reloading .223

[ZaksGod]

as