Reloading .223 and 5.56

[cfullgraf]

Full length resize with a small base die. For ammunition to be used in multiple rifles, size the case as closely as possible to factory dimensions and that requires small base dies.

I hole heartily agree if the OP has multiple 223 Rem/5.56. semi-auto rifles. A small base sizing die is cheap insurance against chambering problems and if you have not already purchased dies, there is no downside.

I have small base dies for all my semi-auto rifles where the small base dies are available.

Lots of other good information already posted.

 

[Slamfire]

I hole heartily agree if the OP has multiple 223 Rem/5.56. semi-auto rifles. A small base sizing die is cheap insurance against chambering problems and if you have not already purchased dies, there is no downside.

I have small base dies for all my semi-auto rifles where the small base dies are available.

Lots of other good information already posted.

You learn through experience, right?

A Distinguished HM shooter I know, who built most of my NM M1a's and M1's, he also built AR's for across the course shooting. HM told me of the number of times he received a call from a customer about their newly built match AR rifle jamming with their ammunition. And inevitably, it was with brass fired in another AR and sized with a standard sizing die. The previous AR usually had some huge chamber, and of course, the match AR was reamed with a match reamer. Makes a big difference, and was one of the reasons I was very popular on the firing line. I had a cleaning rod inside the tube of my scope stand!

Gas gun loading is different from bolt or bench rest. A loader should take all the bolt and benchrest advice and throw it in the garbage can for all the use it will have in reloading for a gas gun. Ammunition for a gas gun should feed and extract, and that requires ammunition close to factory dimensions. Reloading manuals seldom have a gas gun section, the ones I have ignore the subject.

If a gas gunner reloader is lucky, a small base die, (set up with the gauges in my post) will suffice. However, a very unlucky reloader may have brass so ballooned that a roll sizer is necessary



Roll sizers are not cheap, I don't have one, hoping I never need one.

 

[AJC1]

People may disagree but a good press and dies are easy to sell if it's not your thing. A set of rcbs dies and a rock chucker is easy to move if it's not your thing. Good equipment makes things easier. Choose your color poison and get decent equipment and life is much easier. The best way forward for the OP would be to have a mentor. If he was near me he could learn the ropes for the cost of his components. I'll give up my time and knowledge with a side order of a hard time just to be neighborly.

 

[Blue68f100]

All of my AR's have match chambers and none of them require a under size die.

 

[cfullgraf]

You learn through experience, right?

A Distinguished HM shooter I know, who built most of my NM M1a's and M1's, he also built AR's for across the course shooting. HM told me of the number of times he received a call from a customer about their newly built match AR rifle jamming with their ammunition. And inevitably, it was with brass fired in another AR and sized with a standard sizing die. The previous AR usually had some huge chamber, and of course, the match AR was reamed with a match reamer. Makes a big difference, and was one of the reasons I was very popular on the firing line. I had a cleaning rod inside the tube of my scope stand!

Yes, I learned by experience, twice.

At a Service Rifle match, I gave some of my ammunition to another competitor. They would not chamber in his match prepared rifle.

The second was after I got my CMP Compass Lake AR-15. Same thing, the cases shot in my old rifle would not chamber in the new rifle.

Turns out it is a combination of the rifle's chamber and a named brand standard full length sizing die machined at the upper end of the tolerances.

Cases fired in the old rifle and sized in a different standard full length sizing die would chamber in the Compass Lake. Since I have several 223 Rem/5.56 AR-15's, I was not going to risk having more chambering issues and bought a small base sizing die.

 

[Slamfire]

Yes, I learned by experience, twice.

At a Service Rifle match, I gave some of my ammunition to another competitor. They would not chamber in his match prepared rifle.

The second was after I got my CMP Compass Lake AR-15. Same thing, the cases shot in my old rifle would not chamber in the new rifle.

Turns out it is a combination of the rifle's chamber and a named brand standard full length sizing die machined at the upper end of the tolerances.

Cases fired in the old rifle and sized in a different standard full length sizing die would chamber in the Compass Lake. Since I have several 223 Rem/5.56 AR-15's, I was not going to risk having more chambering issues and bought a small base sizing die.

You were very nice to give ammunition to a fellow competitor. Did your act of kindness get repaid with scorn and contempt in the pits after the rounds would not chamber? There is no good deed that goes unpunished. LOL

All that bench rest stuff, neck sizing we read, it is all nice till the gun won't feed and extract. Then it is not nice at all.

 

[cfullgraf]

You were very nice to give ammunition to a fellow competitor. Did your act of kindness get repaid with scorn and contempt in the pits after the rounds would not chamber? There is no good deed that goes unpunished. LOL

All that bench rest stuff, neck sizing we read, it is all nice till the gun won't feed and extract. Then it is not nice at all.

Fortunately, it was a match at 100 yds using reduced sized targets. Just a few competitors and the range officer.

The problem was found with the sighter rounds so it was quickly corrected and the fellow got some ammunition from someone else.

 

[GW Staar]

Small base dies get maligned every week by someone who reloads and shoots a rifle or two with regular dies and never have a problem.....yet.

