Does the tiny nature of 223 components make reloading difficult?

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DaisyCutter

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Hi all. I've discovered that using an auto powder measure really speeds up my process, despite the use of a turret press. After tumbling, resizing and recapping a pile of cases, generally I fill with powder and seat a bullet one at a time.

Hand measuring, I'd finish a cartridge per minute. Using the auto measure, it measures a charge for the next case while I seat the previous one. So my process is almost twice as fast now.

Previously, I never reloaded 223. All my 223s take high volume mags, and it didn't seem like a good use of time to work all night just to fill a couple 30 round mags. So I stuck with other calibers, for guns that don't shoot high volume; 30-06 for my Garand, 44 Mag, 45ACP.

Now that my process is faster, I'm contemplating reloading 223. My question is that the case mouth and bullets look tiny, especially compared to .30, .429, and .451".

Will filling cases and seating bullets for the 223 be a frustrating dexterity test for me, using my turret press?

I also presume 223 is less forgiving (in general) than the old 30-06, 44 Mag and 45 ACP? Is that true? I'm not sloppy, but I like a good safety margin.
 
The worst part of loading 223 is handling the bullets because they are small. If you use a BT bullet, then seating isnt hard. Flat bases can be a little bit of a PITA at times. Cases are no harder to fill I dont think with the right funnel. Safety is just like anything. Unless your running up against max charge, if you are off a 10th of a grain, its not going to kill you.
 
Generally, the smaller the round, the smaller the margin of error. I load 25acp, and 32acp and when your off by .1 gr of Bullseye in a max charge of 1.0, that 10% is significant!

I don't consider .223 nearly as precise or critical as .25acp, but will be much more critical than 30.06. The reason I have stopped loading .223 now is that the price of the ammo doesn't justify the work in reloading it, especially for those rounds that will rapid fired towards tin cans in the dirt while playing. I would still load hutning ammo, or defense ammo, but its not worth the cost to me to reload play ammo.
 
It's no different unless you two left fat thumbs:)

Yes, you need to hold and guide the bullet up into the seating die, As mentioned if they are BT bases then it's a bit easier.

So now let the thread drift off to accuracy of BT VS Flat base.;)
 
I load .223 on 2 RCBS RockChuckers using one of the RCBS Uniflow powder dispensers. I use mostly H335 or H322 for my .223 loads and find that RCBS dispenser drops fairly consistent loads using these powders. Using one press, the brass is resized, trimmed and cleaned. I then seat the primers with a RCBS hand primer and fill 50 cases at a time with powder (no need for a funnel, I just hold the brass up tight under the dispenser). I always drop and weigh 3 or 4 loads first to make sure the weight is correct. Then I will check every 10th or so load to verify it is still dropping accurately. After filling 50 cases I seat the bullets. It is supposed to be a lot faster on my Dillon 550B, but I had problems with the powder not dropping fast enough and ended up spending more time cleaning up powder than I did making ammo so I'll stick with the Rockchuckers.
 
Does the tiny nature of 223 components make reloading difficult?
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Never gave it much thought. I load pretty much exactly as parker51 posted but have cheated using RCBS Competition Dies. Makes bullet seating real easy, especially the non boat tail flat base lighter bullets. I also went from just doing a powder throw with a RCBS Uniflow to using a RCBS Chargemaster. Overall I really don't see loading 223 Remington any more difficult than loading any small case like 30 Carbine. I liked TimSr's response:
Generally, the smaller the round, the smaller the margin of error. I load 25acp, and 32acp and when your off by .1 gr of Bullseye in a max charge of 1.0, that 10% is significant!

I don't consider .223 nearly as precise or critical as .25acp, but will be much more critical than 30.06. The reason I have stopped loading .223 now is that the price of the ammo doesn't justify the work in reloading it, especially for those rounds that will rapid fired towards tin cans in the dirt while playing. I would still load hutning ammo, or defense ammo, but its not worth the cost to me to reload play ammo.
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Ron
 
I have fairly big hands but don't have a problem with 223 components. I load bulk 223 ammo on my turret press with the powder measure but the brass is usually already processed. The only cartridge I find to be tedious to load is the 32 ACP.
 
