I have been reloading 9mm and .44 magnum for the past year or two, and am now to the point where I want to reload some 5.56/.223. I have both commercial .223 cases and around 800 Lake City 5.56 cases that were XM193AF. It has been a while since I have personally examined the 5.56 brass, but I am finding out that the primers in these cases are most likley crimped. I have looked at the Dillon Swaging tool, but have also read that a de-burring tool can be used to get rid of the crimp. What is the general consensus on the best way to get rid of primer crimps? Also, since I have a mixture of 5.56 and .223, would it be safe to use a lower end SAMMI spec load accross the board (just for bpractice ammo) or would I need to use a different loading for each one? My Hornady Manual does not have data on the 5.56, only on .223 Remington and “.223 Remington Service Rifle”, which I have never heard of unless it is a different term for 5.56.
I’m not a vet rifle loader but load over 2K in 9mm a month and have done so you the last 5 or so years.
I just started loading rifle .223 in the past couple months experimenting and in regards to rifle brass prep have take the approach of the less time the better so make the investment once and now rather than later. Get the Dillon Swager and don’t look back. $100 isn’t much when you look at the time and effort you’ll save. Plus you set once for a particular type of brass and just go at it. No second guessing whether you have cut enough crimp out or too much. No need to ream afterwards. Then to make it even faster you can do this.
In regards to 5.56 vs .223 load data for a particular type of brass. My understanding is just stick with a sensible .223 load and you’ll be go to go. If you want to load hot, use the military 5.56 stuff.
If you want to go cheap (like I do) the Hornady cutting tool works well. The cutter head can be removed from the handle and chucked in a drill if you have a lot of crimps to remove. It works well that way.
I also purchased and did not like the Lyman tool of similar design - did not remove enough material and the cutter head can’t be chucked in a drill.
The Dillon tool is the gold standard, but like all Dillon tools bring your wallet. If you reload a LOT of rounds you may just want to start with Dillon though.
I sold the Super Swager in favor of the Hornaday Hand tool. The hornady hand tool is silly cheap, more consistent than the swager, and can be chucked into a hand drill to work just as fast as the over priced Dillon.
There is no difference in .223 and 5.56 brass. The difference (in case thickness) you are probably thinking of is .308 commercial vs military 7.61x51; and the only difference there is internal capacity. [ETA - There is a difference in chamber specs for .223 Vs 5.56.]
Natchez has new unprimed LC brass back in stock at better prices than I see anywhere else - no primer crimps on those. I’m finding a few that have to be culled and some of the case necks are dinged, so resizing with an expander ball is necessary. Still a decent deal for factory fresh LC brass.
I have the cutting tool and a RCBS swage die and I find myself chucking the cutter more often than not. It sits on my bench an saves me from having to make another trip back in the hose where my dies are stored. Great little product. I’ve had good luck with the RCBS as well.
I also find the Dillon to be over priced for what it is. I can’t see paying that much more than the $30 RCBS die for what it does. Maybe it’s for those folks who don’t have a single stage around.
Thanks for the replies fellas, I guess I will guve the Hornady cutter a try and if it turns out to work well the I will roll with it. Might even chuck it up in the lathe for quicker processing. I will order one from midway I guess. I want to buy bullets from there, but the cheapest they have is around $52 per 500 (remington I believe) before shipping. Would anyone care to share good suppliers of on-the-cheap-realoading components?
I totally understand the freebore aspect and resaons for needing to know your rifles chamber whether 5.56 or .223
I can also understand the reasons why LC brass will tend to have an insignificantly larger internal case capacity.
However, I just checked 2 or 4 of my reloading manuals and several clipped articles from magazines such. They all denote that military brass does have slightly thicker walls particularly at the base web to contain increased pressures.
They’re partially right. Apparently that is indeed the case with 7.62 brass. But it’s been proven to be false with 5.56 brass. I think the advice gets spread across all mil reloadable calibers.
Fair enough, guess I’ll have to take it with a grain of salt.
Thanks for shaing your knowledge on the subject.
Once last qustion if you don’t mind. Is there a true absolute minimum trim length? Provided you have sized correctly of course. I use a Dillon gauge to check head spacing. I have a lot of brass that came out to 1.750 plus or minus 0.002 any issues using that or should I target 1.755 instead and stay above the 1.750 mark?
For what it’s worth, I use an RCBS Trim Mate Case Prep Center, with an RCBS crimp remover chucked into it.
I really dislike rifle case prep, so anything that speeds it along is appreciated. I can trim to length, de-burr the case mouth and remove the crimp, all in about 15 seconds.
edit
Regarding trim length, you’ll be fine if your brass is +/- 0.002" from 1.750". No big deal.
Man… I’ve seen some of that Federal Wally World bulk pack ammo that is about 1.73.
My Possum Hollow trimmer will go down to 1.74 on some pieces of brass. And that works great. Using a hand drill I don’t get excellent consistency… but plenty good enough for bulk practice ammo.
I think you’re very good where you’re at. 1.75 is perfect. If I could get all my brass at anywhere between 1.74 and 1.75 consistently, I’d be pleased.
Trimming to 1.755" works for me. There is no absolute minimum - just personal preference.
Once you start at 1.750, you are kind of stock there. Some fired cases will stretch a lot and others won’t even get back to 1.755. FWIW, my factory new LC cases average ~1.754".
Thanks for the confirmation. I went all out and got the Dillon RT1200 trimmer with sizer/trim die. I realize it is a big expenditure but reducing the time doing case prep is my main goal. I figure at my pace all the extra gear I bought to load .223 for my XL650 will be a wash at the 4-5 months mark. If it isn’t no worries Dillon equipment resells at well over 80%. I doubt that that will ever get to that point though.
I spend a couple hours twice a month to load 1000 rounds. I prep brass one day, they load it the next.
The trimmer works great cuts so clean all I do is tumble in half/half walnut and corncob to clean off the lube and at the same time remove any possible remaining burrs. My first 500 were 55g VMAX which are flat bottoms, I did need to slightly chamfer with a VLD. No more, I’ll be loading FMJBT’s from now on eliminating that process.
I got to looking at my brass tonight, and this is what I found gentlemen. I decapped LC brass and some commercial .223. I am not seeing the difference between the two. Is there a crimp on the LC and I am just not seeing it? Is there such thing as LC without primer crimp? Or maybe I just got duped when I bought the “new” ammo. What do you guys think?
