I was able to test some 223 I loaded recently this past week when I was down in the woods.

100% reliability.

In my early 20's I tried reloading and could never get reliable production with semi-auto weapons. This was likely due to my lack of patience more than anything.

This time I took my time, made sure I was learning each individual step before jumping into it.

I'll probably back off the charge 2 grains and try to pump out 1000 or so. It might not sound like much to you seasoned guys, but having good results from your time and effort feels nice.

Otto - This is great to read.

One recommendation if you do not have one yet (betting you already know this and have one) - Get a good quality case gauge and check one round from at least every 5-10 rounds. I say this because it is SUPER important that you insure you set back the shoulder on the 223/5.56 brass correctly because if it is not they will not cycle in an AR chamber and will actually cause the bolt to seize up.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
Otto - This is great to read.

One recommendation if you do not have one yet (betting you already know this and have one) - Get a good quality case gauge and check one round from at least every 5-10 rounds. I say this because it is SUPER important that you insure you set back the shoulder on the 223/5.56 brass correctly because if it is not they will not cycle in an AR chamber and will actually cause the bolt to seize up.

I've actually been very thorough with this, as I'm afraid I'll ruin an expensive AR. I probably check more often than I should but I'm in no race. I actually ran some cases back through the sizing die if they seemed the slightest bit off.

Maybe a little paranoid but probably better safe than sorry.

Otto - Thanks for your reply and I want to apologize if my post implied that you did not know what you were doing. It was not intended to come across that way Sir.

After reading your reply and then re-reading my post, my post read as if I was implying that you knew not what you were doing, and that was not my intent.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:
Otto - Thanks for your reply and I want to apologize if my post implied that you did not know what you were doing. It was not intended to come across that way Sir.

After reading your reply and then re-reading my post, my post read as if I was implying that you knew not what you were doing, and that was not my intent.

Certainly wasn’t taken that way, I promise. I appreciate any advice or guidance along the way.

OttoSig your last paragraph in the first post concerns me a lot.
You have a 100% reliable load, but you are going to change it and load 1000 rounds?

2 grains in .223 is sometimes the difference between starting and max loads. Big change.

I have to have a lot of confidence and testing before I load a large amount of a certain load.

quote:

Originally posted by sig operator:
OttoSig your last paragraph in the first post concerns me a lot.
You have a 100% reliable load, but you are going to change it and load 1000 rounds?

2 grains in .223 is sometimes the difference between starting and max loads. Big change.

I have to have a lot of confidence and testing before I load a large amount of a certain load.

Understood,

I’ll load up 50 and give em a whirl.

quote:

I have to have a lot of confidence and testing before I load a large amount of a certain load.

This is good advice. There's nothing like having to pull down 500 loaded rounds because you decided to cut corners on testing to instill that lesson, but since I'm an idiot I've gotten to learn it more that once, lol.

My most recent debacle involved a known load with a known bullet weight. I got a deal on some bullets from a company that I hadn't bought from before, and since they were the same weight and profile I figured I'd just run them with the load that I always use. I put together about 500, only to discover that the jackets were separating and I was getting horrible accuracy and multiple holes in the target per-shot. Turns out the bullets were defective, and the manufacturer refunded my money...but I got to spend hours pulling down all of the ones that I'd loaded. Not a good time.

I recommend the Wilson case gauges. Not only do they insure that a cartridge is within spec, it is also useful for setting up your resizing die. Most new reloaders resize their brass too much. A good case gauge will help prevent it.

Wilson case gauge

quote:

Originally posted by sigcrazy7:
I recommend the Wilson case gauges. Not only do they insure that a cartridge is within spec, it is also useful for setting up your resizing die. Most new reloaders resize their brass too much. A good case gauge will help prevent it.

Wilson case gauge

Good advice, I’ve got Dillon and Wilson gauges for .223, .308, and 30-06. I’d wager I use them on 40% of the rounds. I also weigh every round as well. Maybe I’m a little paranoid. But I found 4 rounds last time that didn’t have a powder charge. I need to put a rubber band on the Dillon powder measure. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but coulda caused a squib.

I’m really thinking of just doing away with the Dillon powder measure on the press and manually filling. A good powder thrower and trickle would cost way less than powder measures for 4-6 calibers.