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Posted: 7/3/2010 6:35:22 AM EDT
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I am not yet a reloader and have couple questions about brass and reloading.
#1 is all .223 brass reloadable? If not how can I tell wich is and wich isn't? #2 I have about 85 Lbs. of spent brass casings mostly Fom Winchester, Lake City and Hornady.What should I do with it? how much would it be worth? would it be more valuable sold as metal scrap or sold to a reloader. Or... #3 If i were to start reloading, how much would it cost me for a decent /complete setup to be able to do quality reloads in .223/5.56(not including bullets and primers and powder)? What brand equipment is the best and most cost effective? what do I need? Thanx. |
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Quoted:
I am not yet a reloader and have couple questions about brass and reloading. #1 is all .223 brass reloadable? If not how can I tell wich is and wich isn't? #2 I have about 85 Lbs. of spent brass casings mostly Fom Winchester, Lake City and Hornady.What should I do with it? how much would it be worth? would it be more valuable sold as metal scrap or sold to a reloader. Or... #3 If i were to start reloading, how much would it cost me for a decent /complete setup to be able to do quality reloads in .223/5.56(not including bullets and primers and powder)? What brand equipment is the best and most cost effective? what do I need? Thanx. The only way I could afford to practice HANDGUN combat/ Tatical type shooting was to buy a Dillon Realoader! I could shoot 200/500rds every time at practice. wich helps M.M. alot!! I also Found that a CHEAP LEE Turret press can load just as accurate ammo as my DILLON. 
I also Found my Tuned RELOADS To be MORE accurate than most factory ammo. Buy a Manual ! ( I like the ACCURATE ARMS MANUAL out of them all & Elmer Kieth ) Found the 38/357 9mm/40 loads awesome. |
| thank you. I think I might start reloading. I read the tutorial in the armory/reloads section and it sounds alot more involved than I thought it would be but I like tinkering with mechanical/technical stuff. It looks like something that once I get the hang of could become a new disease. |
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Quoted:
thank you. I think I might start reloading. I read the tutorial in the armory/reloads section and it sounds alot more involved than I thought it would be but I like tinkering with mechanical/technical stuff. It looks like something that once I get the hang of could become a new disease. It sounds hard at First But I swear its easy as pie. any 12yr old could do it Yes I like loading / working up a load just as much as shooting GOODLUCK |
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Yeah, reloading only seems daunting until you give it a try. The only way I can afford to reasonably shoot my .45s is through reloading my own (running cast SWC in that caliber).
Just makes sure your powder charge is good, and your COAL is withing specs, and you should be gold. Buy more then one manual, or get a single caliber book that cross-references/contains multiple manuals' loading data. Check out www.loadbooks.com for your specific caliber. It can be an inexpensive way to get many manual's worth of information for your specific caliber. Might save you some money. |
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Ask this in the reloading forum.
Once-fired 5.56 .mil brass is ~$90 per thousand. Once-fired 308 brass is ~$200 per thousand Once-fired 9mm brass is ~$50 per thousand The quantities you are talking about would be many thousands of cases. All brass is re-loadable, though Berdan primed brass and steel cases are generally not reloaded. Those are most often sold for scrap. If you will be loading in quantity, then a progressive loader is highly recommended. Dillon reloading presses are "the" high end choice, though there are a few others that make good equipment. |
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Reloading has many options for gear. If your brass is Berdan, you could convert it, but given that .223/5.56 is common stuff, I wouldn't waste my time. I would convert Berdan primed obscure calibers though, as even brass is hard to come by for that stuff (7.5 French for example, or 6.5Carcano. Not rare, just not common). For your needs, you could go as simple as a Lee Hand Press (I own one, and I have FL sized rifle brass with it). Works great for handgun calibers too. Progressives are nice, if you can afford them.... and with the quantity of brass you are talking, it might be worth your while. Once you get your COAL, powder charge, and bullet seating down, it should be plug and play.
Lee Hand Press can be hard for like $35 bucks, dies from Lee tend to be pretty good, and are typically less than $30 as well. depending on your priming tool, there are parts to grab there (Autoprime shell holder, or a primer strip depending). Also, you will want a case length gauge and trimmer, as well as a chamfer tool, and a primer pocket cleaner. Rifles tend to stretch their brass a bit, so you want to trim it after sizing. I recommend working in batches... for example: clean 200 brass, size/deprime said 200, then trim them, then prime them, then load them. Then move on to your next batch. Keeps things organized. Label everything, as you don't want to mix up load data, or run dirty brass through your dies. |
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Quoted:
thank you. I think I might start reloading. I read the tutorial in the armory/reloads section and it sounds alot more involved than I thought it would be but I like tinkering with mechanical/technical stuff. It looks like something that once I get the hang of could become a new disease. Yea your right. I'm just starting out. Ordered a lee single stage kit 94.00 and a crimper and a few other little things. I have a lot of 223 and 9mm brass I pick up everytime I go shooting. I just built a MK12 SPR and will be loading 77 gr sierra matchking. Later on I'll get a progressive. The savings are great for this type of ammo. I also plan to reload 9mm. But I have the bug now and I don't know a cure for it after I've seen the savings on some of the ammo 
Oh my kit arrives Tues. Just read and study and ask a lot of questions. |
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Quoted:
Yeah, reloading only seems daunting until you give it a try. The only way I can afford to reasonably shoot my .45s is through reloading my own (running cast SWC in that caliber). Just makes sure your powder charge is good, and your COAL is withing specs, and you should be gold. Buy more then one manual, or get a single caliber book that cross-references/contains multiple manuals' loading data. Check out www.loadbooks.com for your specific caliber. It can be an inexpensive way to get many manual's worth of information for your specific caliber. Might save you some money. Went there and will order the books I need ASAP. Thanks firemedic 
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Although it will be a lot of work, go ahead and separate your brass into batches by brand.
I am not aware of any significant differences among different years' production of Lake City brass, so don't worry about that (the 2-digit production year number, e.g. "02," "99," etc.). As for the .223 Rem brass from Hornady, Winchester, et al, sort that by brand too. Although it's all for the "same" cartridge, there can be variations in case volume, web thickness, etc. These differences can matter, what with the high pressures generated in a rifle cartridge. Although it is extra effort, it will be safest to work up a load for each different brand of brass you will be loading. Be aware of the primer pocket crimp in the military brass. You'll have to either swage or ream it out. I am a fan of swaging, but do whatever works for you. You might want to just set aside the Lake City brass until you get the hang of reloading with the commercial brass, which won't have the primer pocket crimp (except Federal, see below). Federal .223 Rem brass usually does have a primer pocket crimp, just like the Lake City brass. I have a bucketful of Federal that I haven't got around to reloading yet, because of the extra work in getting rid of the crimp. |
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