Reloading Virgin!

[castelle]

Hey guys, just ordered my Dillon XL650 a few days ago and now begins the wait! I hear I'm anywhere between 2 and 4 months away from receiving everything. In the meantime, I'm looking at purchasing all the components, brass, primers, powder and bullets. I'm particularly interested in starting this process out slowly while gaining confidence and capability.

I'm sure there is a lot more to this subject than I know right now and I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has any thoughts on the matter. Ive been offered IMR 4064 powder and I wanted to know if this is even remotely suitable to my use in 223 reloading. I can find it online at $35 per pound and because I don't know any better I'm getting ready to buy 10lbs of the stuff.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
Chris

[milotrain]

STOP. Get a reloading manual before you buy powder.

[xoutxkastx]

STOP. Get a reloading manual before you buy powder.

+1. You need to know which components will work for you.

[CS Sports]

4064 is pretty slow for the 223. It will work with heavier bullets, but the loads will be compressed. It is a stick powder, and a fairly long one at that. If you are planning on running it through the powder measure on your Dillon, expect for some charge weight variation, as it meters like crap. You will also be dealing with compressed loads in the 223, velocities are a little low, but so are pressures with 4064.

Another thing to consider is that 4064 is a fairly old powder, it is pretty temp sensitive and contains none of the modern additives to reduce fouling as found in some newer powders.

Overall, 4064 is a good, versatile powder. I wouldn't seek it out exclusively for 223, but it will work if you can't find anything else.

[Bill Steele]

4064 is pretty slow for the 223. It will work with heavier bullets, but the loads will be compressed. It is a stick powder, and a fairly long one at that. If you are planning on running it through the powder measure on your Dillon, expect for some charge weight variation, as it meters like crap. You will also be dealing with compressed loads in the 223, velocities are a little low, but so are pressures with 4064.

Another thing to consider is that 4064 is a fairly old powder, it is pretty temp sensitive and contains none of the modern additives to reduce fouling as found in some newer powders.

Overall, 4064 is a good, versatile powder. I wouldn't seek it out exclusively for 223, but it will work if you can't find anything else.

Spot on.

4064 is one of my favorite powders for 308, but having said that, there are a lot of more modern alternatives that merit a look at before buying 10lbs of it. For .223 on a progressive press, 4064 is definitely not a good fit.

Ramshot Tac, CFE 223, AR Comp would be the ones I would look to try and line up.

[ExtremeX]

STOP. Get a reloading manual before you buy powder.

I agree...

Before you go willy nilly buying random powder figure out what types of loads you want to make with the manual and or online resources. It will give you a much better idea of what components you should be looking for.

Start with the bullet you want to shoot, and find a couple suitable powder and try them out. Stick with what gets you results.

Since you are a virgin reloader... do you have all your other stuff to complete rifle loads? Calipers, case trimmer, cartridge headspace gauges?

I would take the time to fully understand the process before throwing a single charge. Check and verify all setup and sizing before doing anything, and check it again.

[MKE]

+1 on getting a good reloading manual - definite must! There's a lot you can learn from these manuals.

Regarding the powder you plan to use -- there are a lot of us Dillon press users who've had metering problems with extruded powder (Hodgdon Varget), as powder charges at times get bottled up in the powder die. And there's one thing I hate during a reloading session is being interrupted by having to stop, clean up and throwing out good powder.

Good luck and I'm sure you'll be enjoying that Dillon XL 650 when it arrives in Aug/Sep!

[emptybottle151]

http://www.amazon.com/Lyman-49Th-Edition-Reloading-Handbook/dp/B001MYEU0E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1SUBKQPO2YNC&coliid=I32QBWBKR2DMH5

[fredj338]

Hey guys, just ordered my Dillon XL650 a few days ago and now begins the wait! I hear I'm anywhere between 2 and 4 months away from receiving everything. In the meantime, I'm looking at purchasing all the components, brass, primers, powder and bullets. I'm particularly interested in starting this process out slowly while gaining confidence and capability.

I'm sure there is a lot more to this subject than I know right now and I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has any thoughts on the matter. Ive been offered IMR 4064 powder and I wanted to know if this is even remotely suitable to my use in 223 reloading. I can find it online at $35 per pound and because I don't know any better I'm getting ready to buy 10lbs of the stuff.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
Chris

First, do some serious reading. The ABCs of Reloading & at least one good manual are pretty important. Take a class from an instructor that knows what they are doing, it will shorten your learning curve by months.
Second, never buy 10# of any powder until you try a single #. You may hate it, then you have 9.5# of fertilizer. IMR4064 can be used in the 223 but it is not ideal or even desireable. You need slightly faster & in a 650, stick powders will meter like crap. THink ball/spherical powders. Refer to your soon to purchase good reloading manual (Lyman or SPeer are my fav) for the types.