Bulk 556 Brass prep and reloading process

[PracticalRifleman]

Expanding should be the last thing you do prior to charging the case. You want imperfections pushed out rather than pushed in.


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[TNTall]

Expanding should be the last thing you do prior to charging the case. You want imperfections pushed out rather than pushed in.


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I have been watching what's happening with the expander. It looks like it shears off the occasional chip left behind by the trimmer. That should get expelled with the tumbling media following.

[PracticalRifleman]

I have been watching what's happening with the expander. It looks like it shears off the occasional chip left behind by the trimmer. That should get expelled with the tumbling media following.

I’m talking more along the lines of inconsistencies in neck thickness which get pushed in by the FL sized.


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[duece71]

Great info here, thanks for the posts.
I just finished up with .308, I am now on to .223 on my RCBS single stage. Eventually I want to move over to the 550 however I want to get used to the process for .223 on the rock chucker. More control and yes, much slower.
I typically tumble dry unless the cases have come out of a suppressed gun, suppressed fired brass gets a wet tumble and dry in the oven. Next up is lube, size and deprime and back into dry tumble. I check the primer pockets, swage and trim on an RCBS power trimmer. Hand prime is next, followed by powder and bullet seating. I didn’t crimp on the .308 may or may not for .223. Most of my reloads will be for range plinking, some for precision.
A few questions.........
I didn’t see anyone mention shoulder bump, what are you using for shoulder bump on the .223? I measured a loaded round and have adjusted the sizing die for the factory shoulder. Good or bad?
Does anyone crimp when the bullet has a cannelure or do you just ignore the cannelure?
Do any of you do bullet seating depth testing? For an AR I understand length is limited by magazine dimensions.
For Lake City brass, do any of you use it or just toss it? I understand it typically is thicker and therefore case volume will be less, something to be mindful of when nearing the top end of the reloading manual data.
Is anyone using 556 load data or no? Just curious. My Hornady and Sierra manuals have some 556 load data.
With powder and primer scarcity now, I doubt I am going to go very far with .223, I haven’t seen Varget, CFE 223 or RL15 in a long time. I have some TAC but not much.
Thanks for the replies.

[duece71]

Also,
Does anyone separate cases by head stamp?
Thanks.

[markm]

Also,
Does anyone separate cases by head stamp?
Thanks.

Sometimes.. depending on how much I care about the load. For blaster ammo, no.

Most cases are the same weight/internal volume. But a few oddball imports can really change velocity. I think we tested MEN brass in .223 compared to LC and it kicked up velocity 40 fps.

[BeachBummer]

2 questions from a newb here...
liquid lanolin and ipa whats the preferred ratio ? I'm using 20% at present
I'm using Mighty Armory TNT fl resizing dies, pistol and rifle, and their uni. decapping die<no bent pins with that thing...
wet tumbling - I have the Midway National Metallic tumbler, almost a copy of the F.A. platinum - its works great! and a work horse.
normal load - 1000 pcs. of 9mm, or 500 pcs. 556 range brass all decapped first- 4 second hard squeeze of dawn-1 tbsp. of lemishine. - run brass for 4 hours with ss pins. comes out shiny in every nook and cranny, let it air dry on shop towels in a large box with 2 fans blowing over it. Now, when dry, I can feel the brass is not slick, probably soap residue, and has that slight patina look, "unless" I give each piece of brass a quick hand dry with a rag right away. Am I using too much dawn or lemishine ?
This is a good thread. Thanks to all.

[Bimmer]

2 questions from a newb here...
liquid lanolin and ipa whats the preferred ratio ? I'm using 20% at present...

normal load - 1000 pcs. of 9mm, or 500 pcs. 556 range brass all decapped first- 4 second hard squeeze of dawn-1 tbsp. of lemishine. - probably soap residue, and has that slight patina look...

Am I using too much dawn or lemishine ?
This is a good thread. Thanks to all.

AFAIK, the ratio of lanolin and alcohol should be 4:1 or 5:1, so 20% lanolin sounds good... You could probably adjust as needed (dry climate, more alcohol; wet climate, maybe more lanolin).


I dunno about the patina look... I had always heard to use a .45 case of Lemi-Shine. I actually have citric acid (cheaper).

[T2C]

Also,
Does anyone separate cases by head stamp?
Thanks.

I don't for 300 yard loads. I separate cases by head stamp and number of times fired for 600 yard loads.

[jbdesigns]

I’ve read all the responses here and since none are quite like my procedure, I’ll list it out with the reasons why. Hopefully some can learn something.

I pick up any brass I find. I’m a brass whore. I don’t care how crappy it looks or if corroded looking.

Step 1: deprime with Lee universal de primer. I do this on my hornady lnl progressive. I hand feed brass.

Step 2: wet tumble in my homemade tumbler. About 400-500 at a time. Lemi shine and simple green for detergent. Usually 2 hours but 1 works too. I dry in oven on cookie sheet at 190F.

Step 3: since I pick up anything, I anneal them all on an anealeze. You can skip this if you don’t have one, but I do now and like doing this. I don’t need to separate the 2x fired from 1x or whatever.

Step 4: I’ll usually remove primer crimp now. I used to use Lyman VLDchamfer and drill press. Now I use Dillon super swager.

Step 5: lube and size. I use the home brew lanolin and DEET. In the 1:6 to 1:8 ratio. I spray about 75 or so brass in a plastic container then shake em up. Remove top and let dry for a few minutes. I speed this up by shooting heat gun at them and in 30 seconds or so I’m ready to go on to the sizing. Again I use progressive and just keep feeding them in by hand. It be faster with case feeder but I saved money by not getting that and I’m fine w/o.

Step 6: clean lube off in wet tumbler. Important that simple green is used as it cuts the lanolin. Dawn will not touch it and you’ll get dull and sticky brass. I’ll actually give brass a hand wash in a bucket with water and some SimpleGreen first to get a bunch of lube off. Then they go in tumbler with fresh water, some SimpleGreen and lemishine . Dry afterwards of course.

Step 7: I trim brass now. Used WFT at first with the chamfer inside neck and ourmtside done separately. Now I use a giraud tri-way in the drill press. Only downside or issue is that some brass like federal is a bit long and the tri-way likes to grab hard with the cutter and spin brass in your hand. You have to hold on tight and insert brass slow so as to not let it grab. The WFT doesn’t have that problem. Technique is the word of the day.

Step 8: hand prime. Yes, I hand prime everything even though I have a progressive press. It’s accurate, reliable, and high quality. No F ups during the cycle on progressive. I’m 100% sure all primers in correct and all brass primed.

Step 9: into progressive to drop powder and seat bullet. I don’t crimp ever on 223 or 308.

Enjoy fruits of labor. Brass prep is all the labor, period. I’ve determined that all in all the loading rate is about 100 rounds per hour when you factor everything in.

But my rounds are MUCH more accurate than factory. And they aren’t a silly $.80 or $1.00 per round like they’re going for today.

Stay safe and salty my fellow reloaders.


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