Should I Start Reloading For My AR-15?

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OregonJohnny

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I have been reloading handgun cartridges off and on for about 2 years now, and finally feel pretty good about it. My favorite cartridge to reload is .44 Magnum, especially since I'm now saving myself about $20 per 50 rounds!

I have successfully reloaded for 5 different handgun cartridges/calibers (.38, .357, .40, .44, .45). At this point, I have yet to reload for any rifle cartridges.

However, I'm beginning to feel the financial sting of shooting my .223/5.56 chambered AR-15. The cheapest ammo I can find locally runs about $7/20 rounds. That's 35 cents every shot, or $10.50 every 30-round magazine! Since I like to really run my AR through it's paces, the cost is really adding up.

I have the RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master kit, plus digital calipers, brass tumbler, and most of the basic equipment, including a hand chamfering/deburring tool (that I've never used). I believe all I need in addition in order to reload for .223 is:

• Case trimmer
• Rifle powder
• Rifle primers
• Bullets
• Dies
• Shell holder

One of my questions is about the case trimmer. If I'm only planning on trimming 1 caliber (.223, maybe the occasional .44 Magnum), and only reloading batches of 50-100 rounds per session, what kind of trimmer can I get away with?

Another question is about the dies. Is the RCBS AR die set a good investment if I'm reloading strictly for an AR, or is there any benefit to the standard .223 die set?

I figure that after the initial investment in a case trimmer, dies, and a shell holder, I can reload basic "plinking" 55-grain FMJ rounds for about 20 cents/round, saving me about $4-5 every magazine.

Is the .223 hard to reload? Is a S&W M&P15 a good platform for a novice reloader just starting on rifle cartridges? Is it all worth it, or should I just wait around for bulk discount 5.56 deals?

Finally adding a rifle cartridge to my reloading repertoire seems exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

Thanks!
 
Is the RCBS AR die set a good investment
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I don't know.

All I know is, it consists of a Sm Base sizing die, which you don't need.
And a Taper crimp seating die, which I don't need.

I have reloaded perfect .223 semi-auto ammo for over 40 years with a standard RCBS die set.

I very seldom if ever crimp, as case neck tension alone is all that's necessary if it is right.

And if I do crimp for whatever reason escapes me, I do it with a Lee FCD collet crimp die.
It is not case length dependent at all, as it operates off shell-holder pressure alone.

rc
 
what kind of trimmer can I get away with?
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Lee Trimmer w/ a adjustable speed drill will do nicely.

plinking" 55-grain FMJ rounds for about 20 cents/round
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You may get it around $0.15 plus the cost of brass replacement.

I load mil-surp brass using a small base die. I can't say that it's needed, but I can say it works fine. I have also loaded LC brass with Lee dies w/o issue.

The biggest cost savings will be seen when you start replacing high $ ammo with your high performance reloads (match, hunting...)
 
I have loaded for ARs since the early 80's without a small base die and no crimp.
+1 on the Lee case trimmer.
223 is a breeze to load. As with any rifle brass, you don't have the belling step. But you will have to deal with sizing lube, if you have not before. There are many options and most work okay. Since you use a single stage press, at least give Imperial a try. I have gone back to it after using some sprays.
You also need a chamfering tool to remove burrs after trimming. In a pinch, you can also use that to cut military crimps from the primer pockets.
Make sure your powder measure has a small mouth on the drop for the small neck diameter of the 223. Ball powder meters best and there are a bunch of good ball powders for 223.
 
Absorutery!

