Reloading 101: Part I-Brass prep for .223 (cleaning, inspecting, sizing, decapping, and sorting)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มิ.ย. 2023
- Reloading for beginners. Reloading .223. Basic brass preparation. Basic brass prep. How to prep .223 ammo for reloading. How to trim case link on .223 how to resize .223 brass. How to prep .223 brass for reloading. Reloading for beginners. How to reload .223 ammo.
Link to annealing video: • Why and How to Anneal ...
SHTF
Been reloading a long time and found some very useful stuff on here. You are incredibly detail oriented. Very good content.
Much appreciated! Thank you for watching.
Getting prepared to reload. This is the best video for brass prep for beginners like me. Thank you.
I'm glad you found it helpful. Thanks for watching.
PS: I have a new video coming out soon entitled, "reloading 223 from start to finish… Evolved." This includes my current procedure for reloading which is changed somewhat from the original video posted a few months back.
Nice information. Thanks for the video. I like that case prep machine! Glad I'm not the only one that reloads in my jammy pants 🙂
Haha! Well it is called everyday reloading and shooting. Those are my work clothes! 😁
Yeah, the Frankford Arsenal case prep center really saves me a lot of time. They make one that has a built-in trimmer too. I have my trimmer set up on a drill press.
I never even thought about case weight!, thank you sir for the useful information! 👍
Glad it was helpful!
This video is very helpful. I use the frankford arsenal line of products also and truly appreciate them! During your process when you use the case lube is good but I’ve learned another way that really helps and saves me a lot of lube. I dump my brass maybe 100-200 casing at a time and put them in a gallon zip lock bag. I use hornady case lube but this works with any lube. I spray the lube on the brass inside the bag and then seal it. I roll the bag around side to side, end over end and mix it up really well. Then once mixed well I open the bag and let it sit 5-10 minutes for any alcohol to evaporate and what’s left is a fantastic shiny lube on the cases and their ready to resize, or load. Happy reloading
Smart idea
That sounds like an excellent idea. Thanks for watching.
If I have carbide dies do I need case lube?
@@sidneywhite749I would use case lube no matter what dies you have. It just really makes the process easier. Unless it’s going into a fully automated machine you will be the one operating the lever and why have a case stick or require more force? I use hornady dies and sometimes LEE dies but I use case lube every single time. Also you can make your own case lube for much cheaper then buying it. 99.9% alcohol mixed with lanolin oil mixture is 1oz oil and 10oz alcohol and shake well. It’s how Dylan makes there lube
Great Video! thanks!!!
I appreciate that. And thanks for watching
Great content. Picked up a few ideas I might experiment with in my own process. Personally when I do the brush/chamfer/deburr step I leave the brushing until after I do the other two steps to get all the brass shavings out.
Pretty smart! Thanks for watching
What a great video. Thank you.
My pleasure. Thank you for watching
a fellow "I ain't in town" PJ wearer I see, I was just reloading 223 in PJs.
You want to be comfortable when you're reloading, right? Thanks for watching
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting for sure, comfort first.
Some really great tips. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching
Awesome tips
Thanks for the compliment. I appreciate your watching
Great video thank you. 👍
Thank you too! And thanks for watching
Pretty cool corn cob media in the little fart i might have to do that for just a final polish to really make them shine up at least take water spots off
With a little bit of auto polish added, it gives them a very nice field as well. Thanks for watching.
Frankfort did a similar thing with me about 5 years ago. I purchased the same tumbler you have there. I broke something the first time tried to use. I don’t remember what. It was completely my fault. I contacted them to purchase a replacement part. I even stressed it was my fault. They sent me another complete tumbler and did not want me to send the old one (1 week old) back to them.
That's fantastic service that you don't get just anywhere. Awesome story. And thanks for watching.
Hi I’m new to reloading. I was looking up your Franklin case prep station did yours come with the case neck brush ? The prep station I found doesn’t come with one and can’t find them online . I see some from RCBS though not sure if those will work?
You have to purchase the tools separately. Any standard sized two will fit. I believe it’s 8 x 32 thread size.
You can buy a sheet of gasket material from any auto parts store and fix your tumbler.
Hi Steve. Yes you can. That is correct, in fact, the old gasket was just loose. It still worked. now I have two tumblers. I appreciate your watching.
