I’m going to start reloading again and I’m looking to find good quality 62 grain or heavier factory loads to obtain my brass, I want to avoid the primer crimp if this is possible, and not really sure of what to purchase in order to avoid it. And as always cost is a consideration.
Any tips on a good brand would be appreciated, it’s been years since I reloaded for a 22-250 and never for the .223/5.56.
I have a 16" SS with 1/8 twist, 5.56 chamber and it seems to prefer the 62 grain over the 55.
I’m not aware of a 62 grain load that won’t have a crimp. If I’m were buying ammo for use of the brass for reloading (without a crimp), I’d buy some Rem UMC or that Centurion “M193”. But both of those are going to be 55 grain.
I’d buy the AE223N from ammunitiontogo or GTdist if you must have 62 grain. You’ll either end up with FC or LC brass. Both are good for reloading, but both will have a crimp.
I’m hoping to find inexpensive ammo that’s already loaded and then re-use the brass, I’ve already figured out I’m going to need a swager for the primer pocket, since most of the inexpensive stuff has crimped primers. Dillon has a nice one for about $80. Dillon Case Swager 600 something or other.
From what I think I’ve learned any Lake City load is going to offer pretty good brass to re-use? Hornady appears to be some of the better brass with Lake City right behind it.
Eventually I’ll invest in a quantity of good brass only. But I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone, shoot a relatively inexpensive load and then re-use the brass down the line. My gun seems to prefer 62 gr loads so I don’t mind spending the extra few cents a round to shoot it.
The Dillon tool looks nice, I use the RCBS primer pocket swager myself. The Armscor brass and bullets have favorable reviews over on Midway’s website. I picked up 500rnds of 62gr. myself recently to reload 5.56. I haven’t shot them yet, so I can’t give you my own impressions on how well they shoot. I can tell you they were pretty consistent in weight, but the canneleurs weren’t very consistent. Not problem for me as I bought them just for plinking, and I use a Lee factory crimp die on everything I reload. Anyway, if you buy your powder locally you could load these for around 35 cents a round not counting your shipping costs. Couple nice things about primed brass is it ships as finished cartridges… no additional hazmat fee, and you can usually find it in stock even when primers aren’t available. That’s my 2 cents anyway. Good luck!