When .223 ammo was $4 a box, I didn't care whether I reloaded it or not. And I am known as being particularly frugal... um, cost-conscious... er, just plain cheap. When a couple of my shooting buddies and I suddenly went tac-gear crazy and our ARs were burning up several hundred rounds per trip to the desert, I changed my ways. That coupled with retail costs of loaded rounds skyrocketing, tripled with frequent component droughts and we got serious again about our reloading habits. Sorry not to remember the name of who posted it first (but, props anyway), our current cost per round is just a few thousandths shy of 15 cents. Sure, I was happier when it was 5 cents, but, feces occurs. I load one general purpose round for all 3 of our rifles using WW-748, usually CCI or WW SR primers and whatever bulk 55gr FMJ BT bullet I can find at the gun shows. If you buy the powder in one pound cans, the primers for $30/thousand and the bullets for $11/100 you won't save any money reloading. I buy the powder in 8# lots when a local store has customer appreciation days or some other such sale ($135 last time), primers whenever Cabelas puts them on sale for $20/1000, and the last bullets I bought were Armscors at $70/1000. Bulking up forestalls some inevitable inflationary gouges. If you can buddy up and place big bulk orders for stuff, you can offset the Haz-Mat shipping bite that I won't suffer alone for mail-order. When I was shooting USPSA/IPSC, several of us would order primers 50,000 each minimum and 8# kegs of powder in case lots for pricing that could never be matched by any form of retail. Scrounging and shaping your own good deal can be very rewarding.
As for the other gear, I use the 5 or 6 dollar Lee trimmer thingies for every caliber that needs trimming. I do not use them in the prescribed safe and sane method and let that be my disclaimer. I chuck up the cutter and length gauge in a drill press and have the shell holder in a grippable wooden ball. The scar on my left index finger is testimony to what happens if you're careless with this setup. I was careless once. Once. The length gauge will last for several thousand rounds before it gets sloppy and has to be replaced.
Dies are a personal problem. I currently use the Dillon carbide sizer and taper crimp dies along with the Hornady bullet seater. Nothing wrong with any of the other seaters, I just kind of developed a thing for the Hornady. My RCBS dies have been retired as has the Hornady sizer -- I just got tired of tearing rims off of cases and having to use the stuck case remover to separate them. That's using them on my Dillon. On my Rock Chucker with its tighter, sturdier shellholder, I had very few stuck cases with any sizer, with properly lubed cases. But after caving in for the Dillon carbide, I can never go back.

Hope this Freds.

mike
 
Afternoon OregonJohnny

Yes, definitely load your own if you already have most of the expensive pieces.

I have been loading the 223 since the late 60s’ and they are a pain to work with compared to pistol cartridges but it is still very worth it.

As mentioned in the posts above you need to buy in bulk to save much but if the components are sourced correctly you can save over half the cost per round.

I buy a lot from Cabala’s as the store is close and prices are pretty good with their monthly sales coupled to the preferred customer deals. I just bought 10,000 primers and 10,000 bullets. The primers were 19.99 per 1000 and the 55 gr bullets were something like 8.99 per 100 with a $70.00 off the end price using a preferred discount deal.

Looking at your list I would also suggest a case gauge so you can gauge some of the finished loads to be sure they will all chamber without jambs. I would also suggest TRYING a collet type neck die. While they are usually not recommended for the AR or auto type 223 reloads I have have no issues in any of my AR Stoner actions using the collet neck resizer once I have originally used a full length resizer for the first reload. IF you can make a neck only resizer work it will make your cases last a lot longer and they will require a lot less neck trimming. I currently get 12-14 loads per case on most cases with very few split case necks. I load somewhat hot but not quite max pressures.

The other thing I will strongly suggest is a good precision powder weighing scale as some of the AR loads are working with very high pressure and compressed loads so just a grain or so of powder off and you are playing with danger.

The one good point to reloading your own is you can come up with a more accurate round (for YOUR guns) than factory rounds at a lower price.
 
Thanks so far, everyone, for your responses.

The biggest cost savings will be seen when you start replacing high $ ammo with your high performance reloads (match, hunting...)
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If you buy the powder in one pound cans, the primers for $30/thousand and the bullets for $11/100 you won't save any money reloading.
Click to expand...

As mentioned in the posts above you need to buy in bulk to save much
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Yes, this is kind of what I figured. At this early point in my reloading career, I have only bought small quantities of components to experiment with, and to "get the hang of it". So I probably couldn't do any better than reloading for around 20 cents/round.

