Have a question I hope someone can answer.
I've been going through my reloading things here in MI and as I was going through organizing my 310 tongs/dies in a better manner, I remembered that a few years back, I bought a set of steel tongs for the 222 Remington along with a number of 310 dies for the 222 Rem - I know I have a complete set plus a couple of expander dies with different OD stems, etc. I don't have a 222 Remington but I picked it up for something like $30 and stuck it away on a shelf out at our AZ house above my reloading bench - at the time I thought I might run across a 222 Rem Rifle sometime.
I ended up getting a Ruger bolt action All American Ranch in .223.
So my question is - the 222 Rem case length is 1.700 + or _ and the 223 Rem is 1.750 + or _ - a difference in length of .050". Currently, I FL size and load in a set of Lee dies - I am limited to a cartridge length of 2.250 due to the magazine for the Rugere - so I use the Lee 226-55 grain flat nose.
With me being in MI at this time and the 310 set of 222 Rem being in AZ, I can't check. Can you . . . or does anyone . . . load 223 Remington with a set of 222 Remington 310 dies? Can the dies 222 Rem dies be adjusted enough in the tongs to accommodate the additional .050 length of the 223 Rem casing?
I'm not shooting heavy 223 loads - I don't hunt and the rifle is strictly a "fun gun" for paper and killing cans and gongs. I normally FL size to start and then just neck size from then on. I have gobs of "range brass" so if the 223 can't be loaded with the 222 Rem 310 set I have, maybe it's time to start thinking about resizing some 223 brass and finding a rifle in 222 so I can have the ecuswe to use the 222 Rem 310 set?
Appreciate any input on it - I thought I remembered that I read something one time that the 222 Rem 310 set can be used to load 223 Rem, but I can't seem to locate the article or post where I read it.
I don't have my chart handy to check if they made a 223 Remington dies set - and if they did, is it the same as the 222 only with a different stamp for marketing - or the die chambers a different length?
Thanks!
Jim