Shot my first reloads today.

[mroels]

Loaded 85 rounds of .223 last week on my Lee hand press, building up loads every 5 rounds.

Recipe:
PMC brass once fired
69gr Sierra SMK
Ramshot TAC 22.2gr to 23.8gr going up in .1increments every 5 rounds
CCI #41 primers
OAL 2.20"

I really just wanted to replicate the 69gr Black Hills I've been shooting.

Shooting out of a 16" RRA AR-15 1/9 twist, Wylde chamber. Everything went smooth. No failures of any kind, except for my brass catcher not catching anything.

I was really surprised by the difference in recoil felt. My rifle definitely liked the lighter loads better in terms of accuracy. Everything up to 23.1 grains was between 1moa to 3/4moa, above that groups started to open up. Maybe it was just me getting tired. But either way 3/4moa out of my rifle is good. I shot some Black Hills too and was getting right around the 1moa mark.

I checked all the brass by the loads and no signs of over pressure or headspace issues. I did notice the ammo fouled up my rifle more than commercial ammo? Indicative of anything?

I've only got a few more SMK's left but plenty of Hornady match bullets so hopefully results won't vary too much on my next loading session.


All in all it was a great experience. It was very satisfying to see my ammo perform as well as BHA (at least at 100yds). Considering I'm loading this at about the same price as plinking ammo I'm happy. I'm happy to have brought home a ton of brass so I can reload more!

BHA ammo



22.5 grains of RAM TAC. I had two flyers because brass flying in my face from my neighbor.

[Javi]

Looks good, man! Props on loading with the Lee Hand loader I was going to get that. Was re-sizing & seating 80+ rounds with it okay?

[Cowboy T]

Congrats, and well done!

Some powders like to be loaded pretty warmly in order to stay clean (e. g. Titegroup in .45 Colt cases). Also, some powders are just "dirtier" than others. No big deal as a standard gun-cleaning'll take care of that in short order. I wouldn't worry about it as long as you're hitting your precision node.

[mroels]

Looks good, man! Props on loading with the Lee Hand loader I was going to get that. Was re-sizing & seating 80+ rounds with it okay?

Just for clarification I got the hand press not the Whack-a-mole loader. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/410804/lee-hand-press

But yeah it was fine. I was messing with the dies to get the shoulder depth and bullet depth which took a while otherwise it would've been pretty quick. If you get the hand press I'd suggest getting Quick change bushings with the lock ring.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/219749/lee-breech-lock-quick-change-bushings-with-die-lock-ring-eliminator-package-of-2?cm_vc=S016971565

That makes adjusting the dies way easier. The press itself at least of .223 doesn't require much power. For me living in a one bedroom it's perfect because I just put everything into a tool box and slide it under the bed.

[sengk]

Great job. I started out on the hand press loading 45acp to see if I would like the hobby. I still have the press and plan to keep it as a mobile reloading setup.

[Javi]

Just for clarification I got the hand press not the Whack-a-mole loader. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/410804/lee-hand-press

But yeah it was fine. I was messing with the dies to get the shoulder depth and bullet depth which took a while otherwise it would've been pretty quick. If you get the hand press I'd suggest getting Quick change bushings with the lock ring.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/219749/lee-breech-lock-quick-change-bushings-with-die-lock-ring-eliminator-package-of-2?cm_vc=S016971565

That makes adjusting the dies way easier. The press itself at least of .223 doesn't require much power. For me living in a one bedroom it's perfect because I just put everything into a tool box and slide it under the bed.

Ah, I just realized I mixed up the two names into one haha. Yup, meant the hand press. I was going to go with the breech lock model since there's no bench here but I ended up finding two things to mount a regular press to. I was just curious if it took good effort to size & seat rifle cartridges in that thing.