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Mass resizing techniques
- Thread Starter Caveman Jim
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BTW jim, if you have a single stage press. IIRC a JR2 like me, what i do for loading in large quantities is i will do it in stages. i will deprime and swage/bell case mouth(if needed) 500. put it away for a week or so. then i'll prime them all the next time im out.
if i dont get around to loading them the next time im out, i'll deprime and swage 500 or so then next time prime
and so on...
that way i have a ton of brass ready for powder and bullets. makes single stage SEEM like it doesnt take as long
if i dont get around to loading them the next time im out, i'll deprime and swage 500 or so then next time prime
and so on...
that way i have a ton of brass ready for powder and bullets. makes single stage SEEM like it doesnt take as long
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It holds its slickety (wtf?) nature for a while, then gums up. It's gnarly if you let it go that long.
I'm impressed! I've never thought to anneal 223.
Just don't be like me and take the sized ones and then stuff them back in the tub with the unsized ones. I always deprime before cleaning so they look the same.
To prevent that, have since taken to sizing and then taking the same batch and priming all of them. I'll do 100-200 bottle-necked at a time.
223, 6.8, 7-08 & pistol, do them all on the LnL. Size, prime, load. Learned the hard way to check each of the finished 223, 6.8 and other AR loads with the case gauge before putting them into the Ready to Shoot bin.
Member 5605
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Lanolin won't evaporate away. Stays until washed off.
And that's no joke!
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- Thread Starter
- #27
I have an RS press that I use for decapping & resizing only for 223/556.
When I first started out a few yrs ago I would do a hundred at a time, I was comfortable with that. Now it's game on...
It holds its slickety (wtf?) nature for a while, then gums up. It's gnarly if you let it go that long.
You mean slicker than Owl snotity???
I'm impressed! I've never thought to anneal 223.
I have not annealed any brass as of yet, I only sort it for the making of 300 Blackout cases (I don't use annealed brass for 300BLK conversion)
Just don't be like me and take the sized ones and then stuff them back in the tub with the unsized ones. I always deprime before cleaning so they look the same.
This is my system for not repeating a step unles I forget to mark it off the lable.
To prevent that, have since taken to sizing and then taking the same batch and priming all of them. I'll do 100-200 bottle-necked at a time.
223, 6.8, 7-08 & pistol, do them all on the LnL. Size, prime, load. Learned the hard way to check each of the finished 223, 6.8 and other AR loads with the case gauge before putting them into the Ready to Shoot bin.
I am an ardent fan of using a case gauge checker.
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I have an RS press that I use for decapping & resizing only for 223/556.
When I first started out a few yrs ago I would do a hundred at a time, I was comfortable with that. Now it's game on...
I am an ardent fan of using a case gauge checker.
thats a good thing to use. i dont use one. i should.ive never had a problem
lol
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I never did either, then must have been hit with a case of the stupids -- loaded ~1K of 223 and 500 6.8, and of them, ~5/100 were no-gos in each caliber. It can surely dampen a great range session.thats a good thing to use. i dont use one. i should.ive never had a problem
Bought case gauges and haven't had a problem since.
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I wait untill I'm good and POd at my boss and then I head into the shop with a bucket-full and start furiously mashing brass. It helps to have a little anger operatin'. Just sayin'. 
I sold my Dillon swager last year for what I paid initially, $50. I am cutting ,chamfering, uniforming with tools mounted on a power driver. This is tedious no matter what. I purchased a Lee trimming die and find it inconsistent. So that operation will need a new tool. My .556 reloading is not moving forward at a satisfactory rate. I also use Wilson case gauges and have recently started using go/ no go gauges for primer pockets.
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- #33
I wait untill I'm good and POd at my boss and then I head into the shop with a bucket-full and start furiously mashing brass. It helps to have a little anger operatin'. Just sayin'.
Lol, no boss here but the political b******* that's going on is enough to fuel me for years.
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I got tired of my Lyman trimmer so I got me the WFT in .223. Once it is set just turn that drill on and shove them cases in there and yank them out and repeat many many times. Lol easy peasy.
Definitely something I need.I got tired of my Lyman trimmer so I got me the WFT in .223. Once it is set just turn that drill on and shove them cases in there and yank them out and repeat many many times. Lol easy peasy.
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These work very well, only thing better is a giruad.
In 34 years of centerfire handloading, I've never ventured beyond single stage loading. I don't shoot massive amounts of ammo but like to keep materials ready for loading. So I get caught up in that mindset of having every case in my possession completely prepared. Proper case preparation is the most time-consuming phase (actually a series of phases) in handloading. And it's not something to be readily done during a power outage or emergency of some kind.
For single stage loading, like someone said before me, done in batches.
Case cleaning, depending upon how dirty and carbon-sooted, I tumble the fairly clean ones or use Iosso liquid case cleaner for the really dirty ones. Sizing, I use RCBS on a pad, I like the RCBS because it's water soluble. I rinse it off and let the cases dry. I'm never in a hurry to do any of this. It's a hobby for me, not an industry. My belief is that nothing in handloading should ever be hurried.
