DaisyCutter
Member
I finally got around to setting up my turret press for 223, got the dies, bullets, primers, etc. I was excited to begin, initially. I thought I was ready. I've been reloading 44 Mag, 45 ACP and 30-06 for years. Each specific cartridge had a bit of a learning curve, to master the feel of working it, and dial in my equipment.
But 223 is a cusser like no other. I really hate it. The new dies are very sticky. I'm making a lot of trips to the garage to punch out a stuck case with a stripped rim. In fact, I've separated the decapping and resizing steps to minimize stress. Trimming is a pain in the butt too. The little cases just don't fit any of my equipment well.
Maybe the used brass is "blimped out" from a loose chamber? Maybe the smaller cases take more effort to resize than bigger ones I'm accustomed to dealing with? Maybe new dies need to be "broken in"?
I haven't even tried pouring powder down the skinny neck yet, but I'm sure it will be frustrating.
To top it off, all that extra aggravation is for a cartridge I shoot in higher volume magazine fed rifles, so whereas making 50 30-06s is a stellar day, making 50 223s won't even fill 2 mags.
Is 223 just a nightmare?
The powder I was planning to use can be repurposed to 30-06. I'm just stuck with 1K primers and bullets, dies, etc. I'll trade it for 2 cases of beer. Does anyone have any advise or handy tricks?
Is my experience with 223 just the nature of the beast? This caliber just ain't worth the aggravation.
But 223 is a cusser like no other. I really hate it. The new dies are very sticky. I'm making a lot of trips to the garage to punch out a stuck case with a stripped rim. In fact, I've separated the decapping and resizing steps to minimize stress. Trimming is a pain in the butt too. The little cases just don't fit any of my equipment well.
Maybe the used brass is "blimped out" from a loose chamber? Maybe the smaller cases take more effort to resize than bigger ones I'm accustomed to dealing with? Maybe new dies need to be "broken in"?
I haven't even tried pouring powder down the skinny neck yet, but I'm sure it will be frustrating.
To top it off, all that extra aggravation is for a cartridge I shoot in higher volume magazine fed rifles, so whereas making 50 30-06s is a stellar day, making 50 223s won't even fill 2 mags.
Is 223 just a nightmare?
The powder I was planning to use can be repurposed to 30-06. I'm just stuck with 1K primers and bullets, dies, etc. I'll trade it for 2 cases of beer. Does anyone have any advise or handy tricks?
Is my experience with 223 just the nature of the beast? This caliber just ain't worth the aggravation.