Beware the shoulder. I found if I had neck tension too tight, when seating the bullet the heavy neck tension can round out the shoulder severely (setting the neck back as a whole, in the direction of the case).
That shoulder is so tiny, that it really doesn't take much to make it go from the specified slant angle \ to flat --. If this happens it will change the dimensions of the case in such a way you may not get reliable chambering or extraction.
When I reloaded 5.7, I used an ultrasonic cleaner with simple green. It's necessary, to avoid tumbling, and stripping the thin coating of teflon (or whatever analog they used) that is on the casing. That dry film lubricant coating on the case is critical to extraction, as it's blowback. Tumbling in any media will strip that dry film lubricant off the cases, and needs to be avoided at all costs. While the next load of ammo may function it will cause an enormous amount of stress on the case and lead to shoulder separation after only a couple of loadings.
The nice thing about simple green in an ultrasonic cleaner is it doesn't take long; just 10-15 minutes, and the cases come out looking great. Less noisy, less dust containing potential heavy metals floating in the air, too. Every serious shooter needs to be concerned with lead poisoning, especially ones involved with reloading. Several members of our outdoor range who shot handgun and rifle competitively, and reloaded extensively, had to (after some years/decades) go through treatments for lead poisoning related (primarily) to reloading. Such chelation treatments, from what they said, are somewhat unpleasant and time consuming. At the time I was tested I was borderline.
Between rotator cuff issues from magnum rifle shooting (300 win mag, 50 bmg, etc), a rather frightening retina issue that developed at the end of an f-class season that left me partly blind in my right eye for a period of time, cumulative hearing loss, and the brush with lead poisoning, I only shoot these days out of necessity, when something is in front of me that is worth shooting.
I'm still pretty good at it. I got a head shot on a moving mink at 15 yards with a handgun last year. That's a mighty small target, I was quite proud of myself.
Goes without saying, a 40gr .224 vmax projectile will vaporize the head of a mink at any distance.
I have dispatched dozens of animals - maybe even in to the hundreds now, considering it's used for terminating livestock as well - with this round, many predators, and it has yet to fail me. It has killed countless skunks, racoons, minks, coyotes, turkeys, etc without there ever being a doubt as to what the end result will be.
The only time I retreated with a small caliber and went inside for something.. bigger, was the other night. I went outside with the FN FiveSeven after what sounded like WWIII of the animal kingdom started in my front lawn (I live in the country, on many acres - my front lawn and driveway are 422 yards long to the mailbox).
I step outside to this massive cacophony of squealing, shrieking, and snarling, and shine my light towards the disturbance. What I see stuns me - a rather large pack, of 10-12 coyotes, surrounding an enormous feral hog. The yote's are busy trying to get at the hogs rear legs, the hog is spinning and charging as the coyotes retreat and others advance.. was quite the sight.
Anyway the light spooks the coyotes, they *know* to fear me, and they bolt. The hog?
Well that hog turned straight at me, from maybe 20 yards away, and looked right at me, grunting and shrieking.
The weight of that little 5.7 handgun wasn't quite making me feel very confident. From a front charge the only real shot I have is against the head, and there's no way that 5.7 round will penetrate 1.25"+ of slanted hard bone. So my bowels jellified a little and I did what any sane man would do, I retreated directly through the door I had just come out of.
In my logical mind having a sturdy exterior wall between me and that pissed off hog was the most prudent course of action.
Because my kids were fixing to get up for school soon, I figured I had to get that hog gone, soon, before dawn hit and the kids went out. So I put away the pea shooter and grabbed a 7.62 rifle, and went back out.
The hog was gone, it was still nearby, I could hear it, but it had relocated itself to the woods to the east of our property.
No doubt chasing that pack of yotes that had the audacity to challenge it.
Anyway that's the one and only time I ever felt like I wasn't carrying enough bang with me. Granted, even a 9mm or 45 might not get through the thick skull of a hog at a shallow angle, so I am not confident any handgun short of maybe a 44 mag would be adequate for that really weird, rare scenario of shooting a feral hog in the face.
