reloading for an AR15

[Venus Pax]

Would one need special equipment for making reloads for an AR15, or would the equipment used in reloading for pistols be sufficient?

[phddan]

Hey V.P.,

Yes you will need some more stuff, nothing major.
Lube, "One Shot" works great.
Case trimmer.
There is deffinately more you can get, just depends on how accurate your wanting to get with your reloads.
Chrono
Headspace guage
Freebore guage
Pocket and flashhole cleaner
Good set of calipers
And so on, and so on

If you would make a quick list of what you have allready, I'm sure more
experienced reloaders on AR15's will give you a better idea on what more you need.

Dan

[BobCat]

Dies - obviously. Case lube since, unlike carbide straight-wall pistol case dies, tapered rifle cases need to be lubed.

Caliper to see if the cases need trimming; cast trimmer only if they do. Eventually they will.

Appropriate primers, powder, and bullets.

Some people do not like Winchester small rifle primers for the AR15 - they claim these primers pierce too easily. I use them with no problems, for my short-line loads. For 600 I (and everyone I know) go to CCI BR4 Benchrest primers.

For the short line many people use 69 grain Sierra Match King bullets over 25-25.5 grains of Varget. Lots of people like Reloader 15 and Winchester 748. For 600, with 80 grain SMKs or Noslers, seated long, you will indeed need to measure the throat depth with something like a Stoney Point gauge, and set your seating depth appropriately. For these heavy bullets you will want a 1 in 8 twist barrel, or faster. For lighter bullets - 45 through 69 [or maybe 77] grains - 1 in 9 twist (pretty standard for the AR15) will work just fine.

Somehow I get the idea you are not loading for regular Highpower competition, more for 3-gun or plain fun at the range. If this is the case, you can load any 50-55 grain bullet (especially surplus, e.g. IMI if Wideners still sells them) and around 25 grains of Varget, and have an accurate and reliable load.

Please note - the powder charges I have mentioned are safe in my rifles, and under published maximums as far as I know. Please double check them before using them. Powder manufacturers have load data listed on their web sites and in booklets and reloading manuals.

Anyway, for equipment the only thing "extra" is case lube, maybe a case lube pad if you do not use a spray, caliper, and appropriate dies. And eventually a case trimmer.

Have Fun! And if you really love the AR15, consider Highpower. I think PSC has Highpower and you will have a ball, meet some interesting people, and amaze yourself at how well you can shoot, so far away. I think you are young so your eyes are still good - this is the time to shoot Highpower!

Regards,
Andrew

[Piney]

Greetings--

I've been exploring the same topic recently-- .223 reloading. I don't have any equipment yet- but expect to purchase a setup in the near future. I plan to reload .223 as well as 9mm, and .40.

I found that visiting Brian Enos' web site and reading through his FAQ and Forum postings about the Dillon brand of equipment has helped a great deal. I called and spoke with him for a bit the other day to clear up some questions I had. BTW-- his book is a good read as well.

http://www.brianenos.com

From what my limited knowledge can gather, the answer is that at a minimum the press itself has to be able to accept the rifle dies. For example, I have been told that Dillon makes a press that will only accept pistol dies (their Square somthingorother :-) ) Their 550 and 650 models will accept both pistol and rifle dies. However, their 550 model's casefeeder option doesn't like rifle brass *shrugs*

I suspect I'll buy a 550 to start with. I was told that it is a good progressive-type setup for a newbie. I just wont be able to chuck out 1000 rounds an hour

I'd enjoy sitting down with some of the forum's reloading gurus, visiting, and perhaps sitting in on a setup in operation--hint hint.....

[Mike1951]

Reliability MIGHT be improved by using a small base resizing die.

They are readily available and useful in reloading for semi-auto's where feeding may be an issue.

Also, you can buy a case gage from Dillon for about $11 that simulates your rifle chamber. When the round drops freely into and out of the gage, it should chamber fine.

Would one need special equipment for making reloads for an AR15, or would the equipment used in reloading for pistols be sufficient?

Dillon does make a press that is only for handgun calibers, the RL450 I believe.

But their most popular press, the RL550B, and other presses that I can think of will reload rifle and pistol calibers.

[k5dmb]

Everyone's saying the right thing. I just purchased .223 dies last week; it was all that I needed since I reload rifle already.

I can loan / help with trimming since it only needs to be done the first time with new cases and once every 3rd to 5th reload (I don't usually take cases past 5th reload in my semi-autos)

And though a lube pad and sizing lube are easy enough, I always re-tumble after sizing and before priming to get rid of the lube.

Cheers,

David

[KinnyLee]

I already have the .223 and .308 dies ready for the Lee Press I have. It's buying and trimming the cases that worries me. I guess I have to learn sometime. Hehe.

[phddan]

Glocktalk and AR15.com have two of the best reloading forums I have come across yet. Before I started reloading I read both those forums back to front. If you cant find you question in those forums allready asked, then you aint reading close enough.
Seriously, they have hundreds of very experienced loaders that give great advice, from barrel twist rates, to tuning for precision.
Spend some time reading the wealth of information thats free for the taking.

Dan

ETA: I was not implying that the good people here cant help you. Just giving you another avenue to look at. Just the sheer numbers on those sites make them a valuable asset for safe reloading.

[Stupid]

Don't use the One-Shot, get one of the following:

RCBS lube
Imperial Wax

**

You only need 223 dies and case gage. not sure what reloader you have, but that's pretty much you need.

If you use dillon, read this

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... m.php?f=28

[BobCat]

KinnyLee,

Trimming cases is trivial. Once you get the trimmer set, the operation goes fast - you can trim lots of cases in an hour. You do need to de-burr the case mouths (and I foolishly forgot to list a de-burr/chamfer tool, above) - but that goes fast too.

