.223 reloading question

[Mr White]

I just finished reloading my first small batch of ammo.

I got a Rochchucker kit and a set of .223 dies for my birthday.

Here's the problem.

I don't have a bullet puller yet or this really wouldn't be a problem.

Cases trimmed to 2.750" Using 55 grain Hornady SP, loaded several powder loads 24.0, 24.5 and 25.0 gr of H4895. I set my seating die to seat to 2.255" OAL but when I tightened the locknut, I must have turned the seater in a bit too much. After I seated all the bullets, I only loaded 24 to start with, I measured a few and found that they are all between 2.242-2.245".

Would cartridges that short cause any problems other than possibly being less accurate than they could be? Should I worry about shooting them? After that , I readjusted my seating die and they're seating to about 2.255" now.

 

[mc223]

.005 to .008 variation in COAL will not likely be noticable in accuracy.

 

[dcloco]

2.750???

 

[Slamfire]

Go shoot the stuff and stop worring about .005" seating depth variations.

Seat to magazine depth (about 2.25") and go shoot. You will find that your OAL will vary due to the variation in bullet tip length. Your bullet seater does not seat bullets to their OAL, rather it seats bullets based on their ogive. Therefore just keep everything below 2.25" and go shoot the stuff.

As for a bullet puller on .223. It is very difficult to pull bullets on .223. There is not much bullet sticking out to grab, and the part you grab is past the waistline. When I have used kinetic pullers, the light little bullet just does not have enough mass to pop out. I have spend a good number of wacks trying to pull bullets. Very frustrating.

You will find that H4895 or any of the 4895 types (IMR, AA2495) shoot outstandingly in the .223.

I don't shoot anything lighter than 69's, but a bud of mine developed a one hole load with 52 Match bullets and 4895.

 

[Mr White]

2.750???

Typo or brainfart. I can't remember which. 1.750"

Thanks for the help. Like I said, these are the first rounds I've ever loaded and I still don't know exactly what matters, or how many thousandths it matters by. When I trimmed my cases, I got all worried that there was still a few thousandths variation among them. My buddy who's been helping me along told me not to worry about a few thousandths of case length. I didn't know if that held true for OAL too.

I wanted to get started with something simple so .223 and 55 grainers was it. These will be for 100 yard matches so they should be fine for that. I'm really looking forward to starting on 69 and 80 grain match ammo and then some good match loads for my M1.

I'm building a reloading bench today.

 

[Walkalong]

are all between 2.242-2.245"

You will be hard pressed to do better. It's where the ogive is is all that matters. .003 difference in O.A.L. is not a big deal at all. My blasting reloads with 55 Gr. FMJ's have a good bit bigger variance than that. I do not reload the .223 for accuracy as I do the .222 Mag.

 

[nitesite]

You mentioned bullet pullers. May I suggest Hornady's Cam-Lock bullet puller with collets?

It works wonderfully, quickly and best of all there is no spilled powder anywhere. I had to pull about 40 .223 Rem cartridges recently and I really enjoyed how fast it was, and how the bullets showed virtually no markings at all.

But the best part over kinetic pullers, in addition to the speed factor, was being able to keep all the powder in each case.

http://www.cabelas.com/spodw-1/0012539.shtml

 

[Mr White]

Nitesite,
Does that puller mount in a press? If so, my buddy has one like that and it works slicker 'n snot on a wet doorknob. Doesn't mark the bullet at all. One of those is probably in my near future.

Thanks.

 

[JAMES77257]

I have to disagree. The distance from the lands and grooves is VERY important when it comes to consistancy. Is your die loose? When precision shooting check the diminsions on every round. I like .002" off of L&G's.

 

[P-32]

I have to disagree. The distance from the lands and grooves is VERY important when it comes to consistancy. Is your die loose? When precision shooting check the diminsions on every round. I like .002" off of L&G's.

How far you seat from the lands is really up the the rifle and bullet. If I seated 80 gr SMK's as close as you suggest I would not have the accuracy needed for 600 yards. I seat 80 gr. bullets with the ogive .015 off the lands, others go out as far as .020. For 77's and below I'm limited by mag length.

As far as the 24 loaded a tad short, pulling them would be lots of work. I say fire them and record their performace.

