223 Reloading Woes

AJCrowley

AJCrowley

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After collecting empties for a while, and being down to my last 100 rounds of factory, I decided to try my hand at reloading some 223 the other day.

I've been loading my own 308win and 45ACP for a while, so I didn't think anything of it, should be an easy enough feat.

Just a quick rundown of the gear I'm using:

Lee Classic Turret Press
Lee .223 deluxe rifle dies
Lee universal rifle charging die

After cleaning all my cases, and setting up my charging die to drop the right amount of powder, I ran into a bit of a snag, well, a couple actually:

1) The shell holder that came with the dies seems wonky, I often have to mess around with it to get a shell to fit, they don't often seem to slide in fairly easily as is the case with my other calibres.

2) The primer won't seem to seat. If I put some muscle into it, it sort of goes in, but never looks quite right, and just as often as not, gets smooshed.

I'm using WSR primers, which should be correct.

The brass I'm using is from a case of 62gr American Eagle 223 I bought from Wolverine, it's well cleaned, including the primer pockets, and trimmed to size.

Is there something weird about my brass? That's the only thing I can think of that would explain why it's fiddly to get in the shell holder, and why the primers won't seat. If so, does that mean I may as well throw away the mountain of brass I've collected and meticulously cleaned, and just order some once fired brass from somewhere else? Obviously this is all a less than attractive proposition, and I'd much rather find out that it's just something stupid I've been doing.

Please, help a brother out!

Cheers.
 
Crimped primers?
There can be variations in rims/shellholders. Try some other brass, or a different shellholder, to see if it makes a difference.
 
x2 on the crimped primers. The shell holder should be #4. If it's defective, contact Lee and they will send you a new one, no questions asked.
 
Yep, it's #4 shell holder, I'll contact Lee.

As for the crimped primers, I believe you are correct, giving them a go over with the drill seems to resolve the issue.

I'll take another crack and 223 loading later.

Thanks for the fast responses!
 
Easy fix for crimped primers, take your chamfering tool and it will clean of the crimp in the pocket darn quick.

Measure the heads of your brass right at the rim head, before the groove, and compare to unfired and the loading manual. If they are in spec, holders if fershimmeled. If they are in spec loaded and larger than spec after fring you have a headspace/pressure problem in the gun.
 
AJCrowley said:
Yep, it's #4 shell holder, I'll contact Lee.

As for the crimped primers, I believe you are correct, giving them a go over with the drill seems to resolve the issue.

I'll take another crack and 223 loading later.

Thanks for the fast responses!
Click to expand...

You know brass is cheap, you said you were down to your last 100 rounds of factory. Unless it is steel wolf russian ammo, just use that brass, it will be even better than new as it is once fired in your rifle.

I wouldn't use a drill on primer pockets, I would just buy new brass.
 
Dean2 said:
Easy fix for crimped primers, take your chamfering tool and it will clean of the crimp in the pocket darn quick.

Measure the heads of your brass right at the rim head, before the groove, and compare to unfired and the loading manual. If they are in spec, holders if fershimmeled. If they are in spec loaded and larger than spec after fring you have a headspace/pressure problem in the gun.
Click to expand...

Thats what I do with Federal nickle brass the police shoot, works like a charm and it is fast.

Brian
 
buy an rcbs primer pocket swager waaaay faster then the drill or chamfer tool methode (ive tried both) and only costs about 40-50 bucks. Or if you like the blue machine dillon makes a swager.
 
Yeah, yeah yeah, Ben. You really got not much to add around here these days, do you? The more you go on, the stupider you seem to be.

Try something constructive or helpful for a change. Talking s**t about other people's kit, for not buying what you did, isn't.

AJ,

I've had crappy shell holders from RCBS. Had good ones too. Have not had a bad one from Lee, but whatever. It happens all 'round.
Got a Dremel tool or similar? The reference surface on the shell holder, is the bottom face. The Industry standard is for it to be .100" from the face that butts up to the die. If you have a Dremel tool, you can carefully whiz a little material off the upper face of the shell holder and it'll work fine forever. Shouldn't have to, but... stuff happens. I'd bet a little sandpaper and a popsicle stick would accomplish the same, just take longer. Anyways, if you don't muck with the lower face of the shell holder, you'd be good to go.

You checked the fit on the shell holder on an unfired round, yes? Fits the same?

If you are going to be doing crimps on brass as a repeat job, like if you are shooting a lot of surplus brass, a crimp removal tool might be worth while. I'll stick to using the carbide burr that I have already. Takes a few seconds per, to knock the remnants off the crimp on .223 brass, with the burr in the metal lathe Mounting it in a drill press chuck would be a close second. In a pistol style drill, a distant third.

Take a look at the case trimmer units that have the primer pocket reamers in the kit of tools. At least you would get some use out of it after you have gone through the brass on hand.

RCBS makes a swaging tool that goes on the press, too. About $20, IIRC. Worth a look. Slow, but not expensive. The Lyman trimmer with the case care kit is worth a look too.

I like my Lee case trimmers. They work for me.

Cheers
Trev
 
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