reloading materials for 5.56

[groundscrapers]

So I am going to pop my reloading cherry this winter and start reloading 5.56.

The press I want is a Dillon XL 650

Ive been told wolf small rifle primers are good and cheap but I have no idea what powder is good and what bullets are good in bulk. What is a good price for these components and if you have any good sources for materials please let me know. I don't want to make any precision loads, just lessen the burden of buying ammo all the time.

 

[Rick1987]

I like SS109 bullets.

I havent looked for them in a while, before the panic buying I think I was getting them around $60-$75 per 1k?

 

[BostonBullit]

Reloading forum might bring you answers quicker....scroll down ;-)

 

[groundscrapers]

Can any mods donate a moving truck for this thread to bring it to its right home.

 

[Larry Legend]

For powder, find something that will meter well through your powder measure. Ball powders, no stick powders. I use Winchester 748 or 760 almost exclusively for high volume rifle loads.

If your focus is loading in bulk, the best bullets are whatever is cheap and available.

 

[EddyMunster]

Powder will be determined by what bullet weights you want to shoot. For 55gr blamo/plinking stuff I'd go with a ball powder like H355, AA2230, W748, and TAC because the powder drop is easier to dial in and stays more consistant. Heavier bullets are what I usually lean to, and use Varget, TAC, AR-Comp and have used W748 or BLC2 as well. The real trick right now is finding what you want, at a price that's in the same proximity as this planet. If you don't have a reloading book, get one. If not, look at various powder manufactures websites for load data in the bullet weights you want to use. Then I'd cross referanse them with other bullets weights, and or cals you may want to shoot and see if they match up. I'm all about versatility with powders, if that makes any sense at all.

 

[wiskie762]

AA2230 is great for metering. I also used varget, it doesnt meter as well. If this is the first time reloading I highly recomend taking a class.

Dillion xl650 is a great machine.get the case feeder. Also if you order through brian enos you can get free shipping.

 

[Rancho]

I've had great success with the ARComp and 68gr hornady bullets. The ARComp is consistent. I still have 6lbs of it to use up.
I am using the hornady locknload single stage setup.

 

[Ink]

So I am going to pop my reloading cherry this winter and start reloading 5.56.

The press I want is a Dillon XL 650

Ive been told wolf small rifle primers are good and cheap but I have no idea what powder is good and what bullets are good in bulk. What is a good price for these components and if you have any good sources for materials please let me know. I don't want to make any precision loads, just lessen the burden of buying ammo all the time.

Buy a reloading manual and READ IT! You will learn a ton and it will help answer a LOT of your questions...... I started with Hornady and the manual was great!
Wolf primers are good! I use those and IMR 4198 at the moment for 5.56 through a 650
good luck!

 

[dcmdon]

I don't have much to add other than when you find supplies that you buy more than you think.

1 lb of powder is useless, at least for rifles.

If you are dropping 4gr of clays for a .45 target load, a pound will last 1750 rounds.

But if you are dropping 25gr for .223, then a pound will only last 280 rounds. Barely enough to get warmed up.

8 lb jugs are your minimum purchase increment when loading rifles.

 

[fubar]

If you're spring for a Dillon 650 then we know you're buying a couple of good manuals to go with it. Don't forget the primer pocket swagger , and vibratory case cleaner.

Take a long hard look at motorized case trimmers while you're at it.

5.56 brass preparation is a labor intensive process.

 

[frenchman]

I plan to reload as well, sometime in the future, just because my AR is close to be done, and the ammo I plan on using is around a dollar per BANG.
The general plan is to first get a single stage set up, then take the basic course from Eddie Coyle. Then, start reloading 9 mil, take the precision rifle reloading class, and then make my own 77 gr 223.

 

[xtry51]

Buy in 8lb jugs whenever possible. I'm partial to IMR4320 and Reloader 15. RL15 is hard to find right now, but I've seen plenty of 4320 lately.

4lbs is roughly 1k rounds of .223/5.56.

Buy a Giraud immediately for case trimming. The wait is a few months, so you want to get on that. You don't want to feed your 650 with hand trimmed cases. You'll want to put a bullet in your head.

SS109 (62gr steel tip, same as used in M855) is roughly $100/1k recently.

 

[groundscrapers]

Is it better to buy the powder local or have it shipped in? I know I will pay more for the hazmat but is the difference in price favor one or the other?

