Wanting to bulk load 223 in near future.

jmccracken1214

jmccracken1214

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What would be a good medium priced press to bulk load 223. Would prefer something that has a shell holder to put numerous pieces of brass in.

Want to finally get into shooting my AR(s) more often, but with my precision loading on a single stage, I can't justify spending $0.30 give or take a round in half decent 223, as quickly as it goes when shooting, I'd go broke.

I can already bet Dillion is out of my price range. What are some other good options to keep an eye out for?
 
I have the Lee classic cast turret. I've been loading my match .223 (3-gun) ammo on it for a while with the auto-disc system. I can crank out reliable .223... or did. For some reason the autodisc is starting to flake out and drop inconsistent loads, which is probably why they don't sell it any more. The upgrade is the auto drum.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/785993/lee-classic-4-hole-turret-press-deluxe-kit (I've seen this kit for $180 occasionally)

Combine that with Butter's .223 seconds and you've got fun plinking ammo. Slacker and I were hitting steel at 250 yards with it.

Note- I also have a Dillon 550, but for rifle, I do most of it on the Lee.
 
My Hornady LnL works well enough for it. Crimped primer pockets are the bane of my existence.

Most times I size on my SS, trim, decrimp and then run the loading on the progressive.
 
Dillon out of your price range? Just think of how much all those components cost that you are going to be assembling on your machine. After a very short while the cost of the machine will fade into obscurity. It is the old "rigging costs more than the hull" bit that applies to boats, women, and reloading. I only have a 550, but a 650 with a case trimmer and a primer pocket swager would be mighty nice if I were only loading 233 in large quantities. Trimming and swaging off the press takes up a lot of time.
 
How many rounds do you think you want to load per month?

I have been playing with 223 and also end up doing a ton of prep on a single stage. The loading itself goes fast on the LNL.
 
JimB said:
How many rounds do you think you want to load per month?

I have been playing with 223 and also end up doing a ton of prep on a single stage. The loading itself goes fast on the LNL.
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Not sure. Would vary. I dread trimming all that 223 brass. I have a rcbs trimmer with my 1/4" impact on it but it still sucks lol. It's looking like the Hornady progressive press is best bet.
 
Beef15 said:
My Hornady LnL works well enough for it. Crimped primer pockets are the bane of my existence.

Most times I size on my SS, trim, decrimp and then run the loading on the progressive.
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Pretty much what I do now. I started out doing all my 223 work on the Lee turret, but now I use the turret to deprime, size, then I do all my case prep, and go to my Dillon 550 for finishing up. I do my precision rounds the same, but I drop the powder with my Chargemaster instead of a press mounted measure.

If I buy everything in bulk, I can get the cost per round down to about $0.19 each not counting the brass.
 
jmccracken1214 said:
Not sure. Would vary. I dread trimming all that 223 brass. I have a rcbs trimmer with my 1/4" impact on it but it still sucks lol. It's looking like the Hornady progressive press is best bet.
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I haven’t trimmed brass in I can’t remember when. If it’s plinking brass you can probably skip it
 
I have found that factory ammo - especially factory reloads - is cheap enough these days that it doesn't make sense to reload. Especially for "bulk" And I ALREADY own the equipment. If I was contemplating laying out cash for a press, dies, etc there's no way I could justify it today.
 
Tim said:
I have found that factory ammo - especially factory reloads - is cheap enough these days that it doesn't make sense to reload. Especially for "bulk" And I ALREADY own the equipment. If I was contemplating laying out cash for a press, dies, etc there's no way I could justify it today.
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I have everything but the press for bulk ammo. Maybe would even consider selling my single stage and loading my Precision on the Progressive as well and just treat it like a single stage when I do that. I wouldn't be out of pocket too much money. What reloaded Factory 2 to 3 ammo are you speaking of?
 
Tim said:
I have found that factory ammo - especially factory reloads - is cheap enough these days that it doesn't make sense to reload. Especially for "bulk" And I ALREADY own the equipment. If I was contemplating laying out cash for a press, dies, etc there's no way I could justify it today.
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A lot of truth to that. I see good brass-cased ammo for $0.28 per round, shipped. Less if you don't mind steel-cased.

jmccracken1214 said:
What powder are you guys using for the bulk 223?
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For me, H4198 has been an inexpensive powder to use, as a full charge with 55fmj is only 21.0gn, which will give you ~330 rounds per pound. It meters reasonable well, it is a small extruded stick powder. It is a fast burning powder that works really well in my AR pistol at the min charge of 19.0gn. For my mid-length carbine, I have to use the max charge of 21.0gn to get reliable cycling and last round bolt-hold.
 
11B CIB said:
I haven’t trimmed brass in I can’t remember when. If it’s plinking brass you can probably skip it
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Every piece of my .223 brass gets trimmed.
The giraud makes it easy.
Never thought of skipping that step. Funny not sure my ocd would let me. :D
 
While it’s tough to beat Dillon, they do require a little larger up front investment unless you score a nice used deal.

