Going out of order

[nstuyt]

Newbie here
Ive been doing shotgun for awhile on a MEC9000. Trying to get into the rifle and pistol now. I've got an RCBS single stage and a tumbler but nothing else. I was wondering if I could buy the die's and de-prime and tumble my brass, then once I get the rest of the components, re-size and clean primer pockets and start loading. Im doing 9mm, 45 and .223 Anyone got advice on where to start or what to get?
Thanks in advance

[nstuyt]

Also does mixing .223 and 5.56 really matter after resizing. I've got them separated out by headstamps but thats all.

[OldShooter32]

You are OK with decamping & tumbling first. I have heard 5.56 works best in AR while .223 works best in "civilian" rifles (bolt) but have fired both in mine without any problems. the GI brass tends to have thicker walls hence smaller powder capacity so start your loads low and work up slowly, watching for signs of pressure: Cratering, flattened or, worse, blown primers.

[level 10]

223 or 556 after sized in die both become 223 . only reason i see to seperate is military primer crimp

[rsrocket1]

Get a set of dies for the calibers first. No need for a separate depriming die unless you really want one. I think its a waste of money, but it doesn't hurt.
If you got a set of pistol dies for 9 and 45, you can deprime and resize in one stroke. For pistol rounds, there is no need to clean primer pockets. Unless you are a real stickler for super accurate rifle shooting, there is no need to clean primer pockets for .223 either. For pistol loading, be sure to get a die set with a carbide sizing die. The Lee deluxe 4 die pistol set is a good one to start with and will last a very long time. For the .223 you must lube the case before sizing it. A carbide rifle sizing die is not necessary and is very expensive. It's really only needed for very high volume loaders such as commercial loaders.

I think you would be better off getting a hand primer and priming all your cleaned and sized cases rather than cleaning primer pockets. It takes just about the same time per case and you are now ready to drop powder and seat the bullet on all your cases.

.223 also requires that you ensure there are no crimps in the primer pocket and that they are trimmed to the proper length before priming, charging and bullet seating.

Hope that it helps as a start.

[damndave]

If you really want to deprime now before you get your dies, get the Lee Depriming Die. Only runs about $12 or so.

No real need to clean primer pockets unless you are looking for extreme accuracy. This is especially so for handgun ammo.

I run the Lee Deluxe 4 die set for my pistol rounds and they work great. RCBS die sets run around the same price too.

For my 223 die I really like the Forster Micrometer Full Length die set. Runs about $90