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Thread: Bulk 556 Brass prep and reloading process

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNTall View Post
    Thanks for all the great responses! Looks like I at least need to add a cleaning step first.

    I've loaded many thousands of pistol rounds on the XL650 without cleaning primer pockets. I have to be careful with the priming motion, but it saves a lot of handling.

    Is priming 556 more difficult or sensitive than priming 9mm?
    Regarding priming. Depends on the brass, milsurp/LE brass that has crimped primer pockets must be swaged to remove the crimp material or you will have a bad day priming resulting in mashed/shaved primers. With regular uncrimped 223 brass it's not required. PMC bronze brass usually has nice radiused pockets.

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by B52U View Post
    Regarding priming. Depends on the brass, milsurp/LE brass that has crimped primer pockets must be swaged to remove the crimp material or you will have a bad day priming resulting in mashed/shaved primers. With regular uncrimped 223 brass it's not required. PMC bronze brass usually has nice radiused pockets.
    I was planning on segregating the crimped primer brass to deal with separately since it only has to be done once.

  3. #13
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    I swage and then hit them all with a primer pocket uniformer. Necessary? Probably not, but judging by the amount of material removed from many casings, either the allowable tolerance is very generous or a lot of brass is out of spec.

    https://www.brownells.com/reloading/...prod34720.aspx
    Last edited by Black_Sheep; 12-28-20 at 13:12. Reason: Add a link

  4. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNTall View Post
    Is priming 556 more difficult or sensitive than priming 9mm?
    As mentioned, some of the once fired brass may have crimps. Other than that, the big difference is that rifle brass will get loose primer pockets at some point. Sooner if you load hotter ammo.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    As mentioned, some of the once fired brass may have crimps. Other than that, the big difference is that rifle brass will get loose primer pockets at some point. Sooner if you load hotter ammo.
    So you have to pay attention to see if primers go in too easily? And if it is too loose you have to pitch the brass?

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by TNTall View Post
    So you have to pay attention to see if primers go in too easily? And if it is too loose you have to pitch the brass?
    I mark loose primer pocket brass with a sharpie and shoot is one final time.
    "What would a $2,000 Geissele Super Duty do that a $500 PSA door buster on Black Friday couldn't do?" - Stopsign32v

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by markm View Post
    I like to punch primers before anything else. I then tumble in wet/stainless steel media. Dry, lube, size with no expander ball, neck size with a neck expander die, dry tumble in the vibratory.

    Then I trim (giraud) and the brass is ready for whatever priming and loading from there.
    This is exactly how I do it with the exception of the vibratory. I just throw it back into the steel media one more time. It sucks to handle dirty brass to remove primers but it makes all the other steps easier. The vibratory does make the brass slick & shiny though!

    If you are really gonna process same caliber brass in several hundred or a thousand I would seriously consider the Giraud. Money well spent IMO.

  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by veeref View Post
    This is exactly how I do it with the exception of the vibratory. I just throw it back into the steel media one more time. It sucks to handle dirty brass to remove primers but it makes all the other steps easier. The vibratory does make the brass slick & shiny though!

    If you are really gonna process same caliber brass in several hundred or a thousand I would seriously consider the Giraud. Money well spent IMO.
    Why do yall separate the size and neck size steps? I've always used a full length size die with neck expander in one.

  9. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by opngrnd View Post
    Paging Markm! Paging Markm!

    All jokes aside, there will be some extremely well versed individuals along shortly. I can layout my process, but there are still parts I'd like to change, or simply haven't changed because I haven't bought some of the items others use. My current process for 223:

    1. Tumble dirty brass.
    2. Stand 100 at a time un Universal Loading trays and spray from all 4 directions at a downward angle. I do 4 trays at a time.
    3. Run through Hornady progressive press to resize.
    4. Run through again with Lee's Collet Neck Sizing Die. This allows me to feel if necks are cracked or have insufficient tension. I lose about 1/300 to cracked necks.
    5. Tumble lube off.
    6. Trim with Giraud Tri-Way Trimmer.
    7. Swage as needed on Dillon Super Swage 600. I also cull range pick up brass if someone removed too much pocket material.
    8. Hand prime. I mark the cases where the primer has very little resistance being seated and throw them in the scrap bucket after firing.
    9. Load in trays. Check that primer is not obscured by tumbling media.
    10. Drop powder on 300 at a time. Eyeball the 6 trays of 50 to ensure powder is even in all charged cases.
    11. Seat bullets on my Redding Big Boss 2 single stage.
    12. Run them through the progressive press with Lee Factory Crimp Die in place.

    I'm very picky, even at the expense of production because nothing's worth losing a finger or eye. If I don't like something, I toss that piece of brass.

    Each year, I experiment a little, and more of the operation is done by the progressive press. A few years down the road I see about 3 more of the individual steps being folded into the progressive press. Even with my lengthy process, about 20-30 minutes a day ensures I always have a good amount of ammo ready, and I shoot between 5k-10k yearly. I usually get most of my reloading done for the year in the winter months. YMMV.
    Thanks for the great post! Very helpful tips. I like your idea for feeling for the neck tension to check for cracks.

    So besides low or high powder charge what reloading issue can cause you to lose a finger or an eye? The XL650 has a powder check station to alarm for that condition.

  10. #20
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    I use a progressive press.

    Depending on how dirty it is and the source of the brass, my process may be a little different. If it’s my own brass, obviously many of the processes may already be done.

    If the brass is cruddy range brass, I start off with a wet tumbler.

    Then, I use a universal decapping die followed by a Sinclair expander die with a carbide insert. This way I start out with no mouths dented or out of round.

    Then I will run the brass through a swagger, uniform the primer pocket, and uniform the flash hole.

    Then I will trim with a system such as Little Crow or Giraud that indexes off the shoulder rather than OAL. Then it’s trimmed, chamfered, and deburred.

    Then the brass is annealed to bring life back into the neck.

    I’m ready to lube and resize in a Redding S-Type FL die without an expander. If I want to remove the lube I will tumble again here.


    Then the next round, the press is set up with a universal depriming die in station one to ensure there is no media in the flash hole, on the down stroke it primes, Sinclair expander in station two with a carbide expander which requires no lube, then a powder dispenser or a powder funnel die depending on if I’m running precision ammo or blasting ammo, Forster BR seater in station four, and a factory crimp die in the fifth station.

    I find this method to produce excellent results with straight cartridges that are consistent. There are other methods but I’ve not found one that works better for me.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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