Crap load of. 223 to process......hhheeeellllllpppppp!

7.62mm

7.62mm

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So, after lots of contemplation...load testing.....hair pulling....I have decided to hand load all of my .223 rounds for my AR-15....I must have 10,000 cases of mixed .223 and 5.56 brass.
I have a Dillon 550 and am thinking about a Dillon Case trimmer.....but I would still need to decrimp primmer pockets and chamfer the case mouth.

What are other people using, setups etc. I am thinking a case trimmer that indexes off the shoulder might be a handy item...etc..etc..
Let me know your thoughts......suggestions....comments....that can reduce my processing times etc.
Thanks
 
This is the setup I went with....Its pretty quick but doesn't handle primer pockets.

The attachment is a 3 in one cutter (RCBS) which cuts, and chamfers the inside and outside of the case mouth at the same time.

IMG_20120415_172708.jpg


[youtube]j65zHxVenz8[/youtube]
 
The ultimate set up would of course be a Dillon 1050 with a Rt1200 trimmer and a Lyman M die, also a bullet feeder, you would be able to load all in one step...

You would need ear plugs as it will be noisy but you would be able to take raw brass to loaded with one pass so about 100 every 5 min, tumble the lube off after you done...

total investment about 2700 before tax and shipping... :)
 
If you use a Dillon trimmer and plan to load FMJ boat tail bullets, you don't need to chamfer the case mouth. As for swaging the primer pocket of 10,000 peices of brass... Good luck with that, get a Dillon SUper Swager. Heck, get a 1050.
 
Dillon RT1200

Super swage

The Super swage let's me do around 100 cases in 10min, the RT1200 cuts so smooth there's no need to chamfer cases.

10,000pcs is a lot of brass... I would suggest you sort it all first by head stamp and test your load in a variety of cases before committing to anything you may regret, I have done several very large runs of .223 on my XL650 and believe me it's a daunting task with a all most fully automated setup...

My best runs were 5000pcs of IVI and 3500pcs of LC mil brass... I tried to run mixed headstamp civvi brass thru but it varies so much nothing is ever really smooth...

You most likely will encounter trouble with various flash holes being too small, primers that are soft and get stuck on a decapping pin and pulled back into the flash hole, hard brass that's difficult to fully size and a few other nasty things... Not a big deal to setup for a whole run of any of the above problems but when they pop up at random it throws off your rhythm... Do a few test runs before you get started!

I typically sort my brass into headstamp groups then prep it one group at a time, more often then not I find myself selling off several hundred cases from oddball manufacturers such as Hornady or Prvi or even Federal at times so to raise funds for LC or IVI cases... One headstamp is so much nicer to deal with and it makes life much simpler when your reloads are uncommon at the range...

I have never seen anyone shoot IVI 5.56 cases at my local range, when I find one I toss it into my prepared brass bin and just cycle it thru my press because I know it's mine and it's been swaged/trimmed already.....

Just some food for thought, good luck!
 
JOJOPINTO said:
The ultimate set up would of course be a Dillon 1050 with a Rt1200 trimmer and a Lyman M die, also a bullet feeder, you would be able to load all in one step...

You would need ear plugs as it will be noisy but you would be able to take raw brass to loaded with one pass so about 100 every 5 min, tumble the lube off after you done...

total investment about 2700 before tax and shipping... :)
Click to expand...

The RT1200 takes up a lot of room... I diddent think you could one pass on the super 1050 with the RT1200 setup in the tool head?
 
I have been nothing but happy with my Giraud trimmer. It's a big investment up front but it's fast, repeatable and it camfers as it trims.
 
sort in to lots for like head stamp brass, then take 200-500 work those over, shoot and repeat. when you wear out oe lose those cases grab a new 'lot' of brass.

10,000 cases is an awfull lot of cases
 
Problem is, most of my brass will get lost at the matches that I shoot....no way of ever getting the same brasd back.
Appreciate the replies so far....best options seem to be the Guirard or the RT1200....I am kind of leaning towards the 1200 qt this moment!
 
Well... Honestly if you are only banging thru 500 cases in a batch then buy the little crow trimmer, if you have thousands then the RT1200 is a tough one to beat... I know the Giraud is a caddy and very nice but the little crow AKA Worlds Finest Trimmer is a pretty close clone of it but runs off a power drill and is MUCH cheaper!!!

Just for the record here :D
Your going to need a case gauge with the RT1200, It FL sizes your brass as it trims but has no neck expander in it so you may also want a neck size die in the tool head while running cases thru...
 
I'm in the same boat as you for trimming a crap load of 223 brass. I took a diferent route after using my Lyman power case trimmer, I would still have to debur the necks which seemed to take forever. I got a hold of Peter at Hirsh Precision and picked up the Forster Power case trimmer, a #1 collet for 223 cases, and a Forster .224-3-in-1 Case mouth cutter and mounted it on a mini drillpress (Cambodian Tire special) and went to town. Had I known about this set up before it would have saved me days and days of work. I will try to post a pic of it over the weekend but it's a great fast system and it won't break your wallet. Total cost shipped to me here in Ontario was right at $227.13 with tax. Check it out on the Forster website.
Regards.
 
7.62mm said:
So, after lots of contemplation...load testing.....hair pulling....I have decided to hand load all of my .223 rounds for my AR-15....I must have 10,000 cases of mixed .223 and 5.56 brass.
I have a Dillon 550 and am thinking about a Dillon Case trimmer.....but I would still need to decrimp primmer pockets and chamfer the case mouth.

What are other people using, setups etc. I am thinking a case trimmer that indexes off the shoulder might be a handy item...etc..etc..
Let me know your thoughts......suggestions....comments....that can reduce my processing times etc.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Giraud trimmer for your case length and inside/outside chamfer. No question. Made me sell my RT1200.

RCBS case Prep Center with VLD inside chamfer tool to remove primer pocket crimp and to uniform primer pockets. Option is to use an electric screwdriver and appropriate bits.
 
10000 cases is around a years' worth of shooting at my hi point. The Giraud is the way to go with staged brass prep in batches. If you can get a decent load that isn't too hot, and your accuracy levels for the ammo isn't critical ( thinking 3 gun or CQB type stuff), then mix and match the cases without worry.
If you are thinking you'd like excellent quality for Service Rifle or the like where you are engaging targets past 300m, then I'd say sorting brass is worth it (but then you are also likely loading a match-type bullet).

If you are running surplus ss109s or other bulk FMJs, brass sorting is a waste of time.
 
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