Trimming/Prepping .223

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Smurdman

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I have just purchased my first .223, & I have opted to start reloading .223.

I have spent numerous hours trying to decide different ways/best options, of course after resizing and depriming.how to do the: Deburring/chamfering, Primer pocket cleaning, Primer crimp removal and Primer pocket uniform'er-izer(pardon my ignorance about the correct term) sizing.
I don't want to do the hand crank thing so I am thinking about the Giaud Tri Trimmer, put it in a drill in a vice and take care of sizing, chamfering and deburing.That still leaves all the primer pocket work...
Or should I go the Frankford Trimmer th deburring/chamfering and 1 primer option, so that option still leaves 2 primer jobs to do; Military decrimping and Pocket resizer uniformizer thing.
Next option is the Lyman case prep center express, which looks great it does 5 things, BUT the only thing its missing is the TRIMMER....
RCBS has a similar one that has 6 stations but no Trimmer. Not interested in the Hornady vertical expensive one or the RCBS combo one that's also around 400.00...I am open to your thoughts and suggestions.

In case you didn't notice I am cursed with over thinking things and there's a lot of room for that about the aforementioned processes... ,
 
I’m just starting loading 223 as well. This is how I plan to go about it. I want a WFT trimmer and then an RCBS or Lyman prep center. They have enough stations to do everything you’re talking about. remember once the primer pocket work is done you never have to do it again. Only cleaning.
 
The Giaud Tri Trimmer is a good choice. As far as primer pocket prep of crimped pockets I prefer to swage the pocket back to it's normal place. There are several ways to do it, press swagers as well as bench models available. I don't clean or uniform the pocket unless it's for my Bench Match ammo. Then it gets a lot of special attention. The easiest is to just wet clean with/without SS pins once the brass is deprimed.
 
I’m just starting loading 223 as well. This is how I plan to go about it. I want a WFT trimmer and then an RCBS or Lyman prep center. They have enough stations to do everything you’re talking about. remember once the primer pocket work is done you never have to do it again. Only cleaning.
I have been leaning that way, as long as I save my brass after that I think all I would have to do is inspect for case length, I was thinking of trimming a little extra to lessen the trimming to every 2 or 3 reloads, again this is speculation ..
 
The Giaud Tri Trimmer is a good choice. As far as primer pocket prep of crimped pockets I prefer to swage the pocket back to it's normal place. There are several ways to do it, press swagers as well as bench models available. I don't clean or uniform the pocket unless it's for my Bench Match ammo. Then it gets a lot of special attention. The easiest is to just wet clean with/without SS pins once the brass is deprimed.

I have heard the term swage, is that the same as a Crimp remover? again, pardon my ignorance....Sounds sensible to me If you clean with the primer removed it should be fine especially If I tricked it out initially...I have the walnut shell cleaner instead if the wed media type. Is the wet tumbler cleaner method better?? IYO??
 
I have heard the term swage, is that the same as a Crimp remover? again, pardon my ignorance....Sounds sensible to me If you clean with the primer removed it should be fine especially If I tricked it out initially...I have the walnut shell cleaner instead if the wed media type. Is the wet tumbler cleaner method better?? IYO??
you can get your brass clean enough by dry tumbling with walnut or corn cob plus you don't have to decap them before you clean them. yes, swage, crimp removal is basically the same, just getting the primer pocket ready for another primer and not all .223/5.56 has crimped primers.
 
I have just purchased my first .223, & I have opted to start reloading .223.

I have spent numerous hours trying to decide different ways/best options, of course after resizing and depriming.how to do the: Deburring/chamfering, Primer pocket cleaning, Primer crimp removal and Primer pocket uniform'er-izer(pardon my ignorance about the correct term) sizing.
I don't want to do the hand crank thing so I am thinking about the Giaud Tri Trimmer, put it in a drill in a vice and take care of sizing, chamfering and deburing.That still leaves all the primer pocket work...
Or should I go the Frankford Trimmer th deburring/chamfering and 1 primer option, so that option still leaves 2 primer jobs to do; Military decrimping and Pocket resizer uniformizer thing.
Next option is the Lyman case prep center express, which looks great it does 5 things, BUT the only thing its missing is the TRIMMER....
RCBS has a similar one that has 6 stations but no Trimmer. Not interested in the Hornady vertical expensive one or the RCBS combo one that's also around 400.00...I am open to your thoughts and suggestions.