I load .300BLK on my Lee Classic Turret but at 100+\hr it’s too slow for .223. You definitely want a progressive for high volume. The Hornady LNL is tough to beat for a $500 budget. Midsouth Shooters Supply has it for $390 I believe.
 
jmccracken1214 said:
I have everything but the press for bulk ammo. Maybe would even consider selling my single stage and loading my Precision on the Progressive as well and just treat it like a single stage when I do that. I wouldn't be out of pocket too much money. What reloaded Factory 2 to 3 ammo are you speaking of?
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factory new, not reload. Wolf Gold is excellent 'bulk' ammo. $0.26/round:
https://www.sgammo.com/product/223-...-fmj-brass-case-non-magnetic-wolf-gold-ar-15-

I use it regularly for 3 Gun stages 150 yards and under. For longer range stages I have a 75gr load I like.
 
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jmccracken1214 said:
I have everything but the press for bulk ammo. Maybe would even consider selling my single stage and loading my Precision on the Progressive as well and just treat it like a single stage when I do that. I wouldn't be out of pocket too much money. What reloaded Factory 2 to 3 ammo are you speaking of?
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All this talk of saving money in a thread about loading bulk ammo has me confused. It's going to be hard to give you good advice when you state conflicting goals. In any event, don't do ^*that*^

When I go cheap, I go cheap. Commie steel is as cheap as it gets.
When you need precision you'll regret selling that single stage.
If you're a just-one-press guy check out the Redding T-7. It's a turret press with single-stage quality and strength.
 
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jmccracken1214 said:
What powder are you guys using for the bulk 223?

Ive got some left over varget that did well in 223 precision loads in my old bolt gun.

Is there a cheaper powder to use?
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H335 speed powder is basically what is in LC Ammo. Varget and H4198 will make you broke quickly if you load for bulk and plinking.

http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html

Or just get a 8# jug of pull down WC844, use H335 data and try to beat the current price of sub .30 cpr brass LC ammo. For me, it's not worth it. I know LC ammo goes bang every time.

I save my .223 reloading energy for making custom loads like the 64gr Nosler BSB's that I use for hunting and SD. Those get H4895
 
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@jmccracken1214

I'd save up your pennies and buy the Dillon 550, I did 8 years ago and have never once regretted it! I've seen several people sell off Dillon equipment this year at bargain prices on this forum, it went FAST!

Powder wise you will want a ball type powder: H335, W748, TAC, or CFE 223. Also a small grain extruded like 8208 XBR works well in the Dillon powder measure. Varget and other extrude powders not so much.

My go to plinking load is Hornady 55gr FMJ over 25.0gr W748 in a LC case.
 
Bunsen said:
@jmccracken1214

I'd save up your pennies and buy the Dillon 550, I did 8 years ago and have never once regretted it! I've seen several people sell off Dillon equipment this year at bargain prices on this forum, it went FAST!

Powder wise you will want a ball type powder: H335, W748, TAC, or CFE 223. Also a small grain extruded like 8208 XBR works well in the Dillon powder measure. Varget and other extrude powders not so much.

My go to plinking load is Hornady 55gr FMJ over 25.0gr W748 in a LC case.
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Roughly how much do you have in your loads? I'm not trying to save money as much as I am trying to get something more accurate than Wolf for the same price if I load myself
 
Tailhunter said:
Every piece of my .223 brass gets trimmed.
The giraud makes it easy.
Never thought of skipping that step. Funny not sure my ocd would let me. :D
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I don’t even trim my precision brass that often still get great results. I have some brass on the 6-7th loadings and still within spec

Toprudder said:
A lot of truth to that. I see good brass-cased ammo for $0.28 per round, shipped. Less if you don't mind steel-cased.


For me, H4198 has been an inexpensive powder to use, as a full charge with 55fmj is only 21.0gn, which will give you ~330 rounds per pound. It meters reasonable well, it is a small extruded stick powder. It is a fast burning powder that works really well in my AR pistol at the min charge of 19.0gn. For my mid-length carbine, I have to use the max charge of 21.0gn to get reliable cycling and last round bolt-hold.
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I used IMR 4198 when I had trouble finding Reloder10x years ago. My go to was 21.5gr. Lyman manual has 21.7gr as max for 4198 and 55gr projectiles.

I run 22.5gr of RE10x and I believe my CFE223 load is 26.5gr. A little above minimum, still moving quick and it’s accurate

I don’t use powder like Varget, RE15, or 8208 in plinking type bulk loading.
 
11B CIB said:
I don’t even trim my precision brass that often still get great results. I have some brass on the 6-7th loadings and still within spec



I used IMR 4198 when I had trouble finding Reloder10x years ago. My go to was 21.5gr. Lyman manual has 21.7gr as max for 4198 and 55gr projectiles.