Lots of people load for the AR15 on a progressive press. I load all my pistol ammo on Dillon presses. For the .223, I have two single-stage presses set up. An old Rockchucker for resize/deprime, and a cheap Lee O-frame for bullet seating. After resize, I measure and trim as needed, de-burr, clean primer pockets, wash and dry. I use an RCBS hand priming tool to prime the cases, powder charge them in a loading block, and seat the bullets on the Lee (adjusting seating depth for 69 or 80 grain bullet). There is no reason to do it this way, it is just that I am real finicky. You can run them through your 550 no problem - I just am not real clear on when you measure to see if they need to be trimmed.

Anyway, there are lots of knowledgeable reloaders on the 'net, as phddan said. There is one place - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php - that is just super for cast bullet loads. The people there are truly wonderful; I read only, have nothing to add that they don't already know.

Got to quit rambling.

Regards,
Andrew

[Mike1951]

Dies - obviously. Case lube since, unlike carbide straight-wall pistol case dies, tapered rifle cases need to be lubed.

Don't ever believe the instructions that carbide doesn't require lube. Even if you never have a case sieze in a carbide die, you will shorten the useful life of your die. I spray lube them like I would any other die.

Don't use the One-Shot, get one of the following:

RCBS lube
Imperial Wax

I started reloading in the '60's when RCBS case lube was the most often used option. Spread this thick goop all other a foam pad, roll the case to lube it, then spend a lot of time and aching thumbs trying to wipe the excess off when finished.

The spray lube has worked just as well. I have a clean, empty pizza box. I place a layer of brass in it, spritz a few times, shake the box and let it sit for a few minutes. There is very little to wipe off.

Oh yeah, you know I'm longing to go back to RCBS lube. I would certainly use their Case Slick spray lubricant.

[phddan]

I just am not real clear on when you measure to see if they need to be trimmed.

After you resize and clean of lube.

I started reloading in the '60's when RCBS case lube was the most often used option. Spread this thick goop all other a foam pad, roll the case to lube it, then spend a lot of time and aching thumbs trying to wipe the excess off when finished.

My rock chucker kit came with the pad. Used it once. Thought, what a pain. Got some spray lube,(One shot), and never looked back. I toss em into the vibratory cleaner after sizing/depriming.

Dan

[ShootingStar]

Good topic, I have been trying to get the time to get my 550B going on .223 and little by little I'm almost there.

The Sierra Reloading manual and a book called "Black Magic" had a lot of good information to get me started. I like the Sierra manual because there are sections for a Bolt action, Contender, and AR-15 specifically. My other manuals only have loads tested in a bolt gun. An AR chambered in 5.56 Nato can handle higher pressures than a .223 chamber, it's nice to have loads specifically for your rifle.

I converted my 550B over to .223 and so far really like it. I've only loaded a few hundred rounds on it, but I think I got the kinks worked out. I have two die plates that slide in/out. One with just the dillon power trimmer/resizer in it and the other with all of the other dies.

Maybe some of the more experienced rifle reloaders out there can help me streamline the process as all my experience is in reloading .45 pistol.

1). I start by running all of the cases through a Lee Depriming die on my old single-stage press.

2). Clean the cases in a vibrating tumbler after depriming so the primer pocket get some cleaning out. I will only clean out the primer pocket when loading match rounds cause I'm lazy.

3). I have a Dillon Power trimmer/resizer in a removable die plate that makes trimming and resizing go fast. Unfortunately, it leaves a burr on the case neck that has to removed by hand until I find a better way and it does not de-prime. It only resizes and trims in one step. Of course I have to lube the cases since the trimmer has a resizing die in it.

4). Remove the Burr from the mouth of the case with a hand tool. Arggg, there has to be a better way to do this.

5). * This is one step I'm not sure how important it is, but I suspect I should run the cases through the tumbler again to clean off the case lube. Will it contaminate the powder if I don't? Since I have been reloading just a few at a time, I have been hand wiping it off with a rag. I suspect since most of the lube is on the outside of the case that it won't contact the powder, but it could accumulate in the chamber of the rifle??

6). Slide in the other die plate with the powder die, bullet seating die, etc... From what I have read, you only crimp the bullet when there is a cannelure like with 55gr surplus bullets.

7). At this point, (I'm doing this from memory so I could have left something out), I should have a loaded round. Of course, I use a dillon case guage to check all my loaded rounds. I tried skipping the trimming step at one time and about half the rounds didn't chamber so you must have a chamber guage.

Well folks, feel free to shoot holes in what I have outlined above if you would. I'm looking for the fastest way to Safely reload good quality ammo for my AR. It doesn't have to be match ammo, but I certainly want reasonable accuracy.

As far as the rifle goes I personally would never own a 1/9 twist barrel because with a 1/7 or 1/8 will allow you to shoot any bullet that will fit in the magazine. I don't see any reason to go with a 1/9 as you can only shoot up to a 69gr bullet with it.

[ShootingStar]

Oh, one more thing. Does anyone know of the best powders to use that won't foul too bad with the AR when using the heavier bullets like 75 or 77gr OTMs?

Varget and H335 are great for lighter bullets, but they don't give the velociy that AA2520 does. Anyone done much shooting with AA2520 in an AR with the 75 or 77gr OTM bullets?

-SS

[BobCat]

Varget works for me, with 80 grain Noslers, but several people I know really like Vihtavuori N540 for heavier (80 + grains) bullets in the AR15. They claim higher velocities without signs of excessive pressure - and I have no reason to disbelieve them.

I've heard lots of good things about RL15 but have not actually used anything but H335 (better in bolt gun, or with 55 grain bullets as you said) and Varget, myself. Never tried 2520.

Regards,
Andrew