Reloading 223 on a Lee Turret

[GT1]

I have faith in my pro auto disks. That doesn't mean I'm not watching. They are every bit as reliable and accurate as any other powder throw on the market that operates on volume, which would be all of them from the 20 dollar Lee perfect, to the ridiculously overpriced priced reddings or harrells. More than adequate for loading range fodder .223 as case activated powder throwers.

I don't see where anyone said skip measuring the brass just because it doesn't need trimming for several firings.

 

[thomas15]

You must be one of those old guys that owns a reloading shop for a hobby.

I suppose you must be one of those millennials that runs a professional reloading operation.

 

[thomas15]

I have faith in my pro auto disks. That doesn't mean I'm not watching. They are every bit as reliable and accurate as any other powder throw on the market that operates on volume, which would be all of them from the 20 dollar Lee perfect, to the ridiculously overpriced priced reddings or harrells. More than adequate for loading range fodder .223 as case activated powder throwers.

You sold all of your Redding and Harrell powder measures and acquired a Lee? What about your Lyman, RCBS and Hornady? Gone?

 

[GT1]

Okie dokie.
Go start your own thread about how grand dad told your dad and then he told you that old green press is all anyone ever needs, this is the wrong thread for it.

Proof those nra titles mean nothing outside of paying for them.
Apologies for not taking the high road. I'll drop him in my personal cage and carry on.

Back to turret loading. My measures throw within a tenth for the ball powder I use at the moment. (AA2230), that stuff meters like water.

 

[thomas15]

Okie dokie.
Go start your own thread about how grand dad told your dad and then he told you that old green press is all anyone ever needs, this is the wrong thread for it.

Proof those nra titles mean nothing outside of paying for them.
Apologies for not taking the high road. I'll drop him in my personal cage and carry on.

Back to turret loading. My measures throw within a tenth for the ball powder I use at the moment. (AA2230), that stuff meters like water.

Apology accepted my friend. Have a great day!

 

[Kaldor]

A LCT should be GTG for 223, in fact for any rifle case.

You need to have your brass prepped for rifle before you start. That means crimps gone, sized, trimmed, tumbled, ready to load. You cannot combine that many steps into a 4 hole press, and even if you had enough holes, I wouldnt do it on a progressive either.

When you load its just primer, powder, seat, crimp (if you do) on a LCT.

I run 4 dies when I load rifle on a progressive as I add an M-die into station 1, powder in 2, seat in 3, crimp in 4. You could do the same on a LCT as well.

 

[someguy2800]

The Lee auto drum is actually much more accurate than my rcbs uniflow measure that now resides in the drawer. Especially with stick powder.

Anyway I have reloading equipment and presses from almost all the major manufactures. You can say what you want about my stuff and it won’t bother me. I know what it does and doesn’t do and I choose to use the stuff that most efficiently delivers the results I want.

 

[Toprudder]

The Lee auto drum is actually much more accurate than my rcbs uniflow measure that now resides in the drawer. Especially with stick powder.

Anyway I have reloading equipment and presses from almost all the major manufactures. You can say what you want about my stuff and it won’t bother me. I know what it does and doesn’t do and I choose to use the stuff that most efficiently delivers the results I want.

That has been my experience with the Auto Drum as well. It works well enough that I have a 223 tool head for my Dillon 550 that has the Lee powder through rifle die and the Auto Drum sitting on top of it. For 100 yard range loads, it works fine with the stick powders. For my precision loads, though, I measure each one with my Chargemaster.

For my Dillon 223 setup, in place of a sizing die in station #1, I have the Lee universal expander. Some of my loads use flat-based bullets, and a slight flare helps with those bullets. All the other stations are normal for the 550 (#2 - powder, #3 - seating, #4 - crimp). Of course, the brass has already been prepped (sized, trimmed, cleaned) before introducing it to the Dillon.

 

[cowboy77]

I just got my adapter in for the Lee perfect powder measure. I was throwing 23.1 grains of Imr 4166 without fail. Didn't load any but put about 20 charges into a bullet and it never varied. Don't use the measure anymore and Amazon had the part so why not. Just another gizmo to try out. I used to use it for hp38 in my 357 when I was loading single stage and it was really consistent.

 

[someguy2800]

That has been my experience with the Auto Drum as well. It works well enough that I have a 223 tool head for my Dillon 550 that has the Lee powder through rifle die and the Auto Drum sitting on top of it. For 100 yard range loads, it works fine with the stick powders. For my precision loads, though, I measure each one with my Chargemaster.

I do the same, “bulk” 223 I use the auto drum on a rifle charging die. Precision ammo I use my Lyman dispenser.

 

[cowboy77]

I'm very fond of the electric powder dispensers and they are fast enough to keep up without a lot of weighing and guess work.

 

[carbine85]

I'm late to the dance but I'll throw in my .02. I stopped progessively reloading all the stages at once years ago.
I clean my brass in Simple Green. I seldom tumble any more. Pretty new brass doesn't shoot better.
I use progessively resize the cases with lanolin lube, then do the primers, then charge and seat the bullets.
I don't crimp any more unless I'm using heavier bullets. I do that as a separate step with the taper crimp die.

 

[Dudedog]

The time honored procedures call for first resizing and then measuring rifle brass for possible trimming

For .223 I use a WFT, faster to resize then run it all thru the trimmer, if it needs trimming it gets trimmed, if not it doesn't. Saves time measuring before trimming.