Great video! Serious question though, couldn't an excess amount of lube cause minor dings or dents in the neck of the case? May be not the first 10 to 15 or so, but it would build up in the die and eventually cause issues. I use lube, but I'm sparingly using it, not over lubing, however I could be wrong.
It hasn't been an issue so far although I suppose it probably could. It's a good practice to clean the dies periodically. Thanks for watching.
I'm new. Watched a previous video put out by Lee. It said the decapping pin needs to be flush with the top of the decapper clamp. I noticed your pin is not flush. Like I said I'm just getting started and Im curious about that. Is the pin sticking up above the nut ok? And did you need to tighten up that clamp the first time you used it? Thanks!!
Good observation. Lee is correct. The top of the decapping pin should be flush with the nut or very close. I recently adjusted mine so that is now how it is set. There is a little bit of room there for some play. And while mine was working, occasionally a primer would not pop out all the way and I would have to pull the lever a second time. Once I adjusted it, it was fine. No more issues. Thanks for the question, and thanks for watching.
Is it advisable to resize and decap the primer before tumbling the case, so that the primer pocket also gets cleaned at the same time?
Yes, that is how I do it now. And by wet tumbling with steel pins you get the inside of the case clean as well. There would be no need to clean the primer pocket or brush the inside of the case mouth. Thanks for washing.
As mentioned below, cases split like that when you are oversizing them. At most, in a full length sizing die, shoulder bump should not exceed 0.002. Many people read the directions that come with the die and if you do, oversizing is going to happen, and usually 0.005 or more. I neck size only with bushing dies unless I have to FL size. Once I shoot ammo and get home, I will rechamber every single fired case. If it chambers, even if a little stiff, I will anneal, then neck size only, then trim length, and recheck fit in the chamber. If it is snug, I go with it. If it is too snug and i get a clicker when lifting the bolt I will FL size and keep those cases in a different batch. I use the Hornady comparator set when setting up my FL size die. Ultimately, I end up sacrificing 1 to 2 which end up being oversized but the rest are fine once the die is set up properly. I'll use the oversized ones and mark them to be fouling shots in the future. I guess I've been lucky with most of my rifles, only having to neck size cases with multiple firings before I detect the need for FL sizing.
Randy Selby, "THE REAL GUNSMITH" did a video on this very thing. Check his channel out.
It sounds like you have a very well thought out process there. I just carried 31 pounds of brass to the recycling center and sold it yesterday for $44. The brass that is splitting apart has probably been reloaded, some of that, 20 times. I have 2 to 3000ths head space. I picked up two bags of 223 ammo at Academy sports two days ago. Like 64 bucks a bag. 500 rounds.
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting Great buy! I'm bidding on ammo on Gunbroker right now. Got a steal last week, 100 rounds Hornady ELD-X for $24.40/box of 20 shipped!
Nice!
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting looks like ts worth keeping bad brass and primers to sell to a scrapper.
Very in depth. May I ask what that case checker was that you used to check for cracks? I haven’t started reloading rifle yet and am getting all supplies ready while learning
I think you may be referring to the Frankford Arsenal case prep center. It was the deburring tool which is used to deburr the case after trimming, but if there is a crack in the neck it will reveal it.
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting you stuck something in each case while in the reloading block? Almost looked like a paperclip
@chevtow yes, that was a paperclip with a tiny hook bent on the end. Thanks for watching
That separation line is much higher than I normally see it on a 223 case ? I normally find them much closer to the base .
Maybe it’s the rifle. But they always show up at exactly the same place. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching.
After showing the head separation screening, you said you were going to clean, but then you popped in that you had annealed. Would be interested in your process there too.
The dryer sheet in the tumbler, is that a new, unused sheet or one that has already gone through a load of clothes?
Hi. And thanks for the comment. There’s a link in the description that I referenced in the video that shows how i anneal the brass. The dryer sheet was new and unused, but we bought the box at the dollar store. Now the dollar .25 store. Many people use used dryer sheets in their tumbling, and they probably work fine. These were just really cheap, and my wife doesn’t use them.😁
th-cam.com/video/YnBX8EzWxas/w-d-xo.html here’s a link to the video about anneaing. Thanks again.
