reloading once fired 5.56 brass for a .223 rifle

[hutchster]

i know the 5.56/.223 thing has been beaten to death, but for the life of me, "5.56" "223" and ".223" don't seem to compute with the search function

i have a remington 700 sps tac in .223(1 in 9" i believe) and have been reloading with unfired winchester brass up until now, but i've found lake city once fired and processed 5.56 for considerably cheaper than the winchester stuff and bought some of it.

i full length resize all my brass including new stuff, so that isn't my question, my concern is more in the powder load, and should i be starting a grain or two lower than my manual suggests for a normal .223 case due to the thickness difference i have read about?

btw, i pay about 30 some bucks for a bag of 100 winchester, while this lake city stuff costs me $50 for 250 rounds (cleaned, unprimed, pockets accept normal primers and sized) is that a decent price otherwise?

 

[smak_daddy]

should i be starting a grain or two lower than my manual suggests for a normal.

I would reduce the powder charge a full 10% when moving from .223 to 5.56 brass. 5.56 brass is thicker so there is less interior case volume. The same powder charge will shoot at a higher pressure out of a 5.56 case than it would out of a .223 case.

 

[carbonrod]

Drop it down to start. Especially if you are close to max.

Here is a nice article about 223, showing among other things the volume of various 223 brass
http://www.6mmbr.com/223Rem.html

 

[beltfed]

Reducing the charge to start is a prudent precaution as stated, but it is very likely the Winchester and Lake City brass are near on identical construction.