Is AR15 ammo worth reloading?

Bottle neck rifle brass tends to grow, "get longer" as you resize them. This will result in the necks of your reloads getting "crimped" inside your rifle's chamber as you chamber them. This can lead to dangerous "unplanned" pressure increases inside your rifle's chamber. Observe the maximum case length cited in your reload manuel(s) and trim your cases to a bit less than this, say - .01" less. Check your brass each time you reload to ensure they haven't grown past the cited maximum.

Your pistol (45 ACP + 9 MM) brass head spaces on the case mouth and don't have necks which lengthen as you resize so tend not to have this "Crimping" issue.
 
So essentially, there's only one extra step in reloading .223 - measuring the case length to make sure it's not too long and trimming them as needed?

I saw some pictures of .223 brass kicked from a Norinco 97 and it looked like the case gets a bit beat up. Is that something to be worried about?
 
harbl_the_cat said:
I saw some pictures of .223 brass kicked from a Norinco 97 and it looked like the case gets a bit beat up. Is that something to be worried about?
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When you resize the brass it will take any of the bends or damage out of the neck of the case... if the case is dented on the body... as long as its not cracked you can load it up fire it and the dent will pop back out... then they will be back like new again.
 
acrashb said:
You can trim on-press with a Dillon 1200B - faster than a Giraud or Gracey. But I'd start out with a standard trimmer (RCBS, Forster, Lyman, etc.), and only move on-press if the time savings warrant the cost.
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I have a Dillon press-mounted trimmer (would have to check if it is the model 1200B), and would not buy one if I had to do it over again. When it trims, it leaves a square-edged case mouth, which is very sharp. The brass really needs to be chamfered (by hand, argh), otherwise it will cut off a little piece of copper from every bullet you seat. It is extremely fast, but it does an incomplete (IMHO) job. Also, you need to hook up a shopvac to suck away the brass trimmings, which is both awkward and noisy.

I haven't used or played with the Giraud or Gracey, but from what I understand they would be better overall than the Dillon press-mounted trimmer, since they give you a piece of brass that is not only trimmed to length but also chamfered, and they are also quite quick (nearly as quick as you can feed them?)

Also, adjusting the Dillon trimmer is a slow PITA, and the way that it holds the case in place while it is being trimmed (essentially a modified full-length sizing die) is a bit Mickey-Mouse. I suppose this truly shows that the grass is always greener....?
 
acrashb said:
You can trim on-press with a Dillon 1200B - faster than a Giraud or Gracey. But I'd start out with a standard trimmer (RCBS, Forster, Lyman, etc.), and only move on-press if the time savings warrant the cost.
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The dillon may be faster if in line with the rest of the progression of cartridge assembly, but the work it does leaves alot to be desired. The Giraud on the otherhand leaves a professionally trimmed and chamfered case that is extremely consistant.
In short, The 1200 is a$$ compared to the Giraud.
 
beltfed said:
The dillon may be faster if in line with the rest of the progression of cartridge assembly,
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Much faster - two passes through the press with some tumbling in-between and you're done, no case-by-case manual handling at all. The 1200B cuts at a 4-degree angle, which takes the outside burr off, so when using boat-tails there's no need for further processing. I wouldn't use it for true precision ammo (Wilson instead), but I wouldn't do "true" precision on a progressive anyway.

As for setup, you do it once and leave it. OAL's don't change.
 
Add an 'M' die on the first stage of the press and you don't have to deburr with any bullet. Not that it really leaves a burr to begin with.

I use the 1200B for precision ammo. We have a 1000 yard range locally. I shoot brass that's been trimmed on it every weekend and some in between. It does fine at 1k.

Tried the Gracey and the Giraud before buying. Much slower and gets hard on the fingers if you're doing any kind of volume (1000's).
 
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