I may be the most novice reloader responding but thank you for your videos! They help me understand many things. Question; I have a couple pieces of brass that will not fit down the Hornady comparator that you have. I have measured every place I can see, that might keep it from "Plunking", but it will not go past the rim. Rim size measures the same on one that plunks down nicely, OAL matches, diameter of neck and case base also match. Any thoughts? Anyone? Thank you!
Hi James. I get that sometimes too. It's very strange, I agree. Sometimes I will try resizing a piece of brass like that. I may put it in the resizing die, pull the lever, rotate it, pull the lever again rotate it, and pull the lever again, and it still will not fit. Sometimes I can insert the case head into the gauge, and twist it and that might remove a small piece of metal that keeps it from fitting into the gauge, but many times if it won't go I just end up tossing out that piece of brass. It's weird, how some will just not fit, but you do not want to reload those if they will not fit the case gauge. They can cause the rifle to jam or misfeed. Thanks for watching!
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting I tried the rotation thing too. I’m just going to be done with it. I’ll crush it and put it in for recycling. Thanks for the response and advice to not reload it!
I’m new to reloading and having trouble with getting my sizing die to do its job. I have the same press and using lee pacesetter dies. I’m using the same lock and load drop tester but I can’t seem to get the lip to sink down far enough to be flush. Any suggestions?
I had the same problem when I first started reloading. Ultimately I had to adjust the die down a little further. Maybe a quarter to a half turn. Sometimes the problem is the shoulder isn’t being pushed back far enough and that keeps the case from seating all the way in the gauge. I have also found sometimes that there can be a slight burr or defect on the rim of the case head. So I insert it backwards, headfirst into the gauge, push it in and twist it as I push. Sometimes that will clean up the case, head enough that it will drop in flush. Give that a try and let me know how it goes. I really appreciate your watching too. Thank you.
There is enough new fired brass to avoid having to pick up every pre-fired case. You know it's new when the primer is gold, and when you run your finger nail over the opening and there are bumps. Load and fire it 5-6 times and throw it away. No need to probe your cases.
You have a good point. The problem at the Georgia gun club is they don't allow you to pick up other peoples brass . Some range safety officers are more strict than others. Some are OK with it. Others enforce their rules to the letter of the law. So when I need brass, I have to purchase it. so I reuse it until the primer pockets get loose, or A neck splits, then I toss it. I really appreciate your watching.
I am new to reloading, just watching videos now. Where can I buy once fired brass, Pistol calibers?
Sidney, visit Academy Sports. They carry some brass. Also check out PrecisionReloading.com or midwayUSA.com. Thanks for watching
Thank you for the video. I am new to reloading and it is very confidence building to see someone who knows what they are doing using the same setup that I have. A very nice tutorial, I do have a question though. What do you do if a case does not pass the plunk test? I am using the same dies that you are and set up as per Lee and your instructions in my press, made sure the decaping pin was flush with the top of the die and yet about 60% of my brass is not passing. It was all factory new once fired brass being resized. Not sure if it matters but this was with 308 brass not 5.56, any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Hi Ben. This also happened to me when I first started reloading. Try adjusting your sizing die. Turn it 1/4 of a turn down. Size a piece of brass, then check that in your case gauge. If it still does not fit turn it a half a turn, and try again. I think you’re just not sizing it enough. A little bit of trial and error and you should be able to get it to fit your case gauge. Occasionally, I will have a piece that doesn’t fit, and I have found that if I insert the case head into the gauge And twist it, sometimes that will make it fit. I think there might be like a little burr on the case head or something that keeps it from dropping in all the way. Also, make sure the case gauge is clean on the inside, and that you have removed all of the lube off of the case. A buildup of lube in the gauge will keep it from falling in. Good luck, and thanks for watching.
PS: you might also reinsert the case into the Die, pull the lever, rotate the case, pull the lever again, and then maybe do that a second time. Sometimes that will solve the problem. sometimes no matter what I do I can’t get the case to fit the gauge. That may be one and 100 cases, sometimes maybe two. If that happens, I throw them away. They would probably work fine in my bolt, action rifle, but I also reload for my AR, and it would surely jam my AR, so I just get rid of those. If the case Head sits too far above the gauge, you might not even be able to close the bolt on a bolt action.
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting Greatly appreciated! I will definitely give this a try. I appreciate the video and response. New subscriber!
Does the order of de-capping/cleaning matter? Here you cleaned first...does it matter, or just preference?
