New to reloading, questions about 556/223

[greg vess]

I'm just now getting into load development for the .223. I've been reloading 6.8 SPC for probably 7 or 8 years. I stocked up on .223 and 5.56 when ammo was cheap so I really haven't had to do a lot of reloading on that. But I started when the ammo went up and now I'm just doing it for better accuracy than just cheap shelf ammo.

 

[BHPSteel]

Certainly, sorting you brass by manufacturer - and headstamp - is going to be beneficial if you're reloading for accuracy. Different brass manufacturers use different thickness brass, so case capacity varies a little, and you want to eliminate that variation if you can.

I think the whole "military brass is thicker and can withstand the pressures better" is more an old wive's tale. When was the last time you saw anything for the military that wasn't built as cheaply as possible while still meeting the agreed specifications?

 

[palmettomoon]

From what I read you're supposed to separate the brass into two different piles the 223 and a different for 5.56. the external differences are almost the same but the internal space is different.

BHPSteel beat me to it.

This another nugget of Fuddlore. The specifications for cartridge brass for 5.56mm and .223 Rem are the same. There may be, MAY be very slight almost immeasurable variations in mass produced brass among multiple manufacturers, but you'd have a hard time measuring them.

If you sort your brass by headstamp, do it for continuity and consistency in case volume, not because you think one is thicker than the other due to "higher pressures."

 

[CoreyH]

Certainly, sorting you brass by manufacturer - and headstamp - is going to be beneficial if you're reloading for accuracy. Different brass manufacturers use different thickness brass, so case capacity varies a little, and you want to eliminate that variation if you can.

I think the whole "military brass is thicker and can withstand the pressures better" is more an old wive's tale. When was the last time you saw anything for the military that wasn't built as cheaply as possible while still meeting the agreed specifications?

That might explain why some brass slides in an out of my resizer without much hassle and why others darn near get stuck coming back out. Or....im doing something wrong lol

 

[palmettomoon]

That might explain why some brass slides in an out of my resizer without much hassle and why others darn near get stuck coming back out. Or....im doing something wrong lol

Shouldn't be a felt variation on that operation.

Making the assumption that all rounds were fired from the same chamber, you'd rarely have one more difficult to bring down to the bottom of the press stroke than another. Are you using Small Base (SB) dies?

I would expect this hassle if you are varying the amount of case lube on one vs. another in the resizing operation.

 

[Twitch2120]

I think there was a short period of time where the 223 throat was shorter but seeing how attorney proof manufacturers make their rifles, I doubt it's a thing anymore. As for your question, if you trim to minimum length on all the cases there shouldn't be any meaningful difference in your brass. If you don't trim, I would keep them seperate until you trim to length. Especially if you are planning to crimp them. You're gonna be real annoyed when the cannelures line up on the 556 but not the 223 or vice versa

 

[greg vess]

Oh don't forget eye protection. I thought it was a just a bother until I had a primer pop off the other day. It liked to almost scare the shyte out of me. Surprised the hell out of me!

 

[CoreyH]

Yeah so you don’t overwork brass and keep everything the same by setting dies to push shoulder back .001-.002.

The research I had done stated that same thing as well. To ensure they feed back into the rifle and I don't overwork the brass too much with the resizer and cause stress on the cases. I dunno if everyone does that, but I'd rather ere on the side of caution that just wing it and hope I don't blow up my rifle or have some case seperate in my barrel and then me having the fun task of trying to remove it.

I tested the brass at that measurement in my rifle and it fed in, and ejected back out smoothly. Did it several times.

 

[palmettomoon]

The research I had done stated that same thing as well. To ensure they feed back into the rifle and I don't overwork the brass too much with the resizer and cause stress on the cases. I dunno if everyone does that, but I'd rather ere on the side of caution that just wing it and hope I don't blow up my rifle or have some case seperate in my barrel and then me having the fun task of trying to remove it.

I tested the brass at that measurement in my rifle and it fed in, and ejected back out smoothly. Did it several times.

Are you using a case gauge?

 

[CoreyH]

I think there was a short period of time where the 223 throat was shorter but seeing how attorney proof manufacturers make their rifles, I doubt it's a thing anymore. As for your question, if you trim to minimum length on all the cases there shouldn't be any meaningful difference in your brass. If you don't trim, I would keep them seperate until you trim to length. Especially if you are planning to crimp them. You're gonna be real annoyed when the cannelures line up on the 556 but not the 223 or vice versa

I haven't gotten that far yet, I had planned to trim them to spec yes but I'm not sure if I'm crimping them or not. Dunno if the dye set I got from Hornady has a crimper in it or not to be honest.

My plan was to get my resizer setup good, do all that and check to make sure the brass is all good there then check the overall length and trim as necessary and then bevel (if that's the correct word, having a brain fart) all my edges before tossing em in the wash again