At this point, I'm not really thinking of the benefit of fine tuning some match-grade ammo. I'm just looking to save money when running my AR-15 through 5 or 6 magazines every time I go out in the woods. My brief math makes it look like about 2,000 reloaded rounds would be my break-even point on the cost of dies, shell holder, case trimming/case prep equipment, and all the necessary (non-bulk) components.

At the rate I shoot (not nearly often enough!) blasting through 2,000 rounds of .223 would take me almost a year.

I may just do it for the satisfaction of reloading my first rifle cartridge, and in case .223 ever gets as hard to find as it was circa 2009.
 
Regarding your time- There are a couple factors to consider. First- case prep can take a lot of time, especially if you are reloading military brass (but, much of this brass prep is a one-time deal if you resize carefully).

Second- it takes a lot of time to reload on a single stage. That's fine if you're not shooting a lot, but a progressive will really crank a LOT faster.

I totally agree about the "if you're loading match grade ammo" comment above. That's where it really makes sense from a $$$ standpoint.

It's not hard, but it is fun to reload .223 :)
 
it takes a lot of time to reload on a single stage. That's fine if you're not shooting a lot, but a progressive will really crank a LOT faster.
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Is anyone out there reloading .223 in large quantities (plinking/range ammo) on a single-stage press? If so, are you finding it worth the time and effort?

I hadn't really considered that this all may be a moot point since I'm using the ol' Rock Chucker. It's been great to learn the basics, and to save about $17/50 on .44 Magnum, but it may just not be enough for the thousands of rounds of .223 I'm envisioning.
 
Evening OregonJohnny

Yes, if you are lubing the cases then full length resizing a single stage press is a pain in the arm and somewhat slow.

I have a turret but in a lot of cases have that set up for another caliber so will run a hundred or more 223 on my single stage. Using a universal decap die then, a lubless collet neck sizer it goes pretty quick. The slow part is weighing then adding the powder.

One other thing to consider is what you shoot. If in place or bench type shooting no problem to easily recover your brass. If action shooting or moving all over the range while shooting multiple rounds then recovering the brass will be time consuming and in some cases next to impossible.
 
years ago I bought a case of 500 rds of lake city ammo for $145, I shot some and am now reloading those cases. with a lee turret press and double disk powder measure it makes reloading .223 easy and fast, the only thing that slows the whole thing down is lubing the cases.
 
I picked up a used Lyman, mounted it on a board and adapted it to use my cordless drill motor. It's fast and holds extremely accurate lengths. These old Lyman trimmers go for very low amounts on Ebay. Stable mounting will do more for your ease and speed of trimming than anything else.

IMG_4285.png
 
If action shooting or moving all over the range while shooting multiple rounds then recovering the brass will be time consuming and in some cases next to impossible.
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Another good point I hadn't thought much about. When shooting my wheel guns, and even my lever rifles, the brass just falls at my feet or I dump it in a bag. It's hard enough chasing .45 ACP brass around in the Oregon forest, I'd hate to try wrangling a few hundred .223 cases. I know they make brass-catching attachments for ARs, but still, it seems like a daunting enterprise.

I've done the math over and over, and in the very best case, with buying the cheapest bulk components I could find, my savings just wouldn't be enough to justify the cost of setting up my bench to reload rifle. Maybe some day, I'll get the opportunity to shoot more often, and will see the benefit of investing in a progressive setup.

Every once in a while, a local sporting goods store will sell the Federal American Eagle 5.56 XM193 for $5.99/20. Plus, no sales tax here in Oregon, so that seems like a pretty good deal these days.

Again, thanks everybody for your suggestions. The Handloading and Reloading section of THR remains one of the best resources on the web!
 
know they make brass-catching attachments for ARs,...
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Have you ever seen the old-timers just fold a bandana/pocket handerchief in half (diagonally) and tie the two ends to the carrying handle front and rear? The loose end/triangle portion drapes over the ejection port and the brass drops right there. (I mean right there) ...either at your feet or 3" right of the gun on the bench.... slick.)
 
