.223 reloading

lonestar2222010 · Feb 9, 2012

I am very new to reloading I have been doing nothing but straightwall .45 acp and .44 rem mag. next i will be starting .223 and .300 win mag. what all do i need for reloading this other than the powder bullets and primers. i see rcbs has a 2 piece die set but it doesnt have an expander like the pistol stuff? i'm lost on this whole thing. what are all the tools needed and what are the steps compared to pistol reloading. heres what i do now : 1) clean brass 2) inspect brass 3) deprime/ resize 4) clean primer pocket 5) trim case if needed, 6) chamfer and debur 7) reprime 8) expand neck for bullet 9) charge) 10) seat bullet and crimp. now this is with my 3 piece rcbs carbide set and my single stage press (cant afford a fancy progressive) what needs to be added for bottleneck rifles.

ArchAngelCD · Feb 9, 2012

lonestar2222010 said:
I am very new to reloading I have been doing nothing but straightwall .45 acp and .44 rem mag. next i will be starting .223 and .300 win mag. what all do i need for reloading this other than the powder bullets and primers. i see rcbs has a 2 piece die set but it doesnt have an expander like the pistol stuff? i'm lost on this whole thing. what are all the tools needed and what are the steps compared to pistol reloading. heres what i do now : 1) clean brass 2) inspect brass 3) deprime/ resize 4) clean primer pocket 5) trim case if needed, 6) chamfer and debur 7) reprime 8) expand neck for bullet 9) charge) 10) seat bullet and crimp. now this is with my 3 piece rcbs carbide set and my single stage press (cant afford a fancy progressive) what needs to be added for bottleneck rifles.

You don't need an expander for rifle brass so #9 is not necessary. Actually that would be counterproductive since neck tension is what really holds the bullet in place. You also don't need to crimp in most cases. Some feel it hinders accuracy and some feel you should always crimp. In reality it's only necessary to crimp rifle rounds meant for use in a tube feed magazine like in leverguns.

I highly suggest you buy the current edition of the ABC's of Reloading. It's a very helpful book...

Welcome to the forum.

DaveInFloweryBranchGA · Feb 9, 2012

What sort of bullets are you going to be reloading? Jacketed or cast?

gpjoe · Feb 9, 2012

You are already doing much of what is required to load rifle. One additional step is that you will now need to lube your brass prior to resizing. It's not critical for straight-wall pistol brass and carbide pistol dies, but I promise you will get a case stuck in a full-length rifle die with no lube.

As Arch pointed out, there are enough differences that you may want to re-read your load manuals, concentrating on the rifle portion/chapter. I was reloading 45 acp exclusively and recently started reloading 223 so that's what I did and it I'm glad I did. Rifle reloading is much more detailed, at least IMO, than pistol reloading. A lot can go wrong.

steve4102 · Feb 9, 2012

Yup, I agree, Manual time.

rondog · Feb 9, 2012

One additional step is that you will now need to lube your brass prior to resizing.[/QUOTE]

This is crucial! I can't emphasize this enough! You get a tapered, bottle-neck rifle case stuck in a sizing die, and you'll experience unhappiness like you can't even imagine. Probably invent new words too.

greyling22 · Feb 9, 2012

Lonestar, your process is very thorough and will serve you well to loading rifle. Just lube the cases. If you're not going to be doing a ton of them, lee makes a cheap lube you rub on with your fingers that works well, though slow. I've never tried the lube pad (though I would like to), but have not had much luck with the spray on lubes though most people seem to like them. I don't know what I am doing wrong. maybe just being too miserly with it.

But, I think you're making loading for your handguns too hard on yourself. Have you ever actually NEEDED to clean a primer pocket or trim a 44 mag or 45 acp? I think you could gut out cleaning pockets, trimming and chamfering.

smurf hunter · Feb 9, 2012

re trimming pistol

Even my hottest .357 loads I'd reloaded 12 times almost also split and crack before they stretch. A couple times I've salvage these and cut down to .38spl. Otherwise never done pistol brass trimming for hundreds of rounds.

.223 reloading

lonestar2222010

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