantly in price any time soon.

[bohoki]

i too reloaded 223 the minute it hit $8 a box

i had my 45 reloading gear so all i thought i needed was 223 dies then i found out you have to trim the brass

so i bought the lee kerjigger for $6 and the deburing thingamabob for $3

then the pmc brass i wanted to reload had crimped pockets so i needed the primer pocket doohicky

its a lot of labor to save a few pennies especially but i am happy with my final product

primer costs about 3 cents powder about 10 cents for the powder and around 8 cents a bullet

my stuff is not as smelly or dirty as wolf at least

[NCSD]

I myself am gonna start the reloading game I just bought my press from this outfit on ebay great price http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT Hope this helps you start. I enjoy starting something new like a little challage keeps me feeling smart If you find a good place for brass or bullets let me know.

[indyson]

Hi I"m new here and just sold my reloading shot gun stuff and now going to sell my rifle stuff. I've got a lyman spartan press,223 dies, brass,powder measure ,scale,primers,bullet puller,case trimmer for $150 if you are interested my phone # is 760-329-5143 and i live near Palm Springs Jim

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I myself am gonna start the reloading game I just bought my press from this outfit on ebay great price http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT Hope this helps you start. I enjoy starting something new like a little challage keeps me feeling smart If you find a good place for brass or bullets let me know.

Nice find! I'll have to think about whether I want a progressive or a turret press.

[bohoki]

my favorite brass is remington

when i find the r-p headstamp its like gold
the primers always go in straight they seem to trim easier
they polish up nice and shiny

my most hated are fc headstamp i have to reject about 50-75% each time as i prime them and feel the primer just slide in with no resistance and i can push it out with a bent paperclip

[Texas Boy]

I've been reloading 223 for about a year now. Even if you don't shoot a whole lot, you can make much higher quality ammo that you would have otherwise for the same or lower cost.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Since you don't shoot a ton, get a single stage or a turret press. The Lee Classic Turret press is on sale right now at Midway and gets rave reviews. It can be used as a single stage or as a turret, and costs about the same as the Lee Classic Cast single stage, so this is probably the way to go. You will want a die set (lee is fine), the Pro auto disc powder measure, the micrometer adjust for the powder measure, and the lee safety prime (for priming on the press).

2. You will also need a tumbler and a scale. Since you live in an apartment, you will need to consider the noise from the tumbler. Place it on a rubber mat with a cardboard box over it to keep the noise down. One alternative you might want to consider is an ultrasonic cleaner. This would be much quieter and much less messy - harbor freight has one for about $100 that should do the trick. On the scale, go with a digital scale if you can (there is a Calguner who routinely advertises them at a good price). A decent digital scale should be $50-75. If you want to save you can get a balance scale for less.

3. You will need tools to trim and deburr the brass, and clean the flash hole. Lee makes several hand held tools for trimming that are inexpensive and work well. If you have a cordless drill you can get a shell holder that fits in the drill. Another option is the zip trim - a pull string holder that turns the shell while you hold the trimmer. A small blade screwdriver will work fine for cleaning the flash hole. If you go with the ultrasonic cleaner, you can place the brass back in the cleaner after you deprime to clean the flash hole.

4. If you don't already have them, you will need a decent set of calipers. A reasonable pair of electronic calipers can be had for $20-30. Stay away from units priced under $20, they are usually junk.

5. Last but not least you need some reloading manuals for data. Many of the powder manufactures publish data on line, but you should have a book as well. Lydman, Nossler, Lee, there are a ton of books out there and I don't think any of them are bad. I'd get at least 2 for starters.

Here are the basic steps:

1. Start by cleaning your brass. Don't want to put dirty brass through the dies.

2. Lube, deprime, resize. I use synthetic motor oil for lube, but there are a ton of lube options. Use what ever works for you.

3. Remove lube by placing back in tumbler.

4. Clear/clean flash hole. Remove primer pocket crimp if needed. To remove the crimp, simply use a contersink bit in a drill. There are all sorts of tools for doing this, but the contersink bit is the cheapest, it is easy, and it is fast.

5. Check case length and trim if needed.

6. At this point your brass is good to go. If you have a turret press you can complete the remaining steps in about 10-15 sec. Prime, drop powder, seat bullet, and crimp. At first you will want to stop and weigh each powder drop and check each rounds OAL until you gain confidence. You will also want to vary these parameters slightly to find what works best for your rifle. Of course you can try different projectiles and different powders as well to find the best accuracy at any given price point.

Hope this helps. As others have stated, reloading is addictive. The above list should get you going for about $300 or less, minus components. If you order components on line you will need to buy powder and primers in bulk to reduce the haz-mat costs. Lots of options for projectiles and powders depending on your barrel and intended use (plinking, match, small game, etc).

Cheers,
Mark

[mif_slim]

you dont have to clean the primer pockets unless your going match. I use to when I started reloading...but I got tired and I stoped cleaning it...so far, no noticable decrease in accracy for my plinking rounds.

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Thanks for that post, Mark! It was very helpful, and I'll be sure to take that into consideration.

I met some folks at Appleseed that advocate to do brass prep before tumbling, and then tumbling prepped brass to minimize having to "double tumble" for brass. Does this sound like a good plan too? I understand that brass prep is the "hardest" part of reloading, so would hand tools or a zip trim be a good option? I suppose I could get a Possum drill bit to speed up brass trimming in the future, but I'll take it in baby steps if necessary.