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Hi, Fairly new to reloading & have a need to load quite a few 223 rounds. Have Winchester, G.F.L, F.C, PPU, ADI, R.P & COO. The G.F.L cases seem to take the primers easily but some others don't, particularly the COO ones. Should I keep some & ditch some or chamfer the primer pocket of the difficult ones? Any advice appreciated.
Id keep it if you dont really need to get rid of it. I've always found federal brass gets loose primer pockets without to many reloads and I dont load hot either
The main issue is batching them. Don't reload mixed brands and expect great results. The internal volume differences will produce varying pressures and you're at risk of dangerous pressures in cases with lower internal volume.
Use a Lee decapper. Uniform the pockets with a Sinclair. You might need to swage some pockets if there has been a crimp. Makes a difference when priming. Anneal. Then size. Suggest a vast percentage of most brass has only been once fired. Reloading is not a task many hunters aspire to or want to. In process of doing over 2k of Federal brass. Annealing and SSM cleaning would probably fool most hunters.
you may well find some of the primers were crimped in place...a quick whirl around the lip of primer pocket once old primer removed will add a champher where the crimp was,dont over do it 1mm at very most...just enough to remove the crimp ding and ensure smooth entry of new primer....IF you are using mild/middle of road loads and not stretching barrel...mixed brass wont bite you on the bum....it cant. none of the loads will be over or under loaded,forsure it might be only 1" group capable not 1/2" but for 99% of my sub 250yard hunting..who cares,the animals sure dont notice.
unless your load is mild /middle of road so will be fine in smallest capacity case and slightly milder in largest.Quote:
Originally Posted by 6x47
my loads for 223 have been in milspec brass for last 25 years so switching to other brass just makes them tiny bit milder..cannot notice difference and can pick random loads from all that I have and rifle still pokes them into under an inch..always has done so cannot see any issue MYSELF.
Greetings @Cookie8008,
There are some substantial differences in case capacity in .223 brass. From my weighing Federal is some of the lightest. Some of the continental brass is very heavy so I suggest that you batch by head stamp and then according to average weight. Mostly the heavier cases will have less capacity and produce more velocity and pressure. I also have a decent supply of ex range .223 brass and am using some in 300 yard F Class shooting with good (for me) results. Mixing brass may result in vertical stringing at longer range.
There are some test loads in the blocks waiting for chronographing to determine how much difference in velocity case capacity makes which I will get to but Ken Waters found a difference of 190 fps between Winchester and Federal .222 cases. His measurements showed a difference in capacity of 1 grain of powder between the two. This is in line with my weighing of .223 brass with Winchester about 9 grains heavier than Federal (works out to about 1 grain of powder capacity). Sako, Lapua and S&B are around 9 grains heavier than Winchester.
Regards Grandpamac.
so 1 grn of powder = ABOUT a 4% difference...if you using a 25grn load for ease of calculation.....
also for ease of calculation 3000fps velocity x 4% =120fps
which under 250ish yards wont matter a hoot lol.
and if we keep with the 4% figure for arguements sake..as long as we arent hot rodding our loads up past a 95% till too hot in smallest case.... all is good in the hood.
Greetings, @Micky Duck,Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
I grain of powder was the difference between Federal and Winchester with an additional grain for the Continental brass. Will do some chronographing over the next week or two and report.
Regards Grandpamac.
I mix my brass with the same load, but it sounds like thats a bit naughty. I actually find .223 brass very forgiving. My primer pocket cleaning tool seems to get rid of the crimp from ADI brass but I mostly avoid it. I like the GFL brass.
When Im sighting in I try to use all of the same brand of brass, but when hunting its just big handfuls of mixed brass loads into my pocket and Im away.
If your wanting benchrest accuracy you'd want the same brass batch weighed. Hunting it would be more than the brass at fault if you weren't managing to hit stuff within 200-250m with mixed..
Hi Blip, Happy to keep it but I have wrecked a few primers on the COO brass. Just loaded all the G.F.L brass which accepted the primer beautifully. Thanks.
Thanks 6x47. I'm loading (& keeping separate) the different makes of brass but was thinking that was just to check the difference in accuracy. I'm running 25 gr of ADI 2205H with 55 Gr Hornady SXXP projectiles which gave awesome results at 100m.Attachment 238163
Top 3 in group before adjusting scope with gave me the answer I was looking for.
If it's crimped then you'll need to remove the crimp unless you want to munt primers.
If it's not crimped then you shouldn't need to touch the primer pocket. If some are easier than others to seat primers into then that's because they've loosened up from firing (i.e. they probably have less life left in them than the ones that are still tight).
Hi TeRei, Thanks. I'm not sure what a Sinclair is. I use a primer pocket tool to uniform the bottom of the primer pocket so will this reem the sizes? I do chamfer the edges if I see any crimps but have never annealled any brass. Do you need to do this if its only once fired? Was surprised the other day to to try factory ammo vs. handloads. Outside 2 were factory loads at 100m, then went to the recipe noted above which came up with the goods!Attachment 238169
Crickey, 2000 will keep you busy!
Thanks Micky Duck. Great, I'm only looking for minute of fallow deer & so far this load seems to shoot better than the factory ammo, I used in this rifle. Cheers.
Im guessing that SHOULD read 2206h....24.5grns was my mild as heck go to load for 20 plus years in 223 50-55grn projectiles. only need to champher the pockets that were crimped...and usually hornady...cause I reckon they crimp too lol.
also sxxp SHOULD possibly read spsx??? spire point super explosive....VERY messy projectile..messy = good I used the 50 grn version years ago on wallabies..bit messy for dog tucker if hit in hips .
