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Do I need to separate my .223 brass from 5.56mm? I plan on replicating the LEO TAP 75 grain 80265 ballistically using a chrono and with help of someone who knows something about reloading. Of course for training purposes. Thanks gents for your unwavering support of my newbie Q's!
Senior Member
In my opinion, it's not necessary to segregate different headstamps of 223 and 5.56 unless you are going for ultimate accuracy.Originally Posted by User Name
Do I need to separate my .223 brass from 5.56mm? I plan on replicating the LEO TAP 75 grain 80265 ballistically using a chrono and with help of someone who knows something about reloading. Of course for training purposes. Thanks gents for your unwavering support of my newbie Q's!
Un-informed people will tell you that military brass is thicker than commercial brass.
This may be true of other cartridges, but I don't believe it to be true of 223 and 5.56.
I weighed a bunch of cartridge cases to figure this out...
223 vs. 5.56 case weights (link requires MS Excel)
Differences in alloy COULD account for some of the differences, but certainly not all of it.
Randall Rausch
AR15 Barrel Guru
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xxxxx
Last edited by PALADIN-hgwt; 07-09-09 at 22:50.
Senior Member
IIRC, Molon posted this on TOS:
"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts." Justice Robert Jackson, WV St. Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
"I don’t care how many pull ups and sit ups you can do. I care that you can move yourself across the ground with a fighting load and engage the enemy." Max Velocity
Senior Member
If just for training I would load IAW published reloading data which is going to be based on .223 pressure levels developed in .223 SAAMI chambers. When you fire these in your NATO chamber you'll probably come up short of TAP LEO velocity by 100 fps or so, but I wouldn't sweat it. Your primer pockets will thank you, they don't like a steady diet of max loads.
If you must insist on loading to max velocity, pick a "slowish" powder for .223. Varget (meters so-so, can bridge in your powder measure and just causes a freakin' mess), TAC (meters great), H4895 (same as Varget), RL-15 ( atad better than Varget). These are standards in HP land, but they are shooting rifle length barrels/gas systems. I'm assuming they'll work OK in carbines, maybe others can chime in that have first hand experience. But these are the powders that are used on the 600 yard line where you are trying to get max velocity.
Member
I always try to stay away from max charge too. About 10% below max is where I seem to have good luck. I've reloaded handgun for many years but am new to rifle rounds and have had success with my AR loads thus far.
Banned
excuse me for interupting here guys, but don't the dies play a very big role in the reloading process ?? if you have .223 Rem. dies you are making .223 Rem. ammo and on the other hand if you are using 5.56mm dies you are making 5.56mm ammo.
this is one of the reasons so many people get confused about calibers, most/many AR-15 type rifles have stamped on the receiver ".223Rem." , yet on the barrel you will see 5.56mm NATO, and that is why i use 5.56mm NATO dies.
Member
Ramshot TAC or Hodgdon B-LC2 will meter the best and give excellent results.
People say that Blackhills .223/5.56 is loaded using TAC. Not sure if that's true.
It's my powder of choice for .223.
Senior Member
Where does one purchase 5.56 NATO dies? Care to post the dimensional differences between the two?
Some of the key differences which affect resultant pressures are in neck/leade/throat dimension and dies don't have any impact on these. The main differences in NATO data (which I've never seen published) vs .223 SAAMI data is that SAAMI data is baselined against a chamber dimension that has a shorter freebore, a smaller diameter freebore and a steeper leade. Consequently, SAAMI-tailored data will hit the MAP psi level quicker (less powder) than will loads developed for a NATO chamber. For example, a load which develops 52K psi in a SAAMI chamber will develop less pressure in a NATO chamber, and conversely, a load which develops 52K psi in a NATO chamber will develop more pressure when fired in a SAAMI chamber.
Member
Thank you guys allot for the info. It definately cleared the issue up for me. Now about that Dillon 650 progressive reloader and sneaking it past my wife to the basement (my room) we will see.
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