Sorting cases.....LC....for SPR

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
1

I have for the first time, a Precision AR15.

You know…20" WOA Barrel, 223 Wylde chamber, PRS stock, Geissele trigger, decent 2-8x optic…

Tried shooting my plinking load…55gr Xtreme, prep’d mix brass, CFE223, CCI #41 primers…1 MOA in my red dot PSA carbine @100yds…1.75" in this thing…wth!

So, I threw together some CCI400, mix brass, Hor 75 gr, CFE223 loads of 5 powder weights…4 shot ~1.5" at 100 yds…1 weight shot 5 shots into .927" at 100 yds.

In an effort to get serious, for round 2, I’m sorting cases to get this going…probably need to buy new cases and/or an annealeeze to do this right.

So, should I be sorting by head stamp or by head stamp and weight?..or?? How do you make SPR quality loads.

2

How serious do you want to get? Different cases have different capacities, so ideally you would sort by head stamp and weight. I assume you’re trimming all the brass to the same length? Also you would sort the bullets by weight and length, as there’s variation there as well, even within the same batch. And then play with bullet seating depth. And varying crimp tensions. And different primers. You ready to start down the rabbit hole…?

Good luck, and stay safe.

3

What twist is your barrel? In all fairness it might take some more experimenting to find a load that works with your new barrel. Be patient!

4

23.5gr XBR (start at 22.5gr and work up for safety)
CCI450 Primers
LC brass (I sort by year but I don’t weigh)
77gr TMK seated to mag length

You’re welcome. (The above load is over max according to the book, but I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with that.) I’ve got sub moa at 600 with that load and even did it once at 1,000.

5

The only sorting I do is separating out the brass that doesn’t need the primer pocket swayed, which usually gives me one batch with a lot of PMC brass. Anything under 1.5" 10-shoy groups works for me, and I haven’t seen an appreciable difference between using the same brass or mixed brass. I’ll echo the load development if you want better.

6

This load sees use by more than one member on this forum, including me, with good results.

7

I use LC brass but do not sort by anything. The only prep that I do is to remove the primer crimp. With a similar load to the above I am getting 10-shot groups in the .6xx’s at 100 yards.

23.5 gr 8208 XBR
77 gr SMK
Federal 210 primer (210 M’s do not improve anything in this case).
BCM 410 SS barrel

8

This. I’ll add to bump size once fired brass from your rifle and Tula SRM primers. Don’t just mash down on a full length die.

9

My long range (1000 yard) Service Rifle load is a single load round, but it consists of.

Lapua brass, it has neck turned, to get it the same thickness all the way around I use a bushing die to just size the neck a thousandth under.

Hornady 80gr A-Max
With 24.4gr of Varget powder
I have used both Russian and Remington BR primers with good effect.

This load is a 1 MOA load in two of my service rifles.

I have used this load as a magazine length load with both Hornady 75gr BTHP match bullets and 77gr BTHP matchkings Sierra bullets.

This is a hot load so start at 23gr. and work up.

It has proven safe in three of my rifles, but another one it shows signs of high pressure, that one is 24.2gr.

I have also used VithaVuoi N-140 and N-540. The N-540 seamed to be less temperature sensitive of the three.

My standard 600 yard load is Remington brass, turned/trued neck, flash hole deburred, primer pocket uniformed,

Same bullets and power.

200 and 300 rapid fire load is Remington brass, and Hornady 75gr BTHP match bullets. The same power charge, but usually I load them at 24gr.

The 600 yards and 1000 yards loads the bullets are seated out just to touch the rifling, and of course the rapid fire stuff is magazine length.

I have shot the mag length stuff at 600 yards and it did well.

Case prep will make a difference, just how much is dependent on the case, load and the Rifles barrel.

10

My case prep is fl size to a certain base to shoulder dimension. Trim to 1.750. Swage primer holes. Chamfer and deburr. Touch up rough swage holes with chamfer tool. Deburr flash hole.

I’m looking to add sorting…So, I need to buy some new brass or once fired LC…

11

Segregate LC brass by weight, =/- 1 grain.
24 grains RL15, BR4 primer, 77 SMK 2.250" OAL no crimp

About your 55 grain plinker: CFE223 works best at max pressure. CCI 41 primer, 27.5 grains CFE223 and either a 55 Sierra HPBT or Nosler 55 Ballistic tip. OAL for the Sierra is 2.240" with a light crimp with a Lee FCD, the Nosler OAL is 2.260" no crimp. Go up to 27.8 grains if you see no pressure signs, back down to 27.5 if you do.

12

Mark should have some good comments.

As far as sorting brass there are differences in commercial. For LC I wouldn’t worry about sorting. It’s been made by ATK (Federal) since 2001 and I doubt there is much difference between the years.

13

How much work do you want to put into making match grade brass? What if you bought top of the line Lapua brass instead?

14

I never sort .223 brass for precision loading with the exception of known brands that have significant volume variances from FL/LC/Win/R-P etc.