 

[JAMES77257]

How far you seat from the lands is really up the the rifle and bullet. If I seated 80 gr SMK's as close as you suggest I would not have the accuracy needed for 600 yards. I seat 80 gr. bullets with the ogive .015 off the lands, others go out as far as .020. For 77's and below I'm limited by mag length.

As far as the 24 loaded a tad short, pulling them would be lots of work. I say fire them and record their performace

I agree, I should have mentioned that I only load 40 gr v-max.

 

[Ol` Joe]

If you only have a couple of bullets to pull and are not real worried about saveing them (although with care you can) push the cartridge up through the top of your press with it set in the shell holder on your press ram and grab the bullet with a pair of pliers. Lower the ram and the bullet pops out quite easily. A piece of cloth or other padding will help prevent deforming the bullet. This isn`t a good operation if large amounts of cartridges are involved though.

 

[Bullet]

Mr White

I think you would be fine to just shoot them.
You might look here –

http://www.hodgdon.com/data/rifle/223rem.php

 

[redneck2]

You're gonna drive yourself nuts if you try to keep OAL within .003. Tips may vary more than that, particularly SP's. Distance ogive to lands is somewhat critical. Typically OAL not so much.

HINT...for a cheap, easy and accurate way to check distance to lands, check out Varmint Al's website

 

[JAMES77257]

You're gonna drive yourself nuts if you try to keep OAL within .003. Tips typically vary more than that. Distance ogive to lands is somewhat critical. Typically OAL is not so much.

I agree, it is a pain. The reason I reload is for quality, not quantity. If a thousanth or two on the lands will shave a tenth or two on my groups, it's worth it.

 

[Winger Ed.]

An AR-15, or Rem. 700 makes a GREAT bullet puller.

.

 

[Walkalong]

Quote:

You're gonna drive yourself nuts if you try to keep OAL within .003. Tips typically vary more than that. Distance ogive to lands is somewhat critical. Typically OAL is not so much.

I agree, it is a pain. The reason I reload is for quality, not quantity. If a thousanth or two on the lands will shave a tenth or two on my groups, it's worth it.

You never see a Benchrest shooter measure O.A.L. because it is unimportant. The distance, and consistency of that distance, of the bullet from the ogive to the lands is important. Many of us use a tool made from a 1 or 2 inch piece of barrel with a partial chamber cut in it. ( Just part of the neck and the leade ). Stick the loaded round in untill the bullet touches the rifleing and measure the length. That needs to be consistent. It is also a good way to record a number to later set up your rounds seating depth so you are just touching the lands, .010 into the lands, .010 jump to the lands, or whatever you think your gun prefers. That is also why we shoot custom bullets which are all (for each makers bullets) made in the same die by hand instead of mass produced by machine in numerous dies for the same bullet ( Brand X # xyz bullet etc.)

Don't worry about O.A.L. too much. Yea, I know, now you need more stuff. Fun, aint it.

 

[JAMES77257]

I just checked a box of bullets, and they all measure the same.

 

[Bullet]

Mr White
I set my seating die to seat to 2.255" OAL but when I tightened the locknut, I must have turned the seater in a bit too much. After I seated all the bullets, I only loaded 24 to start with, I measured a few and found that they are all between 2.242-2.245".

Would cartridges that short cause any problems other than possibly being less accurate than they could be? Should I worry about shooting them? After that , I readjusted my seating die and they're seating to about 2.255" now.

I don’t think Mr White was asking about the .003 difference in his loaded rounds, but about the difference between 2.255 and 2.242-2.245 - .010 - .013 difference.

Did you get your reloading bench done?

 

[Walkalong]

Excuse me. Trying to be helpfull. I picked up on some answers and did not read all of the original post. My bad. Hope the info was helpfull anyway.

 

[Khornet]

James,

If you measured bullet length thay'd probably all come out pretty close. But we're really concerned with that point back from the tip at which the bullet diameter first reaches .224". It's the distance from that point to the beginning of the lands that counts. And the length of bullet tip forward of that point can vary. And not all seaters' punches contact that magic line, but rather press on a point forward of it. So measuring cartridge OAL or bullet length won't do for accuracy purposes.

 

[JAMES77257]

All I can say is I check the seating to L&G on all of the match ammo I load, and I never have to adjust my seating die. I can't speak for cheap bullets, but the V-Max, and Matchkings I've used have had no variance in tip to ogive.