Need a litte advice on loading .223

[Shawnsglock]

So, here goes. I have loaded for some years, had a progressive Lee Load master, I was making 22-250, 9 and 45 on.. I Recently upgraded to a Dillon 650. I make lots of 9mm for IPSC, IDPA, Plinking its good times.

I bought a ACR non restricted not long ago, went to the store.. picked up a thousand rounds of .223 and went through it in short order (probably 2 or 3 range trips.) What can I say.... So the long and short of it is I need to start hand loading .223.

Now I'm not to picky with accuracy but I'd like to load a good volume. I have a few options in my eyes

1. Buy the .223 kit for the 650 I already have and change everything out every time I need to change calibers for the cost of around 500 for the dies ect.. and 500 for the 1200 case trimmer.

2. Buy a dedicated 650 for .223 for a few bucks over outfitting mine and not have to worry about constantly changing my whole setup, loosing parts in disasmbaly and having to calibrate everything all the time..

3. Buy a 1050 for .223 go big or go home, be able to feed, trim, re-size, swage and load all in one go

Problem is, I haven't loaded much rifle and I don't know what all is exactly involved.. I would like to make it as painless as possible and not buy into a setup only to have to upgrade later.. So CGN I would like to draw on some experience, If you had to do it over again what direction would you go?

 

[pmt]

If it were in my budget, I would buy a 1050 strictly for 223. I already have a 1500 trimmer and do everything on a 550.

 

[SoylentD]

I just bought a new toolhead for my 650 and conversion kit. I have a Mr. Bulletfeeder & Case feeder plate change out too. Only takes 10 minutes to swap calibers after you do it once or twice.

Unless you have really deep pockets, a 1050 with trim and auto drive would be nice, but I don't have $10k burning a hole in my pocket. Not for just 223 at least. Personally I shoot waaaay more 9mm than 223, so I'd love to have the 1050 setup with autodrive for that, and i'd keep my 650 for 223 / 45ACP.. maybe some day if I win the lottery.

 

[BlackSheepBrass]

I am running a 1050 on a Mark VII drive exclusively for processing 223 brass for the Canadian market. The 1050 is overkill for most people unless you need the swage capability and you actually shoot the volume to justify it. If you are looking at adding an auto drive then your total investment will be between $8,000 and $10,000 per machine. You start having to look at what is going to be your return on investment in regards to time saved. To start playing at that level you need deep pockets.

This is one of the machines that I run.