Armory Sponsor
Posted: 4/30/2009 5:05:42 PM EDT
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First I would like to thank you guys who have contributed so much to this forum. Thank you for your patience and being almost, I repeat ALMOST, forgiving with some of the dumb questions I have asked here. Don't worry I am sure I'll have many more.
I ended up with the Dillon XL650 with case feeder. This thing is the nuts! It was easy to set up and unfortunately I don't have the Dillon .223 dies yet so I used my Hornady dies that seemed to work well with this machine. I do think I will be investing in the Dillon audible powder check. I have the RCBS but I like the idea of an audible alarm. I used new Hornady brass and all was the same length of 1.75. I also used Hornady 55 gn BT-FMG w/c and have set the crimp fairly lightly just below the cannelure. I didn't go deeper because with this set up going down to the cannelure would have given me a C.O.L. of less than 2.25 closer to 2.24. As it is my C.O.L. is 2.48 to 2.57. Any input on the seating to cannelure would be appreciated. TAC powder with a 23.1 charge (starting slow) I made 12 rounds. So far my cost per round with all the things I have bought (equipment and supplies) is approx. $175.00 per round. This could take a while to see some payback. Hell even if I don't see payback the satisfaction of making my own ammo is priceless. I only made 12 rounds because I want to get these to the range and check performance out of my AR 15 tomorrow or Saturday. Wish me luck. Thanks to all again and here is a pic of my first born. 
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Hornady 55 FMJ's with cannelure have a more blunter rounded tip shape than military, Winchester, and some other 55 fmj's and I seat them to 2.220" approximately. That puts the cannelure in crimping position. The shorter than 2.250" is correct for Hornady 55 fmj's but if they fit your chamber they would be ok. Hornady recommends 2.200" oal but I find 2.220" works well. 2.250" is correct for the longer tapered sharp pointed 55's.
I wouldn't crimp the Hornady's unless you were crimping into the cannelure. |
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Cool! I've been working up loads with virtually same components (but with a single stage Lee press). I agree with others, crimping should probably be about mid-cannelure. OAL for these rounds is 2.200 based on Hornady manual, I pushed mine out a little so the cannelure wasn't completely hidden. The lower loads for TAC powder in the Hornady book are probably too low pressure. I started at the bottom and moved up about 0.1 grains 10 rounds each, I'm now up to the max load (24.5 grains) and I think I'm finally close to something reasonable. I got brass with a lot of soot on it (i.e. pressure too low) below 24.0 grains. As always, YMMV. Now I'm considering whether I should go beyond the max load to see if I get better accuracy there, but I'm pretty nervous about doing so, and considering these are just plinking rounds, I'll probably stick with 24.0 grains for most of my loads. |
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I built a boat load of pistol rounds 15 years ago and recently went back to reloading and started with 223 rifle loads.
The first time I pulled the trigger one on the reloaded rifle loads I have to admit I had a small puker factor going. Now as long as I follow directions to the manuals I feel very safe 
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