Hi Grandpamac, Thanks for that. What is vertical stringing? Not looking to shoot long range at this stage. Usually if the deer are a long way away, I walk closer. The shooting range close to me is 100m so would have to find a friendly farmer I guess to try it out at longer range.Quote:
Originally Posted by grandpamac
Great, thanks for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
vertical stringing...... higher velocity will hit higher than slower velocity at longer range....so you get a group or string varying in height....
Got about 6 kg's of mixed 223 brass here, about 9 or 10 differant brands. Went through and sorted some by headstamp then batch weighed within h/s groups. Only went to this trouble for accuracy testing, comp. ammo. and long range Rabbit/Magpie sniping ammo. General hunting ammo I just prep,load,shoot mixed cases no problem. Has to be said I don't hotrod my loads to wring out every last fps like some do, just not neccessary. Also just used to buy Belmont by the 1000 round case so didn't need to do much reloading as I used to but that may change if they can't get their shit together soon, still waiting for an order they said they'd supply back in July I think.
Thanks. I generally bush hunt so sounds like if I keep to the same brass, it will be my fault if I miss. Bloody satisfying at the end of the day! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by blip
Attachment 238183
And not just their loaded ammo. Used to be my go to source for brass, 22 ammo and so on.Quote:
Originally Posted by woods223
Hi Pommy, Thanks, yeah not that keen on munting primers. I've chamfered the ones with three crimp marks but are some fully circular crimped. I'll pass on the COO ones for now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pommy
yes some circular crimped....pain as dont realise it till youve munted a primer trying to seat it....
1. Remove crimp. Use stanley knife or any very sharp blade. Abt 2 seconds per case.
2. Anneal.
3. Trimm
4. Clean if you wish
5. Toss out obviously faulty brass.
6. FLS
7 Sort by brand
7. Load
8. Shoot
I do it a bit different. Assuming brass is range pickups (or aka road kills), I deprime first using a Harvey deprimer, then into the SS tumbler to get rid of any grot that could end up in my dies. Once clean you can choose a couple of paths.
For a newby reloader I wouldn't stress about annealing, it's a function that can come later in your reloading career. Unless it's done properly I rate it as a waste of time although stopping necks splitting has merit. Likewise meticulously uniforming primer pockets, although I use Lapua brass which generally doesn't need uniforming.
I would definitely sort into brands, but I load to get the very best result possible and this is one step that helps achieve optimum results.
My own experience is FC is shite, irregular weights, flash holes punched off centre.
You're right Micky Duck. ADI AR2206H with Hornady 55gr Varmint SP SX #2260 projectiles.
Perfect Micky Duck. Thanks, that's what was catching me out!
Thanks Oldbloke.
Thanks Zimmer. What do you use on the primer pockets?Quote:
Originally Posted by zimmer
me I just give a quick whirl with the case deburring tool.
I used to go full on, uniforming the pp depths. With good brass eg Peterson, Lapua it is not necessary. I still debur the flash hole from inside. Most cheaper brass has the flash hole punched which can leave jagged edges. Deburring them is a once only step. There are tools to do this, I have even used a drill bit lightly turned by hand. It doesn't need much. Shine a wee torch inside and see if it is an issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cookie8008
As far as uniforming depths for hunting ammo I would not bother. Unless your salvaged brass is really bad.
There is a lot in priming but for hunting ammo going to extreme target grade steps is not necessary, or something you can progress to as you get more experienced or inclined.
If I do need to uniform depths I have an adjustable tool made by 21st Century. You need to be careful and not cut excessively, just uniform. I had a bad experience with a Sinclair tool. I bought 2 at once. One cut to a reasonable depth whilst the other cut far deeper than the first. Sinclair refunded me on that one. I just use the reamining one to clean pockets, not to cut them.
Your group looks good and as MD pointed out a good load and projectile.
I have never tried 2206H. Have a part tin of it's ancestor, 2206, still left, but have always used BM2. Nothing wrong with 2206H though.
I've got a bit of american eagle fmj ammo. It has the primers crimped in. I just deprime and I've got one of those lyman tools that's a cylinder that screws apart and there's different bits inside it that screw into the handles. I just use the primer uniforming cutter and that does a good job. Ive tried my lee case neck deburer it kind of works but lyman tool works better. As above I wouldn't worry too much about the annealing, 223 doesn't seem to be prone to splitting necks and if you use a collet die your working the brass even less..
Why would anybody be keen to size work hardened brass. Each to their own.Quote:
Originally Posted by zimmer
in 30 years of reloading I can 100% hand on heart say I have never annealed brass and have discarded for split necks less than 20 cases over that time....
your milage may vary,but its just not a needed to do thing for me.
been reloading about the same time and only recently bought an annealing machine as I was getting split necks on a new caliber, prior to that Id heard a lot about it but never needed to. Some of my x55 brass would be past 8 reloads...
Been reloading rifle cartridges for about 43 years. Like others have never annealed a case. Have had the odd split neck over the years but have experienced this with brand new factory ammo a few times so go figure. Had a few case head separations because of the 'lets reload this case one more time' scenario. A bit like using a bit of candle wax to hold shotgun case crimps shut because they've been loaded a few times. I'm not a benchrest shooter so can't see myself starting to anneal cases any time soon. Each to their own.
True but I went through a large (free) batch of it in my RemVS varmint rifle over the years. 27.5grs of W748 behind a 53gr HP Hornady. Shot like a demon, any time it was over 1/2", it was probably my fault. Never even annealed it and still got well over ten, possibly even over 15 reloads out of them before they started splittingQuote:
Originally Posted by zimmer
When Im resizing mixed .223 brass I can always tell when I strike a Federal. It's harder. More resistance. Still use it though.
