Jim,
Tom had it right, John Feamster wrote "Black Magic, the Ultra Accurate AR-15".
If you're shooting .223 out of a Bolt gun, then you can buy buy a special die that will just resize the neck. It's called a neck resizing die. However, it must have been fired out of YOUR gun to be sure that it will fit. The benefit of this is that it will make your brass last longer and there may also be some benefit to it fitting your chamber like it was custom fit.
With a neck sizing die, you might get away without resizing them as opposed to using a full length sizing die. After full length resizing the brass can get longer. This is main reason why you need to trim your brass. At any rate, if I was reloading for a bolt gun, I'd just use a neck sizing die and measure the length of the brass. For a semi-auto, the brass has to Easily go up the feedramp and into the chamber. With a bolt gun you just push a little harder and it goes.
Tom, about powders for the AR, Varget is supposed to be Less temperature sensitive than others. There are a lot of people out there that like it pretty well. Though it's not a ball powder, some say that it meters very well for an extruded powder.
When it comes to rifling, you might consider either a 1/7 or 1/8 so you can shoot the heavier bullets. For some reason, most ARs you buy today come standard with a 1/9 and they don't stablize most bullets over 69 grains. The faster twist barrels will shoot the 55gr bullets just fine with the added advantage of shooting something lighter if you later decide to. Something to think about if you haven't already bought.
One more thing to keep in mind, .223 and 5.56 are not exactly the same. The 5.56 has a longer throat that enables it to handle higher pressures. This also means that the bullet has longer to go before it contacts the rifling. If you want accuracy, go with a .223 chamber, but if you want to safely fire military surplus ammo, then get a 5.56. Busmaster has a good article on their website about the differences. There is also a Wilde chamber which is supposed to be a compromise between the two. I decided to try the Wilde chamber with I had my ar rebarreled. The jury is still out, but so far it seems to shoot OK. I'm not into high power and don't anywhere near the experience they have, but I do like to tinker and experiment.
Sorry it took so long for me to answer this, but I've been beyond busy lately.
-ss
Search found 2 matches
- Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:13 am
- Forum: Reloading Forum
- Topic: Reloading .223
- Replies: 16
- Views: 3814
- Wed Jan 09, 2008 2:51 pm
- Forum: Reloading Forum
- Topic: Reloading .223
- Replies: 16
- Views: 3814
Re: Reloading .223
Tom,
I have a Dillon power trimmer and really like it. You need to trim with every reloading, as measuring every case will take you more time than just running it through. Oh, the Dillon Power Trimmer resizes And Trims your cases at the same time. Be careful when you adjust it or you will chip the carbide cutter, which I did on mine. If you follow the written directions you should be fine.
I don't believe you mentioned what weight your bullets were, but I'm assuming they're 55gr. Get the Sierra Reloading manual as it has a special .223 section specifically for the AR-15 that no other manual has. It also has reloading .223 for a bolt action and TC Contender pistol too. It lists lots of powders, but H335 and Varget are pretty favored among Hi-power shooters with light bullets. I went with AA2520 because I was using a 75 or 77gr bullet and this gave me the second highest velocity of any of the powders listed in the manual. I'm still testing it, but have fired 100 reloaded rounds using this combination and so far like it. I also want a clean burning powder, but haven't fired enough rounds through it to tell how clean it burns.
If you're going to be at the match Saturday, I can bring the manual with me for you to look at. It isn't the cheapest out there, but it sure covers more than the others. It's worth having just for the AR-15 section alone. I also recommend a book called "Black magic" that is written by a Hi-power shooter and has a good section on loading ammo. He covers all of the steps to reloading as well as the extra things that you don't have to do, like uniforming the primer flash hole, and how beneficial they are. I can then decide if it's worth the extra work to do.
-ss
I have a Dillon power trimmer and really like it. You need to trim with every reloading, as measuring every case will take you more time than just running it through. Oh, the Dillon Power Trimmer resizes And Trims your cases at the same time. Be careful when you adjust it or you will chip the carbide cutter, which I did on mine. If you follow the written directions you should be fine.
I don't believe you mentioned what weight your bullets were, but I'm assuming they're 55gr. Get the Sierra Reloading manual as it has a special .223 section specifically for the AR-15 that no other manual has. It also has reloading .223 for a bolt action and TC Contender pistol too. It lists lots of powders, but H335 and Varget are pretty favored among Hi-power shooters with light bullets. I went with AA2520 because I was using a 75 or 77gr bullet and this gave me the second highest velocity of any of the powders listed in the manual. I'm still testing it, but have fired 100 reloaded rounds using this combination and so far like it. I also want a clean burning powder, but haven't fired enough rounds through it to tell how clean it burns.
If you're going to be at the match Saturday, I can bring the manual with me for you to look at. It isn't the cheapest out there, but it sure covers more than the others. It's worth having just for the AR-15 section alone. I also recommend a book called "Black magic" that is written by a Hi-power shooter and has a good section on loading ammo. He covers all of the steps to reloading as well as the extra things that you don't have to do, like uniforming the primer flash hole, and how beneficial they are. I can then decide if it's worth the extra work to do.
-ss