For that matter if the turret press owner, who normally lectures the masses considering a progressive press on the virtues of having complete control over the process, then wants to put their faith and trust in a $35.00 plastic powder measure alone to charge their high power rifle loads then don't let me stand in the way.

I have no problem placing my trust in a $35 powder measure that throws accurate charges, of course there are some people who just hate all things Lee.
Some of these people have never even owned or used Lee equipment.

I also own a Hornady LNL progressive and the Hornady measure.
Is the Hornday measure "nicer"? Yes, does it throw more accurate charges?
Not really with the powder I use for .223
With the right powder the Hornady, Lee Auto Drum or for that matter the LPD with double disks will all throw close to + or - .1gr . (H335, TAC, BLC(2) for example)

If I am using a large stick powder say H4831 for 7mm mag I trickle to weight, but I don't shoot 100 of them at a range trip. Some measures are better with "stick" powders than others.

I would say unless you have a good rifle and a good rest (or prone)the odds are the average shooter could not shoot a .1gr charge difference in .223.

Is it true or just a rumor that the Apollo astronauts used an LCT to reload drink packets with Tang?

Hmm unless I have my dates wrong the Apollo program predates the LCT by a couple years.

 

[mjsdwash]

its not really supposed to be better than a single when case prep is involved. Its market was people who wanted a progressive, but only wanted one press. Its far faster than a single, but still fully useful as a single. The only advantage is that you don't have to change out dies. I load by taking a lot of brass, putting 40 rounds in a 9mm ammo box tray, rubbing the necks with an oily sponge, or just getting some wax on my hand and rubbing through grabbing a handful and rubbing them together. Size them 1 at a time, put in a box. Measure them, put those that need trimmed in a box, those that don't in another. Trim the long ones, throw them in a box. Take a #17 drill bit, use it as a gauge to see if the primer pockets need worked. Load them 20 at a time in that same tray. Takes about 18 seconds per round in the end if I make a real effort. BTW I do not lube the inside. I tried it once but found it made no difference in sizing effort, and was far more work. lubing only the shoulder works fine. I have around 26.000 round on that Lee FLS die, without any issue. Never a single stuck case. Case necks do not split either until the 8+ firing with a moderate load.

 

[mjsdwash]

You should be using a #4 shell holder for .223, if yours came with something else it was probably a mistake. Fits very tight, so tight that if the extractor has chewed up the rim you have to fight them in. Same size as .380 if you happen to have that.

 

[RussellC]

Your doing it wrong. Well not really, just not in the way that makes a turret efficient. I dry tumble and trim my brass with the primers still in them. Lube the brass with hornady one shot, size, prime, charge, and seat in one go. Wipe the one shot off if you like,doesn't make any difference if you leave it on. I do all my rifle stuff this way all the way up to 30-06 and 45-70 except for most stuff I replace the powder drop with a funnel and dump in powder from an electronic dispensor. I only crimp on straightwall cartridges and the rest I leave the last station open.

The secret to hornady one shot is to spray them in a bucket, not in loading blocks.

This is also of course starting with brass that has the crimps removed.

I find if I size after trim, the length grows. I tumble wet with steel pins after deprime, which occurs first on a lee breech lock single stage. Then with Redding Competition dies, size with body die, neck size with their competition neck sizer, follwed by trim, then use the Lee Turret to prime, charge and seat bullet, also with Redding Competition seater. If once fired Lake City brass, add swage with Dillon swager after cleaning..

New Winchester or Lapua brass I dont size, when I tried it didnt even touch the die...I like to keep brass pre cut, sized and primed, ready to go. Then the Lee CTP to finish them off. I am considering switching to the Redding T 7 turret.

Russellc

 

[Hokie_PhD]

The time honored procedures call for first resizing and then measuring rifle brass for possible trimming. This cannot easily be done on the press under consideration. If the handloader, knowledgeable and nice as he might be, decides to skip the step of verifying the correct case length that is of course his prerogative. It is after all a free country. Consider though that even the oh so well respected ABC book that everyone here gushes over, calls for checking case length after resizing. Not that I personally care what anyone else does with their stuff as long as I'm not standing next to you when your shooting your ammos.

For that matter if the turret press owner, who normally lectures the masses considering a progressive press on the virtues of having complete control over the process, then wants to put their faith and trust in a $35.00 plastic powder measure alone to charge their high power rifle loads then don't let me stand in the way.

Why do you think all the steps have to be done at once on the press?

As others have said, just because someone uses a LCT or progressive doesn’t mean you have to use it for all steps.
In fact, sometimes it makes much more sense to do some process in batches.

For 223

I clean my brass when I get home from shooting. This is to get rid of dirt and to sort the range brass I pick up.

I deprime and resize when I have time

I then check length putting good length in one bin and those needing to be cut in another.

I trim in a batch

I’ll check for primer crimps and swags this’s that need it

I’ll prime with a hand press watching TV

The remaining steps I do on my LCT

I also tend to make sure I load twice what I shoot so I always have a good supply on hand.

But we’re all different and what works for me may or may not work for others.

 

[thomas15]

Why do you think all the steps have to be done at once on the press?

You missed my point entirely and I believe you also misunderstood my message but that's OK to each his own.