In case you didn't notice I am cursed with over thinking things and there's a lot of room for that about the aforementioned processes... ,


Really the first question that should be asked is "what type of shooting are you reloading for?" For example, general purpose ammo is a somewhat different beast than a precision load. This will determine to what level of pickiness you actually need to accomplish the goal.
 
For removing the crimp RCBS has a die that removed the crimp for around $40.

Dillon has a better set up with thier 600 Swagger tool. But with things the way they are with all.of the shortages I doubt you would be able to find one.

Dry tumbleing works but wet tumbleing does a better job.
 
I have heard the term swage, is that the same as a Crimp remover? again, pardon my ignorance....Sounds sensible to me If you clean with the primer removed it should be fine especially If I tricked it out initially...I have the walnut shell cleaner instead if the wed media type. Is the wet tumbler cleaner method better?? IYO??

Swaging moves the brass back away from the pocket. Some cut the crimp out, removing brass. If over done you lessen primer support. I though out a batch of 357sig brass where some one did that. The primers looked like a hat with several primers blown. These were given to me so no loss, probably the reason it was left at the range. In either case use the right tool designed for the job. Less chance of scrapping brass.

Dry tumbling will not clean the primers pockets. Cleans the outside only will not clean the inside. I only wiped my brass down for decades before I started tumbling, then moved to the wet system a decade later. If you have young children do all of your cleaning away from where your kids will be. Dry tumbling generates dust that contain lead. Wet cleaning keeps this from getting air born. It also cleans the brass inside and out. Will clean the primer pockets if the brass is deprimed prior to cleaning. It's not necessary to clean the primer pockets for general shooting, rifle or pistol. Only the select few that shoot long range do it.
 
It does. You can set it up how you want.
you can get your brass clean enough by dry tumbling with walnut or corn cob plus you don't have to decap them before you clean them. yes, swage, crimp removal is basically the same, just getting the primer pocket ready for another primer and not all .223/5.56 has crimped primers.

Thanks for the clairity!! Initially I am thinking about prepping all of them, catch all the cases and reload again. Should much easier after the 1st time..
 
Really the first question that should be asked is "what type of shooting are you reloading for?" For example, general purpose ammo is a somewhat different beast than a precision load. This will determine to what level of pickiness you actually need to accomplish the goal.

General purpose, practice range, no competition ultimately fun and home protection.....
 
Swaging moves the brass back away from the pocket. Some cut the crimp out, removing brass. If over done you lessen primer support. I though out a batch of 357sig brass where some one did that. The primers looked like a hat with several primers blown. These were given to me so no loss, probably the reason it was left at the range. In either case use the right tool designed for the job. Less chance of scrapping brass.

Dry tumbling will not clean the primers pockets. Cleans the outside only will not clean the inside. I only wiped my brass down for decades before I started tumbling, then moved to the wet system a decade later. If you have young children do all of your cleaning away from where your kids will be. Dry tumbling generates dust that contain lead. Wet cleaning keeps this from getting air born. It also cleans the brass inside and out. Will clean the primer pockets if the brass is deprimed prior to cleaning. It's not necessary to clean the primer pockets for general shooting, rifle or pistol. Only the select few that shoot long range do it.

The brass is once fired from a military base, I noticed some with no primer crimp, so there a mix. I have 2K total from the same source, Its been cleaned but not deprimed. So would it hurt to to use the crimp cutter on ALL the brass and would it hurt/destroy non crimped primer pockets?.
 
I reload for 5 different .223/5.56s, 3 AR15s and two bolt guns.