223 Remington is giant when compared to 17 Remington.:)

Slow down a bit and exercise some extra care and 223 Remington is no more difficult to load than larger calibers.

I've been using an RCBS Gold Medal seating die with 204 Ruger and it makes handling and seating the bullet less stressful. I have one for 223 Remington but have not loaded any since I got the die.

Only problem, RCBS thinks they are made of gold.
 
I have found it to be just as easy to load .223 as it is .308 on my Dillon 650. It has also produced some very accurate loads as well.
 
The powders I have on hand are IMR 3031 & 4895. They are probably even tougher to funnel into a 223 mouth.
 
I love it when it is the press that produces good loads!
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You make a good point. In the future, I'll be more accurate in including all the variables that go into making accurate, safe ammo :p
 
I have shoved a .223 bullet into my finger 1/4" or so. That guiding the bullet in is the only part I have issue with. I will say my shooting life did get a lot easier when I started using small base dies.
 
I'm just getting started with reloading 223. Regarding the flat base vs boat tail bullets, I had a friend suggest getting a Lee universal expander die for flaring the case mouth slightly. Not really necessary, but makes the flat base bullet easier to seat.
 
Won't matter unless you have a touch of arthritis. .223 bullets aren't that small. You should still be able to sit the bullet into the chamfer with no fuss.
 
Nature Boy said:
You make a good point. In the future, I'll be more accurate in including all the variables that go into making accurate, safe ammo :p
Click to expand...

Your post implied that it was a Dillon 650 that makes the good ammo
If I read that incorrectly then I apologize.;)

I guess Dillon had to get into the thread somehow.

Does that mean RCBS, Hornady LEE does not make as good ammo?
 
Chamfer the case mouths and if you are doing bulk use ball powders. Using a powder trickler for extruded powders in 1,000 rounds sucks. If possible try some CFE 223, it meters extremely well, gives good velocity, and has copper removing additives for high volume shooting. 223's aren't bad, my most hated nemesis is reloading 32-20's, they have very delicate brass.

I prefer using neck expanders over flaring as I can get better consistency and the bullet is supported squarely in the case mouth. I don't worry about it with jacketed bullets though.
 
>223 is what I started reloading with back in 1967 on a RCBS RockChucker with 52 gr. soft point flat based bullets, as that what was available at that time. Started with IMR 3031 and still use it today. I now can get 55gr. FMJ and there is plenty of data for reloading the round. When I started there was no data available for the round so I was told to use the powder grains for .222 and work the loads up. The biggest PIA was the military crimp. No one told me about that or how to get rid of it so I broke the edge with a drill bit. I now load for 45/70, 308, 30/06, 30 carbine 30/40, 7mm jap, 6.5jap, 32/20, 45 APC, 40 Russian, 38 special. I enjoy working with the .223 more than all of the others for some reason. I guess that I because it was my first and look back remembering the difficulties that I had learning something new for the first time.
 
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The size of the bullets is not really and issue for me. The darn primer crimps are what is a pain about it, of course you only need to remove them once.
 
Does the tiny nature of 223 components make reloading difficult?
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Not for me!
My recipe is 26.0gr of Hodgdon Varget under a 55gr BTFMJ.
MY AR loves 'em.

But I do wonder if I tried to use a flat based projectile ... :scrutiny:
The boattail design makes for very easy seating.
 
Just my $0.02, but I'd never fool w/ anything smaller than .30 caliber as I like being able to quickly SEE the powder in the cases. Also the volume plinking stuff I do w/ a .223 is under a hundred yd with Mini-14. Russian steel case lowers my price of admission for fun shooting. As I don't have a progressive press and value my time, revolver ammo and larger rifle stuff gets priority. :)
 
STEEL CASE!? Shame on you!

The main problem I've had in 223 was selecting powders that wouldn't try to bridge in the small mouth. I've switched to 748 for this reason and it's no problem now. Getting 4198 into the case was not something I'd relish again.
 
Steel cases? Fugggitabbboudit! And a small flashlight will allow you to easily see within a 223 case.
 
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