Reloading 5.56 Brass

Slug870

Slug870

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I have not yet ventured into reloading surplus 5.56 brass, but I am looking at the possibility in the near future. As I am unsure of a few of the finer points, I figured I'd ask a couple questions...

1. Obviously the primer crimp needs to be dealt with, and I am assuming that the Dillon Super Swage 600 would be the ideal tool for this task?
2. For resizing the brass, does one simply use a .223 rem full length sizing die?
3. I have heard about the surplus military brass being thicker in the walls, so does this force a reduction in stated powder loads? (loads in manuals for .223)
4. Are there any other finer points I should be aware of before beginning to work with surplus 5.56 brass?

I should mention that I will be loading for use in a .223 chambered AR-15

As always, thanks for any and all assistance.
 
1. There may not be a crimp, but any tool will do.
2. Yep. It's the same thing despite the Internet.
3. Don't think that applies to 5.56/.223. Same data in any case.
4. Check the OAL and trim as required.
 
1. Some brass may have a crimp, not all. If you're picking up range brass or shooting surplus, you might want to pick up a primer pocket reamer.
2. Most FL sizing dies should work fine. If your AR has a tighter chamber, you might want to look into a small base FL sizer. The drawback to the SB die is that it works the brass a bit more so the lifespan decreases a little.
3. If you're not shooting match grade from a bolt gun, shouldn't matter.
4. Trim all your cases to the same length at the start this will keep your crimp consistent throughout your batch.

Resize and trim to spec about 10 cases to begin with and then chamber each one in your rifle to see if they all fit well and the bolt closes normally. If the bolt isn't closing fully, check your sizing die setup.
 
If you are loading for max accuracy, then you will want to sort the brass by weight.

For plinking and CQB, anything goes. No need to load to max power, either. 2 gr under max will still be perfect for close range holes in paper.

I load a lot of range pick up brass. it is about 40% crimped primer. I sort the brass into two pails, as i size. The crimped pockets then get touched with a countersink tool in a electric drill. This $6.00 tool champfers the mouth of the primer pocket, cutting off any vestige of a crimp.

It helps to clamp the drill in a vice.
 
From my experiences 5.56 just needs a little more prep sometimes but youre loading .223. Remember you can form .308 from .30-06 brass so the slight difference from brass fireformed in a 5.56 chamber and .223 chamber is negligible when being pressed into a steel die. As for primer pockets, I prefer a Lyman primer pocket reamer over a chamfer tool because some times you get undersized primer pockets that will give you grief even when chamfered very deeply. One such piece had been chamfered almost half way down the primer pocket to get a primer in. It was culled. The reamer will open undersize pockets up to min. SAAMI spec so all your primers seat firmly with the same feel. I also use a primer pocket uniformer to cut them to min SAAMI depth so I don't have to force them flush on the press. For that, I cut the toolhead out of the handle and chucked it up in the drill as it is a slow going process. I have mild arthritis and uniforming by hand kills my hands. I could barely get 50 done before throwing in the towel, so the hand drill really speeds things up and saves my hands. The end result is beautifully consistent and perfect primer seating with not one four letter word. Another thing to check is when setting up your dies you may need to adjust the FL die down a little more when sizing once fired 5.56 to make sure you are contacting the shellholder. When you run up to the top of stroke, check to see if the shellholder made contact, there may be a 1/8" to 3/16" gap. Turn the die in 1/8 turn at a time until you just make contact on the upstroke. The only other thing is 5.56 brass may end up pretty long and can be cut unevenly so give em a trim after sizing. Some of mine would be as much as 1.90" after sizing which is way over .223 max trim length. Other than some minor differences youre just loading .223.
 
If you are concerned about differences in case wall thickness, you could take a sample (say anywhere up to 50 cases) of each,ideally all the same headstamp, weigh them, and calculate the average weight.
If you really want to get particular, you could deprime and clean the primer pockets first, but that may not give you any better info....

Some spreadsheet programs (OpenOffice is one) have a standard deviation function built in as well. This could tell you lots about your sample....

Stan
 
A drill with a countersink bit works great for quickly removing the crimp. There isn't a significant difference in brass thickness in .223/5.56 the way there is with some other cases, such as .308/7.62 NATO.
 
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