Newbie Reloading for .223

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Case Prep Parts
Case trimmer: Lee Case Trimmer with shell holder
Chamfer/Deburring tool: Lee chamfer deburring tool
Do I need anything to swage the primer pocket with if I want to get rid of military crimps or will the Lee tool work well enough?

Reloading Parts
Press: Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press
Dies: Lee .223 Pacesetter Die
Powder Feeder: Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure
Powder Tray: Lee Auto-Disk Double Disk Kit
Primer Tool: Lee Safety Primer

Does this product list look reasonably good? Anything I should perhaps take a look at to substitute what I'm looking at the moment, or any recommendations?

I still need a good pair of calipers and a good scale as well, but as far as the actual reloading equipment goes, it seems like I'm pretty much set?

Thanks!

EDIT: it looks like the Lee .223 trimming tool shellholder has a 1/8" drill bit on the thing! I suppose I'll buy a pretty cheap electric drill at Home Depot and hook the shellholder up and be able to trim, chamfer, and deburr with minimal effort if it'll work as I think it'll work. This is looking better and better by the hour.

[delisle]

Case Prep Parts
Case trimmer: Lee Case Trimmer with shell holder
Chamfer/Deburring tool: Lee chamfer deburring tool
Do I need anything to swage the primer pocket with if I want to get rid of military crimps or will the Lee tool work well enough?

Reloading Parts
Press: Lee Classic 4 Hole Turret Press
Dies: Lee .223 Pacesetter Die
Powder Feeder: Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure
Powder Tray: Lee Auto-Disk Double Disk Kit
Primer Tool: Lee Safety Primer

Does this product list look reasonably good? Anything I should perhaps take a look at to substitute what I'm looking at the moment, or any recommendations?

I still need a good pair of calipers and a good scale as well, but as far as the actual reloading equipment goes, it seems like I'm pretty much set?

Thanks!

EDIT: it looks like the Lee .223 trimming tool shellholder has a 1/8" drill bit on the thing! I suppose I'll buy a pretty cheap electric drill at Home Depot and hook the shellholder up and be able to trim, chamfer, and deburr with minimal effort if it'll work as I think it'll work. This is looking better and better by the hour.

Good choices! Sounds identical to mine. One thing I would say to add to the mix is a universal rifle charging die. I need one myself and am really kicking myself now that i have switched from 45 to 223.

The electric drill for trimming is a dream you can also hit your brass with 000 steel wool and make it shine!

[Texas Boy]

Yep, you will need the universal rifle charging die to use the Auto disk.

I would also add an extra 4 hole turret (about $10). To use the Lee Safety primer you will need to raise the ram completely to feed a primer into the charging lever. With only a single turret, you will have the sizing die in this position, which will cause the case to stick without lube (even though it was already sized). So, you want to leave this position blank and place your sizing die on a separate turret.

With the Lee case trimmer, make sure you get the case gauge for .223. You might also want to get the wooden handle version for comfort. The chamfer/deburr tool works good, but I haven't tried it for crimp removal. I would suggest picking up a countersink drill with that electric drill.

You can get a decent pair of digital calipers at any machine shop supply place. Try littlemachineshop.com if you don't know a local place. Avoid Harbor Freight and any calipers under $20. You don't need the $100 pair, but trust me, you won't be pleased with the $10-$15 units. At around $25-$30 you start getting units that are very repeatable, don't drift with temp, and feel nice in your hand.

For the scale, PM MVPATRIOT (fellow Calgunner). He was selling some nice digital scales at a decent price and is located down your way. I purchased my scale from him and have been quite pleased. I don't see the scales listed in his sig anymore, but hopefully he still imports them.

Otherwise you look good to go. This is very similar to the setup I use and I think you will be pleased. OH - You need a reloading manual!!!! I have both the Nossler and the Lee Manual. I would strongly suggest getting 2 manuals from different manufactures. Quite often a bullet weight or powder might be in one, but not the other, or you might find more data on a particular load in one than the other. If there is a particular brand of bullet you like to use then it would be worthwhile to get their manual. Yeah, much of this data is on line, but having the book by your bench is a good thing.

Keep us posted! Looking good!

[Low-Pressure]

don't forget the lube, I've been using Hornady Unique Case Lube.

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Thanks for all your feedback, guys!

A question: what's the significance of the Lee Safety Primer that's in stock here and "post-2006"? Would this be compatible with the Lee Classic Turret Press?

As for a caliper, I'm looking at the Hornady Electronic Caliper.

