? about 223/556 rnds

[cemjr]

I would like to put together 1000 rdns of 223/556 (practice ammo) for my ar-15. I looked at buying the brass,primmers & powder and putting them together with my Dillon XL650. Does it make more sense to buy a 1000 rnds, shoot it, then load it ? New LC brass is $149.00/k from Mid Way USA. add bullet. primmer & powder. I could buy 1000rnds from Natchez (xm193) for $299.00 . The product description of the xm193 says, Federal loaded by Lake City for the US Gov. I called to ask if that ment crimped primmer pockets? answer yes. That means before reloading I have to remove crimp and trim to length. So the question is, what's the most economical (cheapest) way to go?

 

[jagter82]

I would in your case buy the 1000rnds from Natchez and reload the ones you shoot. That would be easier for you since you have to do the cleaning and remove the crimp and then trim. The components do add up to but you could always replenish after you shoot.

 

[janobles14]

i would consider buying the brass here on the forums for a good price so long as you have or can get the other components at a good price also. if you cant then i would get it from natchez and get the pleasure of shooting the first 1000. youll still have to get the other components anyway to reload them

 

[hans471]

First, best is not always cheapest. There are places you can buy once fired brass for less than the cost of new.

Second, if you are going to reload you better have some way of checking case length and trimming them. This does not have to be anything expensive. Lee has some simple case sizers that work just fine. Also, you really should have at least a caliper to check things anyway (like OAL). You can get these on-sale at Harbor Freight and other places for under $20.

As for crimped primers, no big deal. You can get a nice inexpensive tool that will clean the primer pocket and bevel it out in one step. I use one on a small cordless drill and it works great.

I have loaded many thousands of rounds of .223 for AR's and its really not a big deal with the right tools. You don't have to spend a pile of money either.

If you need some good clean brass shoot me a note, I most always have some extra around.