been reloading pistol rounds for years....now i want to do .223

[mozeppa]

what do i need ?

dies, head space gauge .....what else?

[kenblacksmith]

Our family has (2) Service rifle competitors, we load 6-8k .223 each year not including hunting. We have found that Winchester brass is good for the price. 7.5 rem primers work (every time). 73gr bergers for short range (2-300) and 80.5 bergers for long range (600). For varminting, 55gr is a good middle ground not the fastest but extends the range a 100 or so yards over the 40gr. We use the cheapo hornady 55gr s.p. Varget powder or CFE223, if you cant find those imr4895 in a pinch. RCBS competition seater makes quick work of dropping the bullets on. Twist rate of 7-8 is best for just about everything. If you are using a bolt gun, buy a bushing die because trimming sucks.

[BigAlofPa.]

I load .223 for a bolt rifle. I don't use a headspace gauge. I get quarter size groups at 100 yards with it. Probably would be better if i was steadier lol Dies yes and bullets that match your rifling.

[mdi]

I'd say for everyday shooting, a F/L die set, and dial calipers. I have found cartridge gauges to be troublesome and just use the chamber of the gun, pistol or rifle, for checking finished rounds. My .223 reloading is for a very accurate single shot and I match loads to the gun (bullet diameter if shooting cast, weight/length for jacketed). I normally just use bullet manufacturer's data for charges and OAL, but did play with OAL fitting the lead, chamber length at one time...

[TjB101]

Something to remove the primer crimp on some factory / military cases.

I bought a primer pocket gauge. I use it for every case I process. Tells you when you need to remove a crimp or when a pocket is too loose. Brownells has them.

Case cutter / trimmer to create uniform length cases. I try to keep all cases a uniform length (1.750) - helps me with proper crimping ... I toss most cases that less than 1.745.

[toallmy]

Dies & shell holder but that's the easy part , then your going to need powder & primers that's where it gets tricky .

[Mk42gunner]

I've reloaded a lot of .223 with a set of $10.95 Lee RGB dies. Yes it has been a few decades since I bought them.

Robert

[Dapaki]

I've reloaded a lot of .223 with a set of $10.95 Lee RGB dies. Yes it has been a few decades since I bought them.

Robert

Same here, used others as well but the target saw no difference.

To the OP: What are looking to do? FMJ plinking? Critters at 200-300 yards or casting and loading? What platform are you looking at? Singe shot, Bolt action, Semi-auto, perhaps an AR?

[Winger Ed.]

I'd be sure to get a case trimmer.

[mozeppa]

have a trimmer. plenty powder , primers... tools of all kinds.

what shell holder?
what set of dies (give numbers please , styles and types. i like hornady but it seems to find a set they want you to guess what you want and they offer a multitude of different single dies that do this or that ...i'm looking for the whole magilla....you know .....one "set" that starts with an empty un primed case and finishes with one you can send down range.

when i bought pistol dies ...i just ordered a 3 die set from dillon, lee or hornady ....bam ! there it is . would like to do same with .223


and by the way these will be fired in one of those evil AR guns that should be banned from the solar system...you know where "AR" stands for ASSAULT RIFLE :roll:and needs to be watched 24/7 because if you don't it will jump up and start indiscriminately start killing people in all directions.

[Dapaki]

Personally, to get you started, I would go with the LEE 90502 set, it has the shell holder included and it's in stock on Amazon for $39.00 for the pacesetter set. It has the full length sizer, dead stop seater and factory crimp die, all are great for the AR platform.

If you have brass, primers and powder, all you need are bullets. Midway has 55gr FMJ in stock (6:00 AM this morning) for $0.10 each ($50.00 for 500).

If you are tempted to cast boolits, I suggest you look for the LEE 90459, 6 cav mold, 55gr GC base. I PC, size, PC size and load with no GC, the PC and lead flow to fill the GC groove. Accurate? No so much but will run in an AR with a carbine gas system but am still working through the full rifle length gas tube with these.

Also, what twist are you looking at? I run 55gr through my Mini-14 with a 1:12 twist and 70+ gr through my AR with a 1:9 twist with very good results.

[mozeppa]

i'll have to investigate the twist ...(my neighbors A-R)

[slim1836]

i'll have to investigate the twist ...(my neighbors A-R)

If you're planning to reload ammo for your neighbor I would think twice, too much liability. Good way to lose a friend if something happens.

Teach him to reload and let him use your equipment until he gets his own. Let him see how the process works to develop a load.

Factory .223 ammo is cheap compared to many other calibers.

Just my 2 cents. YMMV

Slim

[mozeppa]

teach....thats the plan.

