New To 223

[6Gears1Speed]

I'll try that. I tried CFE Pistol a few months ago and liked it. Starting grains was plenty. The place I got it had shelves full because they couldn't get anything else.

[6Gears1Speed]

I just read the instructions in the Lee Ultimate 223 die set. I have to charge each case by hand with a funnel? I started that way last year and not only is it painfully slow but I would up with two dangerous squib loads. I looked into the cases more than once to make sure they were all filled and still had two squibs that got stuck in the barrel. Luckily because I had just started and was doing it manually I was looking for squibs so nothing happened. I looked on the Lee website and didn't see a powder through expanding die for 223. Is it true that I have to do these by hand?

[62chevy]

No but you will need the rifle through die and the universal expanding die if you want to flare the case mouth.

http://www.titanreloading.com/specialty ... arging-die

http://www.titanreloading.com/specialty ... anding-die

I use both for my .308 Win. reloads.

[6Gears1Speed]

That's good thanks. I have a universal expander so all I need is the rifle through die.

[6Gears1Speed]

Are Winchester small rifle primers OK? I can't find anything else nearby and have never used Winchester.

Also, I'm using the full length sizing die since they won't be dedicated to one gun and I can't get the shell to insert all the way or even close. I've used some case lube and adjusted in and out. It makes no difference. There's almost 1/4" remaining before heavy resistance and if I force it into the die it gets stuck every time then I have to punch out the case. Any tips on this?

[62chevy]

Yes anneal them.

Do you know how to do annealing?

[6Gears1Speed]

I've seen a video but have never done it. I have a 50/50 mix of cases that are annealed and not annealed.
I just lightly brushed the base of the die with STP and the cases go in and out no problem now. Getting that stuff off is another story but it works so at least I know it's a lube issue now. The Lee lube did nothing.

[6Gears1Speed]

I've decided that doing a full length sizing for 223 in process is not for me. I'm already depriming and priming in batches so I'm going to add sizing to my pre-production batch processing list for 223. That way I can use any lube I want, like STP, and tumble them to degrease them prior to hand priming. After priming I will expand, drop the powder, seat and crimp in process. I don't want to mess with lubing and potentially getting stuck while in production. It also takes a lot of force to size them which can potentially cause all sorts of dimension issues, and I just don't want to work that hard while I'm building. I'd rather pay attention to quality as I'm building.

[62chevy]

I had the same issues as you with my .308 Win. and the only thing that worked was annealing them. The lee lube worked great for me.

[6Gears1Speed]

I sized 530 shells last night. I put on some rubber gloves and dipped my fingers in STP. As I transferred a shell from my left hand to right hand I twisted them in my fingers and placed them into the shell plate. They went in and out with almost no friction and once I got going I was doing one shell every 5 seconds or so. I turned out the expanding adjuster so I could expand them later.

When I was done they were obviously very sticky so I put them into my previously used walnut shell that had automotive polish and other things in it. I then dumped in a glass of dish washing soap and water mix. After 15 minutes they came out looking new and squeaky dry. All told at most it took 2 hours but now I can stuff them without dealing with lube and excessive force, and instead pay attention to powder and dimensions.

I know this seems like a lot of extra work for most people but for me the less I have to worry about during production the better. Lets just say I have "focus issues" .