# Reloading .223



## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

Don't do it, you will blow yourself up. :|


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## BERG (Dec 4, 2007)

Semi-auto and 223...Just buy loaded ammo by the case, unless you need some special shizzle for target shooting and/or exploding yotes on impact. I go through ammo so fast with my semi-auto that the time spent reloading would be time better spent fishing. Just my worthless $.02.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

I had to go slightly under specs, right at specs some would be a little tight and jam in my carbon 15, I tightend the resisze slightly and they fed well, I bought a case of 1000 that was supposed to be new, (not reloads) but were not and they kept jamming in my bushmaster, I bought better ammo and the fed very well, no jams. I will have to shoot the 1000 rounds through my bolt action and then reload them. I didn't have my bushmaster on the the first reloads so I don't know if they would have fed or not.


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

I load for .223 bolt guns :mrgreen: . Not the dreaded ASSAULT WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRUCTION. :roll: 














:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| o-|| *OOO* *OOO* *OOO* *OOO* *OOO* *OOO* *OOO*


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## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

Like bowgy said, a little on the small side of the specs is best. A full length resize die is needed. Make sure you get it fully resized. I had a few (350) that didnt seat fully and I had to pull alot of bullet.  After correcting my resizing problem and trimming to the bottom end of the tolerance i have fired 1000 reloads through my rock river with barely an issue, and any problems I did have could have been stuff besides the the cartridge. 

My loads were 55 grain FMJ's and 55 grain soft points with 23.5 grains of H435 pushing them. This has served me well as semi auto round.


Shame on you AL. :?


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## Al Hansen (Sep 7, 2007)

I know, I couldn't resist. I'm bad.  I love black guns. :mrgreen:


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## reb8600 (Sep 8, 2007)

I load for several AR's and dont do anything special. I am loading to manual dimensions with no problems after thousands of rounds. In fact that is what I shot the shooting contest here and sportsmans with. Won them both.


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## buggsz24 (Mar 18, 2008)

A lot of the .223 semi autos use a chamber that will allow either a .223 or a 5.56, these wylde chambers are a lot less sensitive to OAL.


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

I use small base dies, but I'm not sure they are necessary. I don't load over max, so pressure isn't an issue. They say that extruded powders burn cleaner than ball, not sure that is an issue in a semi auto. A bit of a crimp may be needed for the trip into the chamber from the magazine.


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## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

Loke said:


> A bit of a crimp may be needed for the trip into the chamber from the magazine.


I use a factory crimp die on all my autos for just that reason.


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## reb8600 (Sep 8, 2007)

truemule said:


> Loke said:
> 
> 
> > A bit of a crimp may be needed for the trip into the chamber from the magazine.
> ...


I have never crimped a rifle load. Not even in my AR. If the bullet dont have a cannelure you will just deform the bullet if you do.



buggsz24 said:


> A lot of the .223 semi autos use a chamber that will allow either a .223 or a 5.56, these wylde chambers are a lot less sensitive to OAL.


A 5.56 chamber will allow a 223 with no problem. The Wylde chamber is a little tighter for better accuracy but will still accept both rounds. Most AR chambers are 5.56 with some made having a 223 or Wylde chamber. On an AR the chamber is not going to be the issue that determines your OAL, it is the magazine. The chamber will accept a longer OAL but the mag keeps you at manual specs. The heavy 80 gr. bullets will have to be loaded one at a time because of this.


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## truemule (Sep 12, 2007)

reb8600 said:


> truemule said:
> 
> 
> > Loke said:
> ...


I have never crimped a rifle load. Not even in my AR. If the bullet dont have a cannelure you will just deform the bullet if you do.

Reb, you area man of great trust. I have seen a few reloads that the bullet has been pushed into the casing while feeding. Not alot but enough to make take some precations. I only crimp my auto feed rounds. These are the AR the bullets I use have the cannelure. Everything else is bolt action so a very SLIGHT roll crimp just to keep them from moving around in transit is good for me. As far as deformation of the bullet. I have read quite a bit and heard many varying opinions on this. My opinion is that I doubt I do enough damage to the bullet to matter. I have never tested it but thats my opinion. I am not shooting competition or for accuracy much past 300 yards with it or I would be way more anal. The amount of deformation and metal flow as the the riflings etch the bullet is far more than I can do.

