223 reloading questions

[williejc]

I've noticed that military brass, which I like, varies in thickness within and between makers. That factor plus varying tolerances within dies no doubt contributes to different observations from one guy to the next. One outfit makes carbide expander balls that reduce drag. Some bench rest vendors show specialized die sets and gizmos for rifle reloading--these may interest some. A machinist could make a custom expander or reduce the diameter of an existing one.

[kry226]

I think the other variable not discussed is variation in bullet diameter. I've loaded 55 gr Hornady SPs with nary a shaved jacket. Picked up some 65 gr Sierra GKs this past weekend and had lots of shavings. Mixed brass and obviously same die.

[vizsla]

Thank you guys for the information. It has been helpful.
I will load some more up some more at 25.0, 25.5 and 26.0 and go out tomorrow. I am getting ejector swipes at 2900fps and above. Should I be concerned about this? For now I am just going to use one gun to check for accuracy. It is a pain switching back and forth. I was getting decent groups on my first test at 26.0 and 26.5 but I don't want to run these loads near max.

I do have a hornady headspace gauge and bumped the shoulders back 0.003.

I was getting some shavings so I started using the lyman M-die and crimping with the lee FCD.

I checked out the brass that had bullets and powder pulled. It looks like I can just run it through the dillon die with the expander ball and get the neck and case mouth in good shape.

I will report back tomorrow with results. Thanks for the help.

I loaded up some rounds.
25.8gr WC844 CCI450 55gr I got a 1 inch 6 round group at 50 yards. Velocity was betweeen 2940-2987.
26.2gr WC844 CCI450 55gr Had 1.5 inch 5 round group at 50 yards. Velocity was between 2982-3007.

I think I am going to go with the 25.8gr.
Once a bunch of these are loaded up I will start on the Fusion 62gr with CFE.
Thanks for the help.