How I trim depends on the gun /purpose.

3Gun/Plinking ammo gets done on a Giraud Tri-Way in a drill press (highly recommend the Giraud). I don't even measure it, just FL size and run it through the Giraud, it's quicker. The bolt gun and precision AR15 stuff gets done on a Forster trimmer and then chamfer and debur.

Primer pockets I inspect/check after cleaning, that brass that does have crimps gets swaged on a Dillon as it's headed to the 3gun/plinking brass pile anyway.
 
The initial time is on the first prep. After that it is trim and neck prep only as needed. I wet clean and therefore do have clean primer pockets but in the past have not cleaned primer pockets specifically. I think that swaging the primer pockets is the better option and use the inexpensive CH4D tool. Look on youtube for someone using it. It works fast with minimal setup. Lots of things in reloading like cleaning flash holes are a point of diminishing returns if not trying for loooong range shots IMO.
 
I’ve read pros and con for both swaging and reaming. I use a Lyman reamer on a very slow electric motor. It doesnt even scrape the sides on non crimped primer pockets.
As long as you keep the brass square to the reamer you’ll be fine.

The initial time is on the first prep. After that it is trim and neck prep only as needed. I wet clean and therefore do have clean primer pockets but in the past have not cleaned primer pockets specifically. I think that swaging the primer pockets is the better option and use the inexpensive CH4D tool. Look on youtube for someone using it. It works fast with minimal setup. Lots of things in reloading like cleaning flash holes are a point of diminishing returns if not trying for loooong range shots IMO.

This sounds like a good option, can I use it on a Lee Classic turret press?
 
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I reload for 5 different .223/5.56s, 3 AR15s and two bolt guns.

How I trim depends on the gun /purpose.

3Gun/Plinking ammo gets done on a Giraud Tri-Way in a drill press (highly recommend the Giraud). I don't even measure it, just FL size and run it through the Giraud, it's quicker. The bolt gun and precision AR15 stuff gets done on a Forster trimmer and then chamfer and debur.

Primer pockets I inspect/check after cleaning, that brass that does have crimps gets swaged on a Dillon as it's headed to the 3gun/plinking brass pile anyway.

I would prefer not to have to drop another 125-150 bucks on just swaging, I am sure it does a fantastic job like all of Dillons tools.
I
 
It will work just like a standard die. I purchased the combo swager and ram prime kit and it was around $56.
It did not come with instructions but they are downloadable. I just watched a user on you tube and set mine up. It really is kind of intuitive though. Put the size pocket tool in the press ram, snap the propper shell holder in and with the ram up screw the holder down to about the swage you want. Drop the ram some and insert the brass then raise gently. Screw it in or out until with the ram at top of stroke you get the pin to swage as much as you want. Then lower change brass and repeat. It will go fast after setup. Plus no internal rod to adjust like on the Dillon or RCBS ones.
 
It will work just like a standard die. I purchased the combo swager and ram prime kit and it was around $56.
It did not come with instructions but they are downloadable. I just watched a user on you tube and set mine up. It really is kind of intuitive though. Put the size pocket tool in the press ram, snap the propper shell holder in and with the ram up screw the holder down to about the swage you want. Drop the ram some and insert the brass then raise gently. Screw it in or out until with the ram at top of stroke you get the pin to swage as much as you want. Then lower change brass and repeat. It will go fast after setup. Plus no internal rod to adjust like on the Dillon or RCBS ones.

Great, I will see If I can find it on amazon, lots a hoops for.223 but worth it during the ammo shortage....Thanks for your input!!
 
I decap, wet tumble with SS pins, bake @ 200 degrees for 20 minutes, tap each case to dislodge any pesky pins. Then I resize with a full length sizer with lots of lube. Finally, I use the Frankford Arsenal Platinum Prep center to trim, deburr and chamfer the case mouth, and turn the case around and use the deburr bit to remove the primer pocket swage ( I only apply it to the primer pocket for a quick 6 count).
It works every time!
 
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