[John Boy]

What the folks have already said, but you need loading data ... http://stevespages.com/224_8.html

[DocSavage]

Dies,shell holder,case trimer with appropriate pilot,vernier dial or digital,case guage,bullets,powder,primers. Depending on the dies you can buy get a carbide expander ball for them and some type of case lube I've used several types Dillon spray lube is pretty much goof proof. You can make your own case lube using liquid lanolin and isopropyl alcohol preferably 10 parts alchohol to 1 part lanolin

[Green Frog]

This has been thrashed around in the “Casting and Reloading Hand Tools” section. I wonder what kind of audience you would reach in the broader topic Of “Reloading Equipment“ that has a larger number of readers(?) I am assuming you have already eliminated using a 310 Tool or Lee Loader set for what you hope to do,right?

Green Frog

[3006guns]

I ran into an unusual problem when reloading for my AR..........most of the ammo wouldn't chamber! Evidently the chamber on my barrel is cut to the minimum size, and it's tight. I finally ended up buying a small base sizing die, a chamber gauge and rebuilding all of my loads.

After the sizing operation, each case was placed in the chamber gauge. Almost all went in easily or required a gentle nudge and at that point I primed and loaded. There were still a few that flat wouldn't go in, and I suspect these were fired in an automatic weapon of some sort. Those cases were junked.

[GregLaROCHE]

“If you are using a bolt gun, buy a bushing die because trimming sucks.”

Can someone elaborate on this statement. I don’t understand how a bushing die keeps you from having to trim.

[rockrat]

Regular die will size the neck down much more than is really needed, then the expander opens the neck up back to size, usually .002" or so, under bullet diameter. A bushing die will will size the neck only that amount needed to hold the bullet. I have a 6mm die that sizes the neck down to .261" in diameter and when run over the expander, it is now .266". I made a bushing to fit in a Lee powder die that only sizes the neck to .2665" or so. Loaded rounds are right around .269".

So, you are overworking your brass and when you pull the case over the expander, it will lengthen the case a bit. You will have to trim with a bushing die, but at a much reduced rate.

I shoot either a 55 vmax or 62 bthp out of my .223/5.56. I use #41 primers and Accurate 2230 powder(same as Ramshot x-terminator). Hope you have primers for the rifle as they are tough to find nowadays, as are bullets

[Anygun]

Our family has (2) Service rifle competitors, we load 6-8k .223 each year not including hunting. We have found that Winchester brass is good for the price. 7.5 rem primers work (every time). 73gr bergers for short range (2-300) and 80.5 bergers for long range (600). For varminting, 55gr is a good middle ground not the fastest but extends the range a 100 or so yards over the 40gr. We use the cheapo hornady 55gr s.p. Varget powder or CFE223, if you cant find those imr4895 in a pinch. RCBS competition seater makes quick work of dropping the bullets on. Twist rate of 7-8 is best for just about everything. If you are using a bolt gun, buy a bushing die because trimming sucks.

All great information here and as far as dies go I bought the Lee ultimate 4 piece set #90964 in stock at Amazon $47.99 and includes the updated spline rings(gone are the hard to tighten down hex rings) with integrated orings. The set includes everything including the shell seat, powder Dipper measure and Common load data. As other members here mentioned see Steve’s pages for great load data and enjoy working up loads.

[Murphy]

what do i need ?

dies, head space gauge .....what else?

If you happen to load for 380 Auto in your handgun needs, you already have a shell holder for the 223.
RCBS Brand it's the #10
LEE Brand it's the #4
Hornady Brand it's the #16
Redding Brand is also #10

Murphy

[David2011]

what do i need ?

dies, head space gauge .....what else?

Patience. Lots of it. I load for a variety of rifle and handgun cartridges including .22 Hornet and find .223 to be the most tedious. Granted, I load a LOT more .223 than Hornet. Between the tiny bullets, small case head, small neck, primer pocket crimps and trimming it’s a PITA. I’m well equipped to do it and still find it a pain. A friend well experienced in reloading was loading his .223 on my equipment including a Dillon 650 and after a few hundred rounds he said he didn’t want to ever load .223 again. He was accustomed to loading shotgun, some handgun, .308 and .300 Win Mag.

It’s not terrible; just requires handling lots of small things. Boat tailed bullets help with seating.

[LinotypeIngot]

If you want to save yourself a lot of effort, I would highly recommend the Dillon 1500 size/trim setup. It's not cheap, but hand trimming each piece of brass is one of the most tiresome chores in reloading if you want to load in any sort of quantity.

[Three44s]

Yes I agree with tedious in reference to 5.56 brass and getting around ex-primer crimps!

So I break up my sessions getting my military brass QC’ed, but you only do it once!

Three44s

[Cosmic_Charlie]

A case gauge is nice to have for rifle reloading. Use it to check your sizing die set up. Also a case trimmer. I have a Little Crow trimmer for .308 and it is slick.

[robg]

set your dies to full length size and trim cases .tac is great powder to use,if 1 in 14 twist light bullets only 1 in 9 ok up too 69gr bullets .