Anyway back to EHF's topic. good shooting.


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## reb8600 (Sep 8, 2007)

Have you ever fired soft point bullets in a large rifle? Try it and look at the point. They tend to flatten out from the recoil which means they could also be pushed in yet no one ever worries about them. Same situation as an auto loader. A lot of boards I belong have had the discussion about crimping. Most people dont do it, and have no problems. I have fired several thousand rounds no problem. 
I also hear the story all the time that you shouldnt touch your primers with your bare hand either. 35 years of reloading and I have never had a shell fail to fire.

I guess it all comes down to personal preference and how worried you are that something is going to happen.


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

When I load for semi-autos I always full-length resize following the die maker's instructions for adjusting the die. Small base dies are not needed, nor recommended in most cases, and they would just work the brass more.

You have to pay attention to overall length because it has to fit in the magazine. Use a factory round to set OAL or seat to cannelure if one is available. Otherwise it will be trial-and-error.

Some ARs (especially short barrel ones) need ammo loaded up toward max for proper functioning. Use of a chronograph to find factory load fps and then chrono your work-ups really is a terrific aid. Without that you would be surprised how much in the dark you really are.

As to the ever-controversial topic of crimping - if you are loading for an AK-type gas system with its heavy gas piston/bolt carrier, you will need to crimp. You can get away with not crimping with an AR IF your expander ball allows the cartridge neck to have proper tension. If you are conservative, then crimp using a Lee Factory Crimp die. This is the universally recommended best crimp die for this application.

I have one FL die that has an oversize expander ball, so you can easily push the bullet into the case with little effort with your fingers. This is unacceptable. Even a crimp doesn't help here. So check your neck tension BEFORE crimping with your first loads. If there is a serious lack of neck tension, you may either take some material off the expander ball, or send it back to the factory with an explanatory note.

Personally, I use a light (Lee FCD) crimp on my AR loads. I started loading for AK-type .223s and just kept the habit. Accuracy has not been affected. I have seen bullet set-back at times (bad tension or no crimp,) so I don't want that either, but a lot of people do fine without any crimp.

Contrary to what some reloading books say, U.S. military .223/5.56 LC or WCC brass runs the same weight/capacity as Winchester or Remington brass so top loads would be the same.

FC head-stamped brass is the worst, with less case capacity (due to thicker case walls) coupled with thinner case webs. Late '90s FC (_Federal/American Eagle_) seems to have been the worst offender, but avoiding all FC would be advisable. When a hot load is worked up in other brass, and then that same load is used in FC marked brass, over-pressure is more common because of this lower volume. The case will usually give at the thin web area.









Other foreign brands and military headstamps may, or may not, have their own plusses or minuses. You might want to check with some place like the AR15 reloading forum for specific cases http://www.ar15.com/forums/forum.html?b=6&f=42

I prefer good metering ball powders like H-335 or TAC in .223, just to name a couple. H-335 is always very accurate with 55-gr and lighter bullets. TAC works well in 55+ weights. Varget is a stick powder that has a terrific accuracy rep, as well as RL-15 and any of the 4895s. The .223 is not very fussy, so a lot of powders deliver great accuracy. 
My personal favorite couples a (_cheap - available in bulk_) 55-gr Hornady SP or FMJ-BT (w/cannelure) with a (MAX load) of 26.0 grains of H-335 and a Remington 7 1/2 BR primer in LC cases. As always work up - and I wouldn't exceed.
There are so many different .223 bullet choices in so many different weights for a multitude of applications that I really can't even touch upon that subject.

Remington 7 1/2 BR, Federal 205 & 205M, CCI 400, 450, and mil-spec #41, and the new Wolf primers are all good .223 primers. 
Winchester WLR primers used to be in this category, but changes for the worse have dropped them behind the listed primers. Do not use Remington 6 1/2 primers.


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