[Low-Pressure]

caliper is good to go,
make sure to check in the marketplace area for midway coupons

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Also, I need to get a Lee double disk powder kit, and it's out of stock at Midway. Would this be a suitable alternative, though it seems to include another powder feeder (I have a Lee Pro Auto-Disk in my list of things to get), or can I skip the Lee Pro Auto-Disk for this product?

[Farquaad]

If your going to reload a few hundred rounds a month buy a Lee single stage and call it a day. I have reloaded thousands of rounds and once you get into a groove it can actually be pretty quick. Also for the price you don't have to shoot much to make up the cost of a lee kit. You are going to have to shoot many thousands of rounds to pay for a Dillon and I bet that many people who have them never do and reload for other reasons.

[Texas Boy]

Looks like that lee safety prime is for small primers only. The Lee safety prime kit that is out of stock here is just the small and large units, plus the bracket for the single stage press (which you won't need if you get the turret press. The turret press comes with its own bracket for the lee safety prime). Sine you are just reloading 223, the unit you linked is fine.

The 2nd link you show is the double disk kit - that is what you need. As an alternative, you could get the adjustable powder charge bar and stack that with a disk from your pro auto disk. This would give you the ability to fine tune your load and is what I use. However, you will need some longer 6-32 screws (2") and some spacers about 0.435" long - both of which come with the double disk kit, but you could source yourself if you just wanted to stack with the adjustable charge bar. Unfortunately it looks like Midway is out of stock on this item too.

The price difference between the turret and the single stage is minimal. Either is good, but you can use the turret like a single stage, changing dies is easier, and you can really fly on production if needed. I have both and plan on keeping both, but if I had it to do over I would skip the single stage and just get the turret.

[delisle]

Do yourself a favor and wait it out to get the Lee Pro Auto-Disk Powder Measure, a Micro Disk, and Double Disk Kit. I originally bought the Lee Auto-Disk Powder Measure and updated to the Pro. The Pro is really great for measuring all types of powder and you can turn off the powder flow to change disks with out having to dump powder back into your powder keg. The three things I mentioned before will allow you to adjust loads by .1 grains. Also get the Modern Reloading by Richard Lee. It has alot of loads for 223 and a ton of other load data. It will also show you how set up alot of your new gear.

I also have a turret and single stage. I use my single stage for decapping before tumbling pistol brass, sizing bullets, and batch making of rifle rounds.

Happy Reloading!

[NorCalSJ]

Does anyone use a Dillion reloading machines??

[Texas Boy]

Dillon machines are great and I have several friends who own one or more Dillon machines. The real question is how much do you shoot and how much money are you willing to spend on reloading equipment?

If you shoot 1K rounds a month or more, every month, then a Dillon probably makes sense. If you are shooting different calibers or different loads in the same caliber then expect to spend more time changing your progressive setup than you would a single stage or turret. Hence making 100 rounds of ammo A and then 100 rounds of ammo B isn't significantly faster on a progressive than a turret or even a single stage.

As Farquuad mentioned in his post, there are probably a lot of people who purchase Dillon machines and never reload enough to make it pay off. If you are reloading for volume, the Dillon makes perfect sense. If you are after smaller batches (up to 500-600 at a time), there are more economical systems that can actually give you tighter control over the quality than a progressive press.

BTW - Dillon only makes progressive presses (they did make a turret at one point). There are also other companies that make progressive presses, but Dillon arguably makes the best progressive.

[NorCalSJ]

Thanks for the information Texas Boy.

[jwest]

Does anyone use a Dillion reloading machines??

Ah, yeah.

Where's Randall when you need him?

[SKSer]

for a quick, quite and cheap way to clean cases, I use a chemical method, it is 1 quart vinegar, 2 tbs. lemon juice, 1 tbs. salt.

I put this in a pickle jar, drop in about 100-150 cases, swirl it around, let it sit for 5 minutes, swirl it around, let sit for 5 minutes, swirl let sit for 5 minutes, then I strain them out and save the solution. Then I put the cases in another pickle jar filled with soapy water and swish them around rinse them out and then lay them all out on a towel and let them dry over night. Come morning time, they are ready to go. Ive also heard of people using this method in their kitchen sink to clean 1000's of cases at a time.

I noticed you already bought a tumbler, but if you run into any problems this is a good method.

it is worth it to reload .223 as well, I reload 100 rounds at half the price of what the federal bulk pack runs from walmart, and the ammo is more accurate.

and to add the Lee perfect powder measure works really well. I always check every 10th round by measuring the charge on my scale and it always checks out. With .223 it would be hard to double charge because one charge fills the case 2/3 rds of the way. My regular load is 45 grain bullets with 20 grains of H4198, thats the minimum charge, and it still comes in just below the shoulder of the case. But to be safe about this anyway, I charge the case and then immediately press in the bullet.