I run 22.5gr of RE10x and I believe my CFE223 load is 26.5gr. A little above minimum, still moving quick and it’s accurate

I don’t use powder like Varget, RE15, or 8208 in plinking type bulk loading.
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What are you paying for cfe223? Varget is $29 a # at my store
 
I use 22 grains of H335 over @Butter 's .224 seconds for cheap fun ammo.

H335 in 8# containers is about $22/#.
$22/ (7000 grains in a pound/22) = 7c a round for powder (I think I'm going back to 25 grains for better accuracy)
I bought a sleeve of wolf small rifle for about 2c a round
Butter's .224s are about 6c a round.

15c a round (but I do spend a lot of time prepping brass- with my home-built annealer, frankford trimming station (primer pockets mainly), I'm also borrowing the most excellent Dillon power trimmer which speeds things up)

Like I posted earlier- I do this on a sub $200 press. You can buy the press after 2k rounds.
 
Glen Zedicker shoots M1A and AR in service rifle matches writes for Midsouth and has published several books on shooting, reload ing etc...sez H4895 is the slowest powder you should use for semi auto/gas guns and Reloader#7 is the fastest. Varget is slower than H4895. Reloader#7 is perfect for 55gr. I forget what Sierra recommends for everything up to 77gr bullets but ive been loading H4895.

Just FYI...ive loaded 223/556 on Dillon 550, 650 and RCB rockchucker. Owned a 650 for 20+ yrs. Ive loaded 10K rnds of 233 on my current 650. If i had to do it all over again, id get a 1050 or not bulk reload for AR's.

Problem with 223/556 is you need to clean brass a lot, decap and measure or go no go the cart length, sort, trim chamfer deburr, swage primer pockets and then...you are ready to reload. Total PITA! Then your resizing die will start scratching your brass and if u r lucky will only need to be polished or honed, if not then replaced. I dont even pick up crimped primer pocket brass anymore. PSA was selling 1000rnds of Fiocchi 55gr ball to your door for $280 today.

IMO Dillon powder measure sucks for anything but plinking reloads. I shoot AR 's out to 1000yds so I load for accuracy, 1 at time on Rockchucker. Ive been using my 650 just to seat and crimp. May end up selling it. Ive gone quality over quantity.
 
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Why does he say not to use a powder slower than 4895? Especially when Varget, RE15, CFE223, and BLC2 all get such great results and they’re slower than 4895?
 
Maybe he’s talking about in a 14” barrel with a 55gr bullet?

@Sas quatch darn you, I just loaded up some of Butters 2nds over 22g and 23g of H335 just because you’d said it worked well, I’ve been getting marginal accuracy at 25.0g to 25.3g. This was the last of my H335, going to switch to cfe223 or Reloader 7 for the next batch.
 
jmccracken1214 said:
Roughly how much do you have in your loads? I'm not trying to save money as much as I am trying to get something more accurate than Wolf for the same price if I load myself
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1k of processed brass is $125 shipped (Sage Reloading)
1k of primers is $30
1k of 55gr Hornady FMJ's is $90 shipped
4lbs of W748 powder is ~$115

$360ish for 1k of quality self assembled plinking / SHTF ammo if you need to buy all components.

If you already have 1k of brass it's only $235 and 3-4 hours of your time to load on the Dillon 550 (excluding brass prep).

I also load 69gr Nosler Custom Competitions over 23.6gr of W748 as one of my AR precision loads. The bullets are essentially double at $180 for 1k.

As low as factory imported ammo is presently I don't think you can reload for cheaper unless using seconds or pull down bullets. Wolf Gold is $279 + $20 shipping so $300. It shoots ok at 2-4 MOA in my AR's, but my plinking handloads run 1-1.5MOA. It's worth the extra $60 and time for me.
 
I started using 75gr Hornady BTHPs over 69gr SMKs/Nosler CC. Considerably cheaper and the meplats are generally perfect compared to the SMK/CC bullets.

I prefer 77gr Tipped Matchkings and 73gr ELDs though but that’s far beyond cheap bulk loads
 
JimB said:
@Sas quatch darn you, I just loaded up some of Butters 2nds over 22g and 23g of H335 just because you’d said it worked well, I’ve been getting marginal accuracy at 25.0g to 25.3g. This was the last of my H335, going to switch to cfe223 or Reloader 7 for the next batch.
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I apologize- it was one of those "Oh, that's a decent group, that flyer must have been me", followed by some long shots at the range (some leaves and trigs in teh way) that more often than not hit the steel at 240. When I went back and did some serious shots it was kind of ugly, which is why I'm going back to my pet load for the Hornaday 55 grains. I'll play around there (25.2 H335), maybe a slight bit less as as Butter's bullets are closer to 56 grains for me.
 
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