 

[crazymjb]

I usually find a friend to split shipping on powder/primers. Everything is currently still pretty dried up. For plinking ammo I recommend ordering surplus wc844 powder. It cost me about 90/8lb jug when I ordered it last after we split the hazmat. You can usy get 4 jugs on a hazmat charge.

With regard to primers,

Ive had a mixed experience with russian tula primers. I have a 1% failure rate in warm weather which jumps to a 30+% failure rate in cold weather. Spend the extra 10 bucks and get American primers IMO. When bullets were available I paid about 7 cents shipped per round of 55gr bullets. My friend and I split a 6k round box of hornady bullets. This is about what people were paying for surplus bullets but they were all from the same batch and brand new so in theory could be pretty consistent.

Ive never swaged a primer pocket but I guess its recomended.

Brass prep doesn't take too long. A lot of people will size - trim - finish loading. I have found that for blasting ammo the cases grow consistently when being sized so I just trim them a little short before throwing them in the press. I also see no reason to deburr after trimming. Im sure some here will tell me I'm wrong but if time is money I save as much as I can.


Mike

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2

 

[xtry51]

Some bullets will grab the case mouth when seating if you don't debur. Destroys the case when his happens. Depends entirely on the brass and bullets you are using. If you're not going to debur I would at least suggest getting a Lee factory crimp die to make sure you're not leaving external burrs that will effect feeding.

Always buy in large bulk quantities if you're going to mail order. If you're not going to buy bulk shop local stores, it will be cheaper. Bulk means maxing out a hazmat charge as others have stated.

I also like using 844 and 846 surplus powders, but they're near impossible to find now. Maybe next year they'll come back. For a beginner I'd recommend starting with a factory powder as they provide consistency. No two containers of surplus powders are the same. You need to develop loads for each one.

 

[*chris*]

So I am going to pop my reloading cherry this winter and start reloading 5.56.

The press I want is a Dillon XL 650

Ive been told wolf small rifle primers are good and cheap but I have no idea what powder is good and what bullets are good in bulk. What is a good price for these components and if you have any good sources for materials please let me know. I don't want to make any precision loads, just lessen the burden of buying ammo all the time.

Bad time to get into reloading, you have to act like the last chick in the bar, take whatever you can get.

You need a lot of powder, a pound only fills ~250 rounds or so. Figure out what your local shop gets in and starting hoarding. I have seen 8 pound jugs in my dreams, no where else. I currently hoard Winchester 748, Hodgdon Varget and IMR 8208 XBR. Look for 55gn projectiles, but don't get picky. I have a short list of desirable projectiles for different distances, but will buy 1000 55gn projectiles whenever I see them. I prefer CCI primers and have a bunch, but right now I am plowing through a box of 1500 Fiocchi small rifle primers.

Welcome to the fun that is reloading, I find it very enjoyable and a relaxing way to end a day.

Chris

 

[Lcstyle]

Is it better to buy the powder local or have it shipped in? I know I will pay more for the hazmat but is the difference in price favor one or the other?

LOL, IMPLYING: you can get any of this stuff anywhere period.
most reloading shops etc. have been out of stock on anything and everything related to reloading 223 for months.

Also, the Dillon 650 is an advanced progressive reloader. I started with a mec 9000 for shotshell. There are mistakes you make along the way, while learning to reload. A progressive reloader will let you make mistakes faster and multiply your mistake. The dillon has powder checking, I suggest you watch the powder and the primers very carefully. Shotguns are a lot more forgiving to reloading mistakes with shotshell than are metallic cartridge firearms. I urge you to really pay attention to reloading rifle cartridges and to pay even more attention while shooting your reloads. Mistakes here can be deadly, both while reloading and while shooting.

 

[55_grain]

Also, the Dillon 650 is an advanced progressive reloader. ... I urge you to really pay attention to reloading rifle cartridges and to pay even more attention while shooting your reloads. Mistakes here can be deadly, both while reloading and while shooting.

This. Consider starting with a single stage press so you can watch what's going on. They're short money and you can move your dies over to a spendy progressive when you've gotten your process down.

I also like using 844 and 846 surplus powders, but they're near impossible to find now. Maybe next year they'll come back. For a beginner I'd recommend starting with a factory powder as they provide consistency. No two containers of surplus powders are the same. You need to develop loads for each one.

Also this. Get a commercial powder to start. Yes, pulldown powders are cheap, but they're not as consistent lot-to-lot, and a lot of books don't have loads for them, just "it's kinda like this other powder". There's many, many good powders for .223; look at your reloading manuals (bring book with you to the store!)

