Dillon 550 and .223

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Souris

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I have recently joined the ranks of the Evil Black Rifle owners and I can see a need to start reloading .223 in bulk.
What type of lube do you use for doing .223 in a progressive (RL-550b)?

Normally I reload on a single stage for rifle calibers and my steps are:
Tumble
Check case length and integrity
Lube, Size and De-prime
Tumble again to remove the lube
Finish loading.

I am hoping that with the correct lube I will not have to stop between the sizing and the rest of the reloading process.
 
Souris: I too load 223's on my Dillon 550 for the AR15 and I just spray lube my cases(use Dillon lube) lightly and allow them to dry for about ten minutes. Then I proceed to load them normally. When finished I tumble approx. 200 at a time for 10-15 minutes to remove the lube and go fire them. Been loading them this way for 2 yersa w/o a problem. BTW I've been loading 30-06's for my Garand this way for 10 years and no problem.
 
That's the way to do it. I have a seperate batch of media I use that has no polish. I wouldn't use the same media that I use to clean/polish dirty brass.
 
I've been doing it the old fashion way - a RCBS lube pad. I've been doing 20-30 at a time on the pad & then dumping them all into a coffee can. Once the can's full, I start reloading on my 550. I then tumble them clean once all done. I tried a spray lube, "One Shot", & the results were kind of spotty for me. Some resized just fine & then there's that one that gets stuck in the die & rips the rim off the brass, leaving you standing there cussing your head off. :cuss:
Maybe I was doing it wrong with the sprays, but I've never had a problem with the RCBS lube pad. It is messier though. You get goo all over your hands so you have to wash up before continuing to do your loading.
 
Reloading for the 223 for the AR.
Clean brass
Resize Brass (you must measure case length after resizing as it does lengthen) (I use Imperial die wax to lube applied by fingers and a dose to about ever 5th case neck, Redding Carbide expander ball in Redding FL die to help reduce case lengthening during resizing operations)
Tumble clean
Trim on Giraud (this also chamfers and deburrs)
Deal primer pocket crimps as need for the lot of brass
Clean primer pockets
Store in zip locks

Then in Dillon I have universal decapper in station one to remove any errant tumbling media and load as normal.
 
I've had bad experiences with OneShot, so I use Imperial Case Wax--if you really need to squeeze a case, this is the stuff to use. You swipe your thumb over the wax, then roll the case between your fingers.
 
I load 223's on my 550, along with 22-250, 7mm, and various other rifle rounds. I use the lube pad with some squirt on lube. There may be something better, but this has been adequate for what I do. I can run a few hundred rounds pretty quick.

I try to lightly lube every 2nd or 3rd round. The amount of lube is scientifically controlled by how dry the pad is and how hard I press.

FWIW...I load one round at a time thru the entire process. Trying to juggle four rounds at a time taxes my limited motor skills.....

Actually, I do it so that I can monitor the feel of the rounds as they're loaded and watch to make sure quality control meets expectations. This way I only screw up one round at a time.
 
I use Franklin spray case lube from Midway USA. It works fine. I end up either tumbling the finished rounds or just wipe the lube off with a rag damp with rubbing alcohol. No problems so far.
 
One more vote for full-progressive loading.

As long as the powder type we select lends itself to reliable case-charging, there's no reason NOT to load rifle rounds progressively.

-My brass goes into the tumbler on arrival home from the shooting site.

-I spray the brass with Frankford Arsenal spray-bottle lube, which I like a lot, in a shallow box containing about forty or fifty rounds, one or two cases deep. Spray once, shake the box, spray again, and I'm good to go. Repeat as each 'boxful' gets loaded.

-After the whole batch is loaded, I wipe each cartridge by hand while giving it a good inspection. EVERY round goes into a case gauge after wiping, which detects most unusual conditions including lengthening cases, etc. Any such over-length cases are set aside for future attention. I do NOT trim routinely, nor do I clean primer pockets except for cases fired with blackpowder.

-If any round fails to enter the gauge and the cause is something other than just a minor burr on the rim or a similarly-simple reason, I crush the case and deep-six it...NO messing around.

Been doing it this way for as long as I've had the 550, which I believe is over 15 years now, and it works very well indeed. This specifically includes some of my varmint calibers, and the ammo shoots just fine, thanks.
 
Thanks guys. I was concerned that the lube could contaminate the powder.
You guys have set my mind at rest. As soon as my bullets and dies get here I will start cranking out .223 on my 550.
 
I too reload .223 on a Dillon 550B. The way I do it was to purchase a second tool head where I keep the decapping / sizing die in. I first tumble, then spary with a homemade mixture of alcohol and lanolin (got it on the web and works great). I put about a zillion cases in a plastic shopping bag, spray a few times and sorta smush them around. Take em' out and let em' dry for a couple of minutes then start the decapping process. Once all decapped I then size each one with a Lee sizing tool in a drill press. Goes fairly quick but is tough on the fingers. Back into the tumbler to clean the lube off. Next I change tool heads to the one with the powder die, seating die and crimping die. Now I begin priming on the first stage (there's no die in this position so it's only priming), and begin operating like a progressive again. It goes very fast and after millions of rounds (it seems like) I have never had a problem.

Stay well and good shooting....
 
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