Brass without Military Crimp
I am just working through my first reloads for .223 remington. I discovered that the federal bulk.223 at Wally World has a military crimp - what a nuisance. I spent the week finding out that was the problem why my primers would not go in. Then I found that a box of Remington UMC .223 55 grain MC I had did NOT have the military crimp. For a difference of $4/hundred rounds - Remington is what I will buy for re-useable cases. I also noticed that after the RCBS Small Base fill length re-sizer - almost all of the Remington was at 1.760 or over, and only three out of a hundred federal cases were. Softer brass or more brass in the Remington cases? Comments?
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Remington cases are ok, they are not the best. You will have to trim after the first time, 90% of the cases. One thing to note, if your shooting these out of an AR that is chambered in 5.56 x 39 or is a true milspec firearm, you can get away with a little longer case, ie, about .005".
The federal cases, being military cases actually have more brass than the R-P cases. From my experience, RP cases seem to be on the softer side of things.
Federal and Lake City brass are very popular as they are more consistent than some other brands. There are several ways to swage or ream the primer pockets, all of which are relativity inexpensive. In fact, presses like Dillon's 650 swage the case automatically.0 -
Can I glean from your post, this I might be better off buying the Federal and taking care of the military crimp? I used the lee chamfering tool to remove the crimp on the ones I have. I keep thinking about the RCBS swaging tool - I hate to remove brass. This is my initial venture into reloading. 0 -
The RCBS swager works very good. For just a few pieces you might try a Lyman primer pocket tool. I use both. 0 -
it's a simple deal - just take you deburring tool or even a pocket knief a remove the crimp. You only have to do it once. 0 -
Bushmillman-
Main thing is Do not try and shoot 5.56 NATO out of a .223 Remington SAAMI-spec chamber in an AR15.0 -
I have the 5.56 item covered - will not do that.
Got 10 rounds loaded to test - five with 23.5 grains of W748 and 62 gr FMJ bullet and five at 24.0 gr W748. Going slow and hopefully methodical.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Bushmillman
I have the 5.56 item covered - will not do that.
Got 10 rounds loaded to test - five with 23.5 grains of W748 and 62 gr FMJ bullet and five at 24.0 gr W748. Going slow and hopefully methodical.
With such a small case, that's just what you have to do. For my Savage 223, with any given bullet I start with the start load and work up in .5 grain increments right to the max, and note which target was most accurate. Usually about 1/2-1 gr under max does best for me.
I've not used 748 in it so I can't give you any suggestions, but it should be a good combo.0 -
Some new first fired brass will stretch .010 and require trimming and may stretch to almost .010 again on the 2nd firing!
I usually trim the 223 brass to .005 to .010 under the minimum LENGTH the first time I trim AND THIS USUALLY RESULTS in not having to trim the brass again for several reloadings, unless you are using a very hot load or have excessive headspace! I keep a log of the times the brass is TRIMMED and the number of times it's been reloaded, both full sized and neck sized only and I discard the brass after it's been trimmed 3 times OR I save the brass for 223 low velocity loads. I have a low velocity reduced load for the bolt action and single shot 223's using 5744 powder (about 10-14gr) and small pistol primers at 1600-1800fps (22 rifle velocities) for plinking and small game hunting! (noise level about same as a 22 magnum rifle)
You can find reduced load recommendations using this powder in the 223 load manuals! (The use of small pistol primers (less fire to the powder) instead of the small rifle primers will usually make the accuracy very consistent!0 -
If/when using a primer pocket swager, keep in mind that each brand/type of brass may require different adjustments to the amount of swage. One size does not fit all. If I'm doing a small mixed lot of brass, I use a primer pocket reamer. I usually sort the cases down to brand or headstamp ID and run the bigger lots through a Dillon swager. Right now I have two 5 gallon buckets of LC brass plus a bunch of unsorted stuff waiting for winter when I can't work outside. 0 -
In my experience, the real reason Federal primers are crimped is becauser the primer pockets are so over sized they will hardly hold new primers when reloaded. Stay away from Federal if you are reloading. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Mobuck
If/when using a primer pocket swager, keep in mind that each brand/type of brass may require different adjustments to the amount of swage. One size does not fit all. If I'm doing a small mixed lot of brass, I use a primer pocket reamer. I usually sort the cases down to brand or headstamp ID and run the bigger lots through a Dillon swager. Right now I have two 5 gallon buckets of LC brass plus a bunch of unsorted stuff waiting for winter when I can't work outside.
I use the primer pocket reamers also in additon to the RCBS swager! The lyman reamers (large or small) can be used in the lyman case trimmer, the RCBS bench toptop case working station or chucked in a drill! I run the crimped swaged brass across the reamer and it bevels the crimp mouth so as the NEW primer is also guided into the pocket! (similar to using a knife to ream the crimp, but more precise and user friendly and the pocket cannot be oversized, etc)
The reamers come in a Lyman set #7777795@$15 (set is 2 reamers, 2 cleaners and adapters to use these in a Lyman case trimmer! or at one time the 2 reamers and 2 cleaners could be purchased for $10 as 7777797! (Write Lyman about the 7777797 availability!) The cleaners are for cleaning the spent primer residue from the bottom of the primer pocket before priming, instead of using the RCBS type brushs!
The complete set @ $15 7777795 can be viewed at this link!
http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/case-trimmers/trimmer-accessories.php0
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