OregonJohnny said:
I know they make brass-catching attachments for ARs, but still, it seems like a daunting enterprise.
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I have been using a UTG (I think that is the name) brass catcher. Less than $10. It wraps around the handguard and extends over the ejection port.

Works pretty well as is but I added a wire loop at the start of the mesh bag to help keep it open.

Easy to take off, easy to install. Not the be all to end all, but I liked it well enough to buy a second one. It fits my M4gery, M2, and varmint free float handgaurds ARs.
 
Saw a guy at my range the other week.... he took a hand-held fishing net he bought from Wal-Mart, drilled a hole in a 2x4, pressed the handle of the net into the hole, and stood it next to his AR on the bench. All the cases flew right into the net, with no potential for a stovepipe, as I've experienced from time to time with the mount-on-rifle brass catchers.
 
MEHavey said:
Have you ever seen the old-timers just fold a bandana/pocket handerchief in half (diagonally) and tie the two ends to the carrying handle front and rear? The loose end/triangle portion drapes over the ejection port and the brass drops right there. (I mean right there) ...either at your feet or 3" right of the gun on the bench.... slick.)
Click to expand...
Morning MEHavey

I do that with an old cut pillow case on my AR’s when bench shooting or standing at the range but it would be pain in action shooting events or combat simulations. I have enough JUNK hanging off my AR platforms now.
 
I can load 1k case for $165-175 (shipping/hazmat included) depending on component pricing.

A case of factory pmc is about $290 + shipping

A case of steel cased wolf is $190-200+shipping.

It all depends on your standards of shooting. Some folks say screw reloading when you can plink with wolf all day long for the same price and you don't have to spend the time reloading.

Some folks don't want to shoot the wolf crap as it causes FTEs and stuck cases.

Some folks got wads of money to spend and don't give a crap how much it costs.

In my case, I've already dove into the world of reloading and 223 is a major round in my arsenal. I can process 1000 pieces of brass in about 45-60 mins on my 650 with Dillon trimmer, switch toolheads and then load the brass with 55gr fmjbt projectiles in about 2-2.5hours depending on my mood. In roughly 3.5 hours time I can have a case ready to go. Some may argue I should have spent the extra $20-25 and bought a case of wolf. But I don't put a value on my time spent reloading as I like to do it and I relieve a lot of my work stress pulling that handle and most of all I get pure satisfaction when I shoot next to one of my buddies that is shooting factory and i'm shooting my reloads and my groups are significantly smaller than his.
 
If you haven't gotten the dies yet, I would recommend looking into the RCBS X-die for .223. I have not tried them, but I've heard good things about them around this forum. Basically you trim the brass once initially and the die is designed to limit the growth while resizing so you won't have to trim after the first loading.
 
i load for my 223 ar but only the rounds i use to hunt with. i load my 204 upper for accuracy. i get 223 50 gr tula hp ammo in steel cases from cheaperthandirt.com for 115.00 after nra roundup shipped for 500 rounds. i cant load that cheap. they cycle good and are accurate rounds. i save my reloading for accuracy in a hunting rifle. i do load all my 10mm and 40cal ammo, but i dont load fmjs in anything. another vote for the hornady case trimmer with ball grip. do yourself a favor and get the drill attachment and chuck it and go like hell.
 
Wolfman Bill said:
Evening OregonJohnny

Yes, if you are lubing the cases then full length resizing a single stage press is a pain in the arm and somewhat slow.

I have a turret but in a lot of cases have that set up for another caliber so will run a hundred or more 223 on my single stage. Using a universal decap die then, a lubless collet neck sizer it goes pretty quick. The slow part is weighing then adding the powder.

One other thing to consider is what you shoot. If in place or bench type shooting no problem to easily recover your brass. If action shooting or moving all over the range while shooting multiple rounds then recovering the brass will be time consuming and in some cases next to impossible.
Click to expand...
You're not using a collet die for semi-auto rifles are you?
 
Are you having any lucky with the LEE Auto Disk dropping consistent charges. I have the same setup and am not happy with the consistency. Using H335 powder by the way.
 
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