Reloading Rifle Brass on Dillon 550 Questions

[Patriot]

I'm starting to crank up the rifle brass reloading once again. I did this some time ago and
the process I went through (with the Dillon 550) was to de-prime, size and prime the 30-06
brass on the Dillon (RCBS dies) and then case length check and trim if necessary, then hand
measure the powder (3031), then seat and crimp on the Dillon. This is OK for my 30-06
because I don't do a lot of shooting in this caliber since I use it mainly for hunting.

Now I am about to reload .223 (Lee dies) so I am going to de-prime, size and prime on
the 550, but I figure I will then clean the brass (vibrator) after sizing, do a case length
check, trim if necessary, and then start the Dillon back up again at the powder station
instead of hand measuring the powder. Does this sound about right or am I making things
more difficult than need be? I watched some YouTube video where the guy was processing
.223 just like you would pistol brass and I couldn't figure out how he could do this without
checking the cases for size afterward and removing any lube (if he had lubed them) for the
sizing operation.

 

[GTOShootr]

I bought a few thousand pre-processed sized and trimmed pieces of .223 LC brass from a brass company. All I have to do is drop it in the casefeeder and run it through my 650 or 1050 like pistol reloading. I still run a small base FL sizing die even though it is supposed to be resized.

On the BrianEnos forum there is a ton of info on loading .223 on the 650 and 550 (look for posts by George, BerKim, and Erik Warren). Most use a two toolhead system. One toolhead has the resizing die (I use a Lee universal decapper first). You run all the lubed brass through with that toolhead. You can then trim if needed, swage, chamfer, vibrate it, whatever. Then slide in a second toolhead with the priming, powder measure, seater, and crimp (if you are a crimper). That way you have the toolheads, a relatively cheap component, all set whenever you want to reload.

 

[Junglerott]

I use the Dillon to size and deprime all of my .223 then I measure and trim it. Once it is all trimmed up I put it back into the 650 and load it like pistol (minus the sizing which is already done). Then you can put the finished rounds in the vibrator to clean the lube off.

 

[Patriot]

I use the Dillon to size and deprime all of my .223 then I measure and trim it. Once it is all trimmed up I put it back into the 650 and load it like pistol (minus the sizing which is already done). Then you can put the finished rounds in the vibrator to clean the lube off.

So you don't clean the lube off until the rounds are finished. Do you lube the inside of the
neck as well?

 

[BoB13]

I like to:

Step 1: Size / De-prime, trim on one tool head.
Step 2: Drop into case cleaner for 1/2 hour to rid the cases of lube.
Step 3: powder charge, seat, crimp on the 2nd tool head.

Done.

Below is pic of the step one tool head:

 

[Junglerott]

So you don't clean the lube off until the rounds are finished. Do you lube the inside of the
neck as well?

No I don't lube the insides for .223. I actually don't clean the lube off of my .223 rounds at all unless I use them in my match rifle, and those I just wipe off with a rag.

 

[Gammon]

I tumble the brass then resize/decap on a single stage Rock Chucker. I then tumble again to remove the lube as I don't like the idea of tumbling live ammo or shooting brass with lube still on it. If the brass needs trimming, it is then done on an RCBS power trimmer ($180-Natchez).

The processed brass is now loaded on a 550 (actually a 450 converted to 550). Station #1 has a Lee decap only die rather than a resizer to knock out the occasional bit of media (corn cob) that gets lodged in the flash hole during the second tumbling. This system has worked very well for me.

 

[hovbuild]

I load .223 partially on a Dillon 550.
Clean brass and re size-de prime on a rock chucker. I trim "before" I re size! I do not crimp and load for accuracy and have found a problem trimming after resizing. I have a Lyman pro trimmer and have noticed on some casings that bullet tension would not be sufficient trimming after resizing due to the cutting die sometimes enlarging the neck opening, usually be me sticking it in when it is not perfectly aligned. The cases I use are only fired in my chamber and the little bit of stretching is not a problem.
I clean the primer pockets then throw them into a pickle jar with lacquer thinner to remove the lube.
"I use synthetic motor oil. Put 1/8" into the cap, dip neck end into it and spread over outside of casing trying to not have any on the shoulder. You only need to one in ten or when you feel it need some more lube. Save your media by cleaning with solvent.)
After They are dried I prime, charge, seat on the Dillon. If they are trimmed I de burr and sort by head stamp- weight.
Now that's my used brass after they were prepped when new.

 

[Gammon]

I load .223 partially on a Dillon 550.
Clean brass and re size-de prime on a rock chucker. I trim "before" I re size! I do not crimp and load for accuracy and have found a problem trimming after resizing. I have a Lyman pro trimmer and have noticed on some casings that bullet tension would not be sufficient trimming after resizing due to the cutting die sometimes enlarging the neck opening, usually be me sticking it in when it is not perfectly aligned. The cases I use are only fired in my chamber and the little bit of stretching is not a problem.
I clean the primer pockets then throw them into a pickle jar with lacquer thinner to remove the lube.
"I use synthetic motor oil. Put 1/8" into the cap, dip neck end into it and spread over outside of casing trying to not have any on the shoulder. You only need to one in ten or when you feel it need some more lube. Save your media by cleaning with solvent.)
After They are dried I prime, charge, seat on the Dillon. If they are trimmed I de burr and sort by head stamp- weight.
Now that's my used brass after they were prepped when new.

I was under the impression that resizing could lengthen the case and that trimming should be done only after the case had reached its maximum length.

 

[hovbuild]

I was having trouble with neck tension. I don't crimp and what I found is that my trimmers bushing was sometimes expanding my case necks a bit so I went to after trimming. I trim at 1.75 and they don't stretch much after resizing ( .005 at most). But I fixed the problem with the trimmer by sanding down the neck bushing on my trimmer. So now I can trim after.

 

[Gammon]

I was having trouble with neck tension. I don't crimp and what I found is that my trimmers bushing was sometimes expanding my case necks a bit so I went to after trimming. I trim at 1.75 and they don't stretch much after resizing ( .005 at most). But I fixed the problem with the trimmer by sanding down the neck bushing on my trimmer. So now I can trim after.

Good to know. I thought the cases would lengthen much more, but never checked it out myself.