Can anyone recommend a press for some one that wants to start reloading 223 Remington ammo but has no experience doing so.
Reloading
Can anyone recommend a press for some one that wants to start reloading 223 Remington ammo but has no experience doing so.
You know people panic buy reloading components too right? You’re fucked you should have started before shit hit the fan. To answer your question, piterally any press will do.
>Le panic buying
LMAO get a fucking job. Literally just get a job. Ammunition isn't expensive.
Reloading has nothing to do with panic buying it's just another aspect of the shooting hobby.
I’m not talking about price I’m talking about availability. I guess it’s just a coincidence he wants to load .223 right now when people are freaking out. Yep, not at all related.
Getting started?
Probably avoid a progressive press.
You need to focus on the mechanics and flow of reloading.
You'll want:
- a decent reloading manual
- a clear place to work
- a distraction-free workplace
- a notebook (seriously, take copious notes)
- single stage press
- if using once-fired brass, you'll want a separate decapping / depriming die with lots of extra decapping pins
- I find a hand priming tool a nice way to focus in priming away from the reloading bench
You mentioned 223 Rem / 5.56
- you'll want digital calipers to measure overall length (OAL)
- you'll want a digital scale to measure powder throw
There are a TON of extra bits and bobs you can add to a reloading setup. Some are useful, some are a solution in search of a problem (i.e., crap).
Reloading is fun. Enjoy!
>SPBP
Thanks fren. I was actually about to ask the same thing as OP in the QTDDTOT thread.
Are RCBS and Hornady comparable as far as quality goes?
> RCBS vs Hornady?
Same.
They make good stuff.
Dies have the thread pitch, whether made by RCBS or Hornaday or Lee or Dillon or whoever.
And remember to have fun!
RCBS, Hornaday, Redding dies, all good choices. I use a Lyman scale and Lyman Trimmer. All Good
Can different makes of dies be used in different presses? Or are they proprietary? As in lee dies in an rcbs press or vice versa?
>Can different makes of dies be used in different presses?
Yes. The vast majority of reloading dies are all the same thread size. Brand name doesn't matter. The only gotchas with respect to what-dies-fit-what-press are that the dies for some very large cartridges, for example. .50 BMG or .577 Nitro Express, use larger diameter threads than standard, and not all presses can accommodate those.
Basically the same. Hornady dies are slightly longer which can come in handy when doing unintended cartridges with them and some presses need longer dies.
The best advise I can give is to find someone, who will teach you the ropes. It's not hard but there are some simple but important things you need to know, things you need to get right all the time and some things that happen. sometimes and they could be hard to diagnose by yourself. I reload .223 and it's not my fav to reload but my ammo quality is better than what I can buy and it is within spec for any .223 but specifically optimized for my rifle. What state are you in?
>This
Also take it slow and figure things out. Be careful and dont force things. It takes a little time but is super easy once you fully understand it and get the hang of it.
Please, for your sanity and time, load something other than .223
You're better off using reloading for the cartridges that are prohibitively expensive.
>load something other than .223
That's actually a hell of a suggestion.
Fucking around with resizing brass and shoulders is extra complexity.
> shrink the surface area you need to learn
> simplify your learning
> start with a simpler caliber like 9mm or 45ACP
I wasn't being nearly so philosophical.
If OP has any guns in a magnum pistol cartridge, or a big straightwall rifle, then those would be ones to load.
.350 legend is a straightwall AR-15 cartridge using .357/.38 bullets
it's probably the perfect rifle cartridge for reloading
>it's probably the perfect rifle cartridge for reloading
except it headspaces off the case mouth, which means you need to be careful with crimps and case length.
don't get me wrong, I love and shill for 350L, but I would not recommend starting there with reloading.
the virtue of it being fired by the AR-15 would be pretty good motivation (also very important) for the OP to get into it
Wat.
.223 and .308 are some of the most forgiving shouldered cartridges to reload.
>shouldered
Keep in mind how much weight that qualifier is carrying.
The one you have pictured.
How stupid are you?
Buy a press which has a complexity that mirrors your own intellect tbh
This is why the lee whack a mole and hand press are so loved here.
>lee
No. Just no.
Maybe if you get their single stage press.
But the Lee scale is shit. (not accurate enough)
Lee powder dippers are dangerous.
Lee scale is accurate enough for plinking. Same with the powder dippers. Don't use them to make pissing hot loads you fucking imbecile.
>Lee scale is accurate enough
Disagree.
When I "worked up" loads for 9mm, I played with OAL and with charge weights.
> Loaded 15 rounds of slightly increasing charge weights.
> Also varied the OAL too
> a digital scale let me dial in the weight
> found that I couldn't reliably "dip" 14.1 grains of Explodium using dippers
Maybe it's a skill issue on my part but I found the digital scale to be easier and more reliable.
After range testing, the right OAL / charge weight combo would be readily self apparent.
