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.223 reloading

Just a comment. I've reload a lot of 9MM, 38 Super, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP I am not sure of the exact number but it's North of 100,000 and South of 200,000 rounds.

Reloading .223 is similar to pistol, in that, you want a lot of rounds.
BUT, there are a bunch more steps to be done. Many of them aren't on the XL650. I think I have been doing brass collection and prep. (off and on) for more than 10 years. I may reload my very first .223 round in 2021. But, it may be 2022.

I am under 1000 total combined rounds in .308 and .243. Maybe under 500.

Wow! I agree with the steps on rifle cartridges. It takes me several months to get to a point to load mine. I listen too, to many bench rest shooters.

Loaded bullets - duh?

9mm 115gr FMJ over 4.2 Titegroup - mmmm works.

I reloaded .45 ACP with SMALL PRIMERS

Unexpected issue
Some of the brass has the primer crimped like military brass.
Probably less than 1%

As expected,the small primers took more powder to get a 165 power factor. Over what normal Large Pistol Primer brass requires.

I keep telling myself I need to clear a path to my bench. Too much stuff has been put in the wrong place after coming back from vacation.

Yes, BUT...
Last week I ordered a replacement part then discovered the original about 1' from where it should have been.
I just chalked it up to a tax for being disorganized.

tomneal wrote: Wed Aug 04, 2021 3:48 pm Yes, BUT...
Last week I ordered a replacement part then discovered the original about 1' from where it should have been.
I just chalked it up to a tax for being disorganized.

I suffer from that malady, too. I have a friend whose policy is, if you can’t find it, go buy 2 more.

built up 1k 9mm and 1k 45acp

cleaned the dillion machine real good , field stripped it. looking for a primer
i loaded 100primers in the feed tube, but only 99 came out to be installed into the 45 brass . i had to get ONE primer from another package so now i have a box of 99 for next load time
vacuumed the floor real good around and under the table. shook out the towels. checked the used primer catch can and it only had used primers in it
i have no idea where it went.
asked the dog if she saw it roll on the floor.

Having finally sourced the remaining materials needed (primers mostly), I set up all of my seating dies and loaded my first ever batch of ammunition

Did 50 each of 9mm, .45, and .223. Since I'm still learning and new at this, in each set of 50 I decided to work up the charge weights. So I have 5 of each powder weight, working my way up to max charge or near max charge. I felt this was more important on the handgun rounds as I am using plated bullets. I plan on using a chronograph on my next range visit so I can log the results and find a good balance of powder charge/velocity/accuracy/safe loads.

As expected,the small primers took more powder to get a 165 power factor. Over what normal Large Pistol Primer brass requires.

.45 ACP Small Primer update:
I went from 4.45 Gr of powder with Large Pistol Primers
to 4.58 Gr with Small Rifle Primers

(No my scale isn't that accurate. On my XL650 I throw 10 powder charges and weigh)

i found my missing primer


it had lodged behind the 4" wheel that the reload table/bench uses for easy moving around the man cave. i found it pressed into the poly wheel, which means i ran over it and never knew it. good thing it pressed in vice going b ang

i found my missing primer

That's always better than your spouse finding it with the vacuum cleaner;-)

tomneal wrote: Sun Aug 22, 2021 5:47 pm

i found my missing primer

That's always better than your spouse finding it with the vacuum cleaner;-)

Sounds like an experience they'd never let you forget!

Cast some AK (7.62) bullets over the weekend and powdercoated/gas-checked them today. These aren't perfect but don't need to be - they're for testing powder-loads:

Today during lunchtime I set up the dies from the Lee Pacesetter set - which comes with 2 decapping pins (expander sized for .308 and .312) and fortunately already had a Lyman .30M1 M-die to expand the case-necks.



This is all just setup-phase for now - I'll be resizing/trimming all the brass next, priming and then start to make various loads using CFE BLK.

Edit: For future reference, I made 3 loads (23.5, 24.0 and 24.5gr CFE BLK) and all cycled just fine with no pressure-signs. Indoor range, so unfortunately no velocity readings.