The reason to clean first is to keep the carbon and junk out of your dies. I recently purchased a universal decapping die so now I've gone to a two-step process where i decap the rounds first, and then I wet tumble with steel pins. The reason for that is, the steel pins clean the primer pocket so you can avoid that step later in the process. Thanks for watching.
Great info, except, does that Glass Cleaner contain Ammonia??
Yeah. I know it’s corrosive to brass but I clean it off right away. I’ve also recently instead started dry tumbling to remove the case lube. Thanks for watching
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting GREAT content! Learned a few things so very appreciative!
@@AXNJXN1 you bet!
Question, are you using a small base die?
Good morning James. No, this is the standard die set from Lee Precision.
RCBS sells the small base die.@@EverydayReloadingandShooting
Good to know; thanks
You should actually separate by headstamp first then weight per headstamp, you would get better results on target
That would probably require about 50 different containers. I appreciate the input. Thanks for watching.
How many times can you reuse
Brass? Until it fails; neck splits or primer pocket gets loose. I've fired some over 20 times. Thanks for watching
Why would case weight matter? You'll still putting X amount of powder in every case. Are you seating bullets different depth per case weight?
If the external dimensions of a case are all exactly the same, then the heavier weight of the case would indicate the brass is thicker, and therefore the internal volume is smaller. A smaller internal volume with the same powder charge will have increased pressure. Pressure affects velocity. Consistency is the key to accuracy.
PS: also, for the record, I now sort my cases differently from what is shown in this video. I will sort them based on number of times fired, but when I go to reload them, if I am doing 50 for example, I will weigh each case And sort them from lightest to heaviest. Then I will arrange them in the loading block in that order from lightest to heaviest. So they are still sorted by weight at the time of loading, but not for storing.
I have been shooting and reloading various 223 / 5,56 for decades and have never seen a case split like yours. I think your chamber is way oversized and your sizing die is undersized causing the cases to split like that. Check headspace if you have the gauges. You can adjust the sizing die out to avoid pushing the shoulder too far back, for long headspace in the chamber.
I’ll honestly take a look at that. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the input. Headspace has been adjusted. Thanks for watching.
Should be using Carbide Died.
Hi Gary. I will probably do that when I wear these out in a few years. Thanks for watching.😁
If it seats it yeets
It yeets?
Thanks for watching
Just an idea , have a gunsmith check the chamber of your rifle. If using an AR , I don’t believe your using , a small base die is a must. Seeing where your cases are separating looks to have excessive chamber. O and your chamber gauge also tells the length of the case. Have fun shooting.
Thanks, Morgan. I believe I was oversizing the brass, so I have adjusted the dies accordingly. Also, a lot of this had over 20 firings on it and should have already been retired. I really appreciate you watching . Thanks for the input.
Your using a wet tumbler and putting in dry media with your dry tumbler right there... that's odd.
You said that gasket leaks so you know that's used for wet tumbling. Why don't you use your dry tumbler for what it intended for?
It works well with wet or dry. Thanks for watching
You should get you a pad and some case lube man. You put way too much lube on them. I’d already had a lot of them loaded. But….. I have a 4 hole turret press too though. Never heard of window cleaner before and I’ve been loading since 2006.
Thanks for the input Paul. I appreciate you watching.
Man I hate trimming, I seen you doing it and that looked awesome and easy !! Lol. I have a bench top drill press, how do you mount the trimmer in one ?? I bet that will be my next project !!! Lol
Hi Paul. The trimmer fits right into the chuck of the drill. You can use a drill press or, a handheld drill. Regardless, it needs to have at least a 1/2 inch chuck to accommodate the trimmer. The trimmer comes with instructions on how to set it up. It will take a little trial and error to get it right, but it definitely makes easy work of brass trimming.
Looks like another person who doesn't tumble/clean cases after lube and resize. How did your window cleaner get the inside of case after you q-tipped lube in there?
The lube inside the neck doesn't impact the performance at all. But if you noticed during case prep I did use a brush inside the neck. I appreciate your watching. Thank you.
Never seen anybody use a wet tumbler with dry media.
Now you have. And it works very well. Although recently I have started wet tumbling with steel pins after decapping the cases. I found that the steel pins get the primer pocket really clean, so that is my process now. Thanks for watching.