Then, I'd set my Dillon 550 to throw that weight. 🙂
No, I know what you meant. They're not accurate but they're good enough. If you get the right dipper, you can get a weight that won't give you an explosion or a squib. Your velocities will be all over the place. They are not meant to reliably get the same number.
I use a dipper + auto trickler with a medical scale and then hand trickle the rest in for match. For small pistol calibers I normally just trickle
I think he was taking a jab at the Lee shills calling them low IQ mogs.
I'm currently considering starting with 45-70 reloading. With main focus on BP possibly nitro loads.
And Lee O press is still in my consideration. So I'm not sure.
if my hand press works fine for it, any table press will work.
The only good thing lee makes is a depriming die. That green RCBS is good for most work and if you go bonkers for a progressive, you'll still have a simple press when you want to do a run on the side. get a proper powder measure. and trays. I like to run 50-200 pcs at a time. label 30 pcs and store them together in a bag.
Is dawn dish soap scum going to cause misfires?
Nope, usually I get most of it when I rinse it off before drying in the oven. My cleaning routine is just to toss them in the ultrasonic with water, dawn, and some lemon juice.
Not shiny, but it does clean.
tumble it off. You don't want it in your dies or gun.
I decided to do that earlier. I don't like dirty things.
Trimmed up 300 cases of 223 using the hand crank. Got a blister. Waiting for free shipping before I buy off Midway.
It is actually. I could buy, but I want to learn how to reload.
Forgot to add:
> get a bullet puller (pic rel)
You ARE going to fuck up.
You ARE going to lose track.
> "shit, did I charge that case (with powder)?"
A squib (primer only, no bullet) is no fun.
Worse is a double charge (if the case permits it).
Best bet, pull the bullet and redo.
>tfw tore apart 150 .38 special to find the one that contained 11 grains of N310
Put it back in and fire it you pussy.
No I like my Model 14
>Vihtavuori powder
>Dillon
>Afraid of double charge
What a fag
Why didn't you just weigh them to find the heaviest one?
Pistol charges are in the single digit grain range. That's not much.
> nosler
> 124 grain bullet
> 9mm
> True Blue powder
> recommended charge is somewhere between 4.8 and 5.3 with 5.8 max
> bullets often differ by half a grain, maybe more
> you'll have a hard time telling over charge from under charge from no charge
ref: https://www.nosler.com/media/load_data_assets/pdfs/9mm-124gr-version-9-0.pdf
I reload slow as fuck because I'm deathly afraid of a mistake like this (for a good reason)
Luckily I only load very small batches for my bolty boys
Get a press mounted puller. Inertia pullers are shit and nobody has used them since the 90's.
>Get a press mounted puller
Disagree.
When I fuck up one or 5 rounds, last thing I want to do is dick around with the die press. Putting the round in the kinetic bullet puller is easier and faster.
sadly cannot pull wadcutters with a press. so i have the hammer ready.
>nobody has used them since the 90's
lmao you're retarded
I would say that reloading .223 is not worth the effort unless you have a very specific load in mind. Reloading standard 55 grain FMJ will not save you any money. Also, if you are reloading 5.56 military cases, you need to remove the primer crimp which makes processing 5.56 brass take extra time which really sucks if you are reloading a lot of cases. As others have said, reloading is worth it if you are doing an obscure cartridge, one that tends to be expensive (.45-70, etc.), or you have a very specific need for a common caliber. Primers are three times more expensive than they used to be, and this makes loading common calibers a waste of time (generally speaking).
The benefit of reloading 9mm and 5.56 is that you end up paying the cost of cheap FMJ for autistically consistent target loads that your exact rifle likes. It's like how growing your own vegetables looks like it doesn't save you any money vs buying them at the store, until you consider that the vegetables from your back yard are competing with the organic fair trade pesticide-free etc. stuff that costs 3× as much
Can the powder from shotgun shells be used to load pistol cartridges? I got a bunch of rusted 20ga shells from a guy but I don't have a shotgun myself and they look too shabby to be shot anyway.
If you know what the powder is sure. If you don't then don't even try it
wow
800 cases cleaned, sized, and trimmed. I've got maybe 500 of my 75gr bullets left. Guess I need to buy more.
>800 cases trimmed with a crank trimmer
I pray for your wrists.
My thumb has a blister. Wrist is used to the action.
Fortunately, my cranking wrist is well-built up for heavy duty use from a lifetime of intense training. Just gettin' warmed up with 800.
Hijacking to ask. Would a Hornady Sub-X just vaporize into nothing on impact if put over a full power .30-06 charge? They say they're meant for subsonic down to 900 fps
I might even break up in flight.
What is the minimum required for a gas check for pistol bullets? Will using those aluminum candle cups work if I use a case to cut out checks from it?
Pistol bullets really don't need gas checks.
Honestly just buy gas checks, they are like 3 cents. Once you get all the materials it's not really worth it.