Reloading 5.56/223

[tlarson]

I just purchased 500 round of 5.56 LC ammo and after shooting at the range and trying to pick up my brass I noticed I piked up a mixture of 223 and 5.56.
With the slight differences in the two Is there any reason I should sort and reload it separately for my AR? Common sense tells me yes!
My AR upper is a 5.56 upper and I do not own a 223 specific firearm.
Thanks

Troy

[CALI SHOT DOC]

Your 5.56 can naturally shoot .223 but a .223 can't shoot a 5.56. I don't reload .223 yet but i do seperate the brass that has a primer crimp and those that don't

[Nozzano22]

Separate

I have reloaded pistol but just started with the rifle 5.56. I have been trying to work out the variances and have started to sort by headstamp to eliminate one of the variables.

Not only do you have different headstamps, but they were also fired from different rifles.

Something to consider when you start to process the brass,

Mike

[SpaceMan]

The 5.56 and .223 casing is identical. Yes a 5.56 chambered rifle can shoot a .223 and a .223 cannot (or i should say should not!!) shoot 5.56 but that is only due to the pressure differences, a 5.56 is loaded with a hotter load of powder. You would have no problems at all using .223 or 5.56 stamped brass in a 5.56 chamber or .223. All the load data I ever see is based on .223 any way. Only thing I'd concern myself with is not knowing how many times the brass that is not yours was fired. It could be and most likely would be once fired brass. But it could be twice or 3 times or 4 or 5, point is you don't know. Not trying to scare you into not using it but if the casing has a bulge like ring twords the bottom that's a sure sign it's been reloaded quite a bit. I'd separate your unknown brass and only reload it to a minimum ammount of times and use your brass that you know for a positive fact for loading as many times as you need but never to exceed 10 times fired or past noticeable signs of case weakness that may occur before you hit the 10 time max. As for your 5.56 military brass you will have to decrimp the primer pockets. You can tell if their crimped if there is a ring around the primer pocket. I use a dillon super swage to make short work of decrimping. If you don't decrimp you may have a hard time seating your primer or worse not press the primer in completely and cause some damage to your firearm.

One more important thing to concern yourself with is the primer type. I've picked up berdan primed casings before and stupidly bent my decaping rod. Simply look into the casings with a flash light and you will notice 2 off set holes instead of one in the center, if you see the 2 small holes chuck it in the trash.

[NotEnufGarage]

I separate them and load the .223 with 55gr bullets and light loads for plinking.

The 5.56 LC stuff I process very thoroughly, trimming, primer pocket cleaning/swaging, and the weigh and separate down to .1 grain weight for load 69, 75 and 80 grain bullets for high power match ammo (600 yd+ shooting).

Any other 5.56 headstamps I use for 62 - 65 grain hot loads for SHTF.

[damndave]

If you are leading mild or light, it shouldn't matter as in safety. But for consistent accuracy, I would ALWAYS sort rifle brass by headstamp.