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting I just bought an ultrasonic cleaner, I used to dry vibrate. I like this idea. I avoided the wet tumbler because I wasn't sure I would like it, whereas the ultrasonic can be used for other things. Wish I would have thought to do this. Slick having two options in one device.
I saw a video on ultimate reloader where he use the ultrasonic cleaner. The primer pockets got very clean as well. Has that been your experience?
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting Yes. Just don't use vinegar. The ascorbic acid breaks down the zinc in the cases. If you have fine scratches on your cases, it's not going to remove those, but I don't care about that. If you are going for the "jewelry" look, ultrasonic, followed by a quick vibratory cleaning gets them purty, fast.
You say that’s a drill press ??? How do you trim with a drill press ?? I hate trimming !!!
WFT - Little Crow Works
I use the little crow gun works trimmer installed in the drill press.
✔️ *promosm*
Thanks for watching
why don't you anneal after you clean cases ?
another thing is you should deprime before you clean so the primer pockets are clean !
I also lube and full size before I clean but I use a sonic cleaner not a dry tumbler and dry my cases in my oven at lowest temp. for 45 mins.
Hi I anneal before I clean the cases because cleaning them polishes them up and removes some of the discoloration caused by annealing. I think it makes them prettier. But you could anneal after cleaning just as well.
Sorry, lost me when I saw the LEE press, dry tumbling and wobbly crimp removal ....
Anti Lee? Wobbly crimp removal? I do that to bevel the edge of the primer pocket. It makes seating the primers easier. Thanks for watching.
Case weight is NOT correlated with case volume. Don't believe me? Start putting grains of water into cases. I have a spreadsheet full of data I've gathered myself proving this, from over a dozen headstamps and a sample size of 20 from each.
I’d love to see your data. Can you please email the spreadsheets to me at theproximian@gmail.com? Thank you. And thanks for watching.
If the outside dimensions of the case are identical, but the weight is different what could possibly account for that except for a difference in the thickness of the case wall? If there’s a difference in the thickness of the case wall, how does that not translate into a difference in case volume?
Over sizing your brass too much
How do you know? And thanks for watching.
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting it’s reloading 101. All the books talk about it. Over working the brass causes case head separations along with out of spec chambers and a few other things. When loading bolt guns i only bump shoulders a half thousandth to 1 thousandth because of this.
I used to not be particular about headspace. I now have it down to where I have about 2/1000 of head space.
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting .002 is usually used for gas guns. But .0005 to .001 is usually used for bolt guns. I run .0005 thou shoulder bump on my 223 bolt guns.
@@MrBoostin18 I appreciate the info. I’m still learning, so thank you for the input.
The mind boggles, your process is a little arse about face! You could be far more efficient than this. Have you ever annealed those cases? Mixing different brass brands and weighing them and calling it good is laughable! I think you will find the internal volume of different brands of brass is very different. I would love to see your load development process along with the ES, SD and precision you achieve. Makes good entertainment.
Ouch! That stings. 😁 If the outside dimensions are the same, the difference in weight means the case wall is thicker thus if the weight is the same, then so is the internal volume. I don't measure SD. To me it's the group size that matters. Yes I anneal. There are videos that show my load development. Please check them out. Thanks for watching!
The mind boggles, your process is a little arse about face! You could be far more efficient than this. Have you ever annealed those cases? Mixing different brass brands and weighing them and calling it good is laughable! I think you will find the internal volume of different brands of brass is very different. I would love to see your load development process along with the ES, SD and precision you achieve. Makes good entertainment.
Here's a link to a recent video that shows my load development process and the precision I achieve.
th-cam.com/video/3W52fIKkk5Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=df2cdrHwqJXKIqyW
Those head separations are likely because he is over-sizing the cases. You can see he just followed the generic instructions from the die maker rather than measuring it. But at the end of the day, if it makes him happy and he achieves the results he wants, then good on him. He just probably shouldn’t be teaching it to others.
They were oversized. And if you watch some of my more recent videos on reloading you'll see that I address headspace. I even purchased a separate set of dies, because there's a difference between the headspace on the Ruger American and my AR. No longer having this problem. Thanks for watching,
@@EverydayReloadingandShooting glad to hear you got it sorted out.
@@thepracticalrifleman and, a fair amount of that brass had probably 20 firings on it.