I don't run across many rifle cases these days that require removal of a primer crimp. For years I've had one of those RCBS swaging sets that includes a tool head for both large and small primers. The larger one I've used a lot on GI .30-06 and 7.62 NATO brass but not much lately. More often in recent times, I've needed to remove crimps on .223 brass. In this matter, I've found that the RCBS tool doesn't work that well. I've had supposedly swaged crimps that didn't want to admit a primer in an orderly fashion. As a result, I've given up using the RCBS swage set.
In recent .223 range brass, I've found PMC that was crimped and non-crimped; also Federal. As well as some odd ones like Wolf brass cased. Instead of the RCBS swage set, when I need to do this now I have an RCBS chamfer tool chucked in my drill press, I just give them a very light hit and this seems to do the trick without ruining the pocket.
Trimming .223 is the Giant Bugaboo of case preparation. It's a fairly high pressure cartridge with a small case, not all that thick, very likely to need trimming. I check every one, some once-fired are okay, maybe not precisely uniform but good enough so long as they are batched together. I check with a Wilson cartridge headspace gauge. Those that need trimming, I use the Lee mandrel system, pretty simple; I chuck the tool head and shell holder into a DeWalt cordless drill, trim the case, then leave the case in place and take the RCBS chamfer tool to cut the ridge on the mouth inside and out. The cordless drill lays on its side on the bench, worked by the left hand. The rythym and order goes pretty smoothly once you get going.
Repeat, trimming is a must-do on .223. It's often apt to be over-length, even unfired rounds from the factory. High pressures can result from over-length rounds with bullets jammed into the leade of the rifling. At best, you might wind up with loaded rounds that won't chamber from having a slightly crushed neck that resulted from loading such cases.
Once I have all my brass prepped, I store it away in batches. I don't load up every empty case that I have. Like I said, getting the cases ready is a large measure of the work. The rest of it takes less time in aggregate than doing the cases. I like to leave the material in component form until it's fairly close to time of use. For a number of reasons. (1) If you change your mind about what kind of load. (2) If you liquidate, it's easier to dispose of components than completed handloads. No wise person wants to shoot other peoples' handloads. (3) If government comes up with some kind of limitation on the amount of ammo that may be kept in possession, unfinished components probably wouldn't count. (4) Possible deterrent to theft. Likely there are other good reasons. It's probably a good idea for your stored "ready ammunition" to be factory loads.
For single stage loading, like someone said before me, done in batches.
Case cleaning, depending upon how dirty and carbon-sooted, I tumble the fairly clean ones or use Iosso liquid case cleaner for the really dirty ones. Sizing, I use RCBS on a pad, I like the RCBS because it's water soluble. I rinse it off and let the cases dry. I'm never in a hurry to do any of this. It's a hobby for me, not an industry. My belief is that nothing in handloading should ever be hurried.
I don't run across many rifle cases these days that require removal of a primer crimp. For years I've had one of those RCBS swaging sets that includes a tool head for both large and small primers. The larger one I've used a lot on GI .30-06 and 7.62 NATO brass but not much lately. More often in recent times, I've needed to remove crimps on .223 brass. In this matter, I've found that the RCBS tool doesn't work that well. I've had supposedly swaged crimps that didn't want to admit a primer in an orderly fashion. As a result, I've given up using the RCBS swage set.
In recent .223 range brass, I've found PMC that was crimped and non-crimped; also Federal. As well as some odd ones like Wolf brass cased. Instead of the RCBS swage set, when I need to do this now I have an RCBS chamfer tool chucked in my drill press, I just give them a very light hit and this seems to do the trick without ruining the pocket.
Trimming .223 is the Giant Bugaboo of case preparation. It's a fairly high pressure cartridge with a small case, not all that thick, very likely to need trimming. I check every one, some once-fired are okay, maybe not precisely uniform but good enough so long as they are batched together. I check with a Wilson cartridge headspace gauge. Those that need trimming, I use the Lee mandrel system, pretty simple; I chuck the tool head and shell holder into a DeWalt cordless drill, trim the case, then leave the case in place and take the RCBS chamfer tool to cut the ridge on the mouth inside and out. The cordless drill lays on its side on the bench, worked by the left hand. The rythym and order goes pretty smoothly once you get going.
Repeat, trimming is a must-do on .223. It's often apt to be over-length, even unfired rounds from the factory. High pressures can result from over-length rounds with bullets jammed into the leade of the rifling. At best, you might wind up with loaded rounds that won't chamber from having a slightly crushed neck that resulted from loading such cases.
Once I have all my brass prepped, I store it away in batches. I don't load up every empty case that I have. Like I said, getting the cases ready is a large measure of the work. The rest of it takes less time in aggregate than doing the cases. I like to leave the material in component form until it's fairly close to time of use. For a number of reasons. (1) If you change your mind about what kind of load. (2) If you liquidate, it's easier to dispose of components than completed handloads. No wise person wants to shoot other peoples' handloads. (3) If government comes up with some kind of limitation on the amount of ammo that may be kept in possession, unfinished components probably wouldn't count. (4) Possible deterrent to theft. Likely there are other good reasons. It's probably a good idea for your stored "ready ammunition" to be factory loads.
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To make lots of brass less tedious, break it down to 2-300 cases at a time. It helps with trimming too.
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