I bought a Lee 50th anniversary kit last week, and pacesetter dies for .223.
Using once fired Monarch brass, 25 grains of Varget, and a 55 grain V-max projectile, I made up my first 10 rounds a couple days ago. This is what the case looked like after firing. There is some black residue around the case neck after firing. I've only shot two of them. Both fired normally and landed on target. Maybe just burned up case lube?
None of the cases needed trimming, but I did notice that I could not start the bullets by hand after running through the FL resize die. Is this normal as well? I held them with my fingers until the bullet would stay upright in the die.
Using once fired Monarch brass, 25 grains of Varget, and a 55 grain V-max projectile, I made up my first 10 rounds a couple days ago. This is what the case looked like after firing. There is some black residue around the case neck after firing. I've only shot two of them. Both fired normally and landed on target. Maybe just burned up case lube?
None of the cases needed trimming, but I did notice that I could not start the bullets by hand after running through the FL resize die. Is this normal as well? I held them with my fingers until the bullet would stay upright in the die.