One misundertanding is thinking small base dies size smaller than factory, therefore over sizing occurs. That's false. In fact they don't size down to factory specs, just a small amount closer than regular dies.....and it's that tiny difference that makes my reloads fit in any gun chambered within ASCII specs minimum to maximum.

What's the point of loading 10,000 rounds of .223 or .308 for a rainy day.....then find out on that rainy day that you don't have reliable ammo for the fancy new gun you bought to replace your old one that you sold, lost, or a thief heisted from you. For semi-autos I load with nothing else than small-based dies..........and for you Dillon lovers, Dillon makes nothing else than small-based dies for their .223 and .308 sets.....ask them.

 

[Blue68f100]

Most of the time it's not the base that's causing the problem, it's the shoulder. Std dies work if you move the shoulder back far enough. What happens is a user setup a new sizing die and moves the shoulder back to where it needs to be. So access to a Body die would have corrected the problem.

 

[Slamfire]

What's the point of loading 10,000 rounds of .223 or .308 for a rainy day.....then find out on that rainy day that you don't have reliable ammo for the fancy new gun you bought to replace your old one that you sold, lost, or a thief heisted from you. For semi-autos I load with nothing else than small-based dies..........and for you Dillon lovers, Dillon makes nothing else than small-based dies for their .223 and .308 sets.....ask them.

Let he who has not spent most of a winter disassembling rifle reloads with a kinetic puller, throw the first cartridge case.

 

[GW Staar]

Most of the time it's not the base that's causing the problem, it's the shoulder. Std dies work if you move the shoulder back far enough. What happens is a user setup a new sizing die and moves the shoulder back to where it needs to be. So access to a Body die would have corrected the problem.

Depends on how novice the reloader is, whether that's true. But that doesn't account for the tight bases which are easy to spot by painting a case with magic marker. And if it's the shoulder.....that'll show up too. Small base dies usually move the shoulder back a tiny bit more than regular dies do, as well. But that depends on who makes the regular die set too, not to mention who makes the SB die set.

My Remington .308 A10 clone was chambered tight for accuracy, and so was sensitive to bases not sized back enough. It had nothing to do with shoulder according to the painted test round. I could have sent back the rifle, because it wouldn't run Federal Factory Blue box well either...again base diameter...yes "factory". But small based dies made perfection.....and very tiny holes on paper....so why go to that trouble and possibly ruin the accuracy? I've just never seen a bad side of using those dies.

Some argue that the brass won't last as long.....and I have to laugh. Does someone make an AR extractor that is easy on brass....IOW's, IME I throw away brass mangled by extractors sooner than I do brass with split bases....or shoulders.

 

[2ndtimer]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HH08L1A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_fabc_ZS1BA01BPJADJNJXAK0V

This is a good book to start with. It will go over the basics. It will list which powders they have data for and you can go from there and see what you can find. Why do you want to reload?

Just FYI, Midway has that same manual on sale for $19.49 or about half of what Amazon is charging.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1064661989

 

[2ndtimer]

I gotta agree, everyone should learn how to do everything on a single-srage before they get fancy. Learn how to spot, isolate and solve issues one at a time before all of the processes are combined and you can't tell what's wrong.

The cheapskate gene I got from my father reveals itself when I buy gear, and it has led to my upgrading incrementally and learning a lot of lessons the hard way. Currently running a Lee Auto-lock Breech Press progressive, and fidgeting and arguing with it has led me to size and de-cap separately, because that force and resistance has been the cause of pretty much every problem I have had. (Or more accurately, I have my juvenile range slaves do it.) And yes, life would probably be easier if I just get a Dillon.

I agree with the idea to start with a single stage press, then once you have gained experience and a solid understanding of the handloading process, then progress to a progressive press. ( See what I did there?). I still use my RCBS Rockchucker press that I bought back in 1982, even though I have had a Dillon RL-550B on the bench since the early 90’s.
The idea of running a lubricated case through a sizing die and inserting a primer into said lubricated case, then dispensing powder and seating a bullet into said lubricated case just bugged me. I then tried halfway, sizing the cases on the rockchucker, wiping the lubricant off and using the Dillon to prime, charge and seat bullets, but it just seemed easier to load bottleneck cases on a single stage where you can weigh each charge if necessary and more carefully assemble each round. The Dillon is awesome for cranking out 9mm ammo or .357 Magnums using carbide sizing dies so the cases aren’t slippery with lubricant.
Also, a single stage press is quite a bit cheaper to get set up with than a Dillon. My only advice there is to get a quality press, RCBS, Redding, Lyman, etc. A good heavy duty press will last a lifetime, or more, and is readily marketable if you decide hand loading isn’t what you thought it would be.

 

[The Glockodile]

Unless you slug (Is that the word for it?) your chambers and dies...

“...Small - Base,” “Match,” “Tight Chambers...”

These are all buzzwords as varied as one’s imagination

 

[merlynski]

Lee Manual at Midway: https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101284116?pid=639649
Under $9, 63% off