223 case prep reloading question

[8mmFMJ]

Mines always the same.

Tumble off desert dust.
Lube.
Deprime, resize. (Why tumble here? Just start trimming the dirty oily brass!)
Trim/Chamfer.
Tumble.
Reprime and load up.




Edit: I just read that most of you are tumbling after deprime.....why? The lube from resizing is great for trimming.

[8mmFMJ]

Maybe this is why all my brass is loaded up and I'm contemplating firing my last factory ammo just so I can reload it

I'm just too fast.

[J-cat]

Deprime

Stainless tumble

Square the casehead if necessary

Cut out the crimp

Swage the primer pocket

Size

Stainless tumble again

Measure

Trim to 1.765" if necessary

Debur

Weight sort

[Jon Road King]

Maybe this is why all my brass is loaded up and I'm contemplating firing my last factory ammo just so I can reload it

LOL! I hear that.

[bigedp51]

Leadingall

Deprime the cases, remove the crimp and check your primer pocket diameter for oversized primer pockets before anything else.

All the factory loaded .223/5.56 cases below in my scrap brass bucket have oversized primer pockets after the first firing. There is no sense in doing all the steps above if you end up with loose primer pockets.



Federal is well known for soft brass and the Lake City cases that Federal uses for its XM193 are seconds or rejects that failed military quality control. On top of this the military standards for their cases requires the base of the case be harder than commercial civilian .223 cases.





After removing the primer crimp I use two pin gauges as GO, NO-GO gauges to check the primer pockets. If the case fails this test nothing more is done to the case and it goes in the scrap brass bucket.



After I seat the primer I check them again using a Lee depriming tool and if the primer can be pushed out of the primer pocket with just finger pressure it is junked.



Below are the results on a AR15 rifle with loose primer pockets and sloppy reloading. The person who posted this picture said the bolt is easy to replace so he doesn't bother checking his primer pockets.



I was given three five gallon buckets full of .223/5.56 once fired brass fired by our local police departments. And some of this cheaper practice ammunition are seconds and rejects so check your cases. And the last thing you need is to do a lot of prep work on your cases and then have to toss them in the scrap brass bucket.

[8mmFMJ]

Wow big ed. Good post for match grade reloading. But that takes so much time. If the primer goes in too easily I push it out and toss the brass. I've never checked the width if the pocket one time. But I do throw out brass that has loose pockets. I guess it's all in the way the primer feels going in. You have a proper reloading process, I just don't think I could spend my time like that on each case.

The lee trimmer setup on a drill takes no time to trim and chamfer, so if I end up trimming a case just to toss it, so be it. That only happens 1 out of 150 or so. Not often enough for me to check em with a gauge.

Good post though.

[emptybottle151]

I do things weird and I'll probably get yelled at but here is what I do with .223/5.56 brass

First I separate once fired brass from my reloads and each has its own process.

One fired
1) lube
2) Full length resize and deprimed
3) Swage
4) Wet tumble and dry
5) Mesure case length. If its within tolerances I it tossed into the "plinking pile" if its too long it gets trimmed and tossed into the "reload testing pile"
6) trim
Finally the brass is separated by headspace and go through the normal reloading process of primed, charged, seat and crimp.

Reloads are the same minus the swaging.

[8mmFMJ]

*if I push the primer in and wonder "was there a primer in line?," just to flip it over and see a primer fully seated...Then the brass gets tossed.



Good stuff, good thread. I'm interested to see all the different reloading steps that can be taken to ensure higher quality performance then factory.

[Jimi Jah]

How do you get local police departments to give you free brass?

[jp1911]

Can't add anything on process mine is the same as everyone else. Two things I can recommend is a stuck case remover, and have a couple extra deprimer pins on hand. Murphy sometimes shows up at the worst time.

[bigedp51]

Wow big ed. Good post for match grade reloading. But that takes so much time. If the primer goes in too easily I push it out and toss the brass. I've never checked the width if the pocket one time. But I do throw out brass that has loose pockets. I guess it's all in the way the primer feels going in. You have a proper reloading process, I just don't think I could spend my time like that on each case.

Good post though.

If you check the primer pocket first, you don't have to seat a primer and then push it back out again. And I do not have or use a progressive press and a softer .223 case fired in a AR15 that is over gassed can and will cause problems and can even cause the primer to fall out completely and jam the trigger group. The military crimped the primers for a reason and reloaders do not recrimp on a bolt that is moving to the rear while there is still pressure in the barrel.

I also load for my two sons AR15 rifles and I don't want dear old Dad blamed for an eroded bolt face. Besides I'm retired with nothing to do and all day to do it.

[MrElectric03]

My method on my xl650:

Lube
Deprime(die is set high so it doesn't size but bushing on the Decap rod straightens the case neck if it's out of round)
Swage
FL size and trim with a dillon RT1200
Station 5 has another size die set high to debut the inside of the case neck.
Tumble(removes any missed brass shavings, dirt, grime, and lube)
Then gets stored and is ready to load.

[S&S]

My way

Tumble
de-prime/re-size in one step
clean off lube
military crimp remover on primer pocket
pocket cleaner
trim to length with a Lee Case trimmer cutter & lock stud attached to my RCBS case prep center.
de-burr neck on prep center
Ready to load.........about 10 to 15 seconds from crimp remove to de-burr