Wolf primers might be good most of the time. And they might be cheap. But CCI400's and Rem 7.5's go bang every single time I pull the trigger, and I bet there's better process controls at the CCI plant than Tula Arsenal.

55_grain

 

[jasons]

So I am going to pop my reloading cherry this winter and start reloading 5.56.

The press I want is a Dillon XL 650

Ive been told wolf small rifle primers are good and cheap but I have no idea what powder is good and what bullets are good in bulk. What is a good price for these components and if you have any good sources for materials please let me know. I don't want to make any precision loads, just lessen the burden of buying ammo all the time.

Depends on what you want to use it for. Cheap plinking ammo? Match grade ammo? Varmint ammo? What are you going to shoot it out of?

5.56 / .223 is an extremely versatile caliber with a wide range of uses. That also means that you have to make some choices. (Which may be dictated somewhat by availability during times like these.)

Wolf primers might be good most of the time. And they might be cheap. But CCI400's and Rem 7.5's go bang every single time I pull the trigger, and I bet there's better process controls at the CCI plant than Tula Arsenal.

Wolf rifle primers are fine. I've burned through many thousands and have yet to have a single one fail, and feel 100% confident using them even at the national matches. If you're loading for an AR or something else with a floating firing pin get the SRM version - they have thicker cups to help prevent slam fires and pierced primers.

 

[Goomba]

I listened to everyone when I first started reloading, I wanted a Dillon 550, but I was told to start lower so I did.

2 months after I bought a lee progressive I talked with Brian Enos, and he showed me the light!

personally these days I use IMR 3031, but it was available when nothing else was.

55gr sierra FMJBT gameking #1355.


goodluck with your journey getting everything you need to start reloading.

 

[xtry51]

I listened to everyone when I first started reloading, I wanted a Dillon 550, but I was told to start lower so I did.

2 months after I bought a lee progressive I talked with Brian Enos, and he showed me the light!

personally these days I use IMR 3031, but it was available when nothing else was.

55gr sierra FMJBT gameking #1355.


goodluck with your journey getting everything you need to start reloading.

While this path is more painful on the wallet and pride, I still think its better to reload your first rounds on a single stage. It forces you to pay attention and learn patience. Pulling the handle and getting a round is nice, but only when you're confident that round isn't going to be a squib or a kaboom.

 

[jasons]

While this path is more painful on the wallet and pride, I still think its better to reload your first rounds on a single stage. It forces you to pay attention and learn patience. Pulling the handle and getting a round is nice, but only when you're confident that round isn't going to be a squib or a kaboom.

Plus even if you have a progressive you'll still find plenty of uses for a single stage. If you just want to do a quick run of something or if you're doing load development or something like that. I use my single stage just as much if not more than my progressive.

 

[Lcstyle]

While this path is more painful on the wallet and pride, I still think its better to reload your first rounds on a single stage. It forces you to pay attention and learn patience. Pulling the handle and getting a round is nice, but only when you're confident that round isn't going to be a squib or a kaboom.

THIS!!!

Here's an example of what can happen when you're sitting there pulling that handle mindlessly.

 

[xtry51]

I haven't detonated a primer yet, but I have crushed quite a few in cases that made it past the pocket swager without being opened up enough. That was before I switched from the RCBS swager to a drill and chamfer bit. No more swager for me.

 

[groundscrapers]

While this path is more painful on the wallet and pride, I still think its better to reload your first rounds on a single stage. It forces you to pay attention and learn patience. Pulling the handle and getting a round is nice, but only when you're confident that round isn't going to be a squib or a kaboom.

I was hoping I could buy once / cry once.

 

[mac1911]

right now finding anything in bulk is still tough, bullets are around primers and powder not so much.
I have not seen the wolf primers in some time,
For decent plinking 55gn hornady in the 6000pc box are about .12ea, W846 powder when it can be found under 100$ for 8lbs makes for some good plinking ammo. Far better than steel case ammo.

I like varget for my 5.56 loads. meters fine in my hornady powder drop

 

[xtry51]

Varget, you're funny. Don't get his hopes up. Shops are saying 4 months out at least on Varget.

 

[jasons]

THIS!!! Here's an example of what can happen when you're sitting there pulling that handle mindlessly.

I did that once when a piece of small primer .45 brass got mixed in. Sure does wake you up.

(I just detonated one primer, not the whole stack like in the video. Damn, that was crazy.)

 

[xtry51]

This leads us to our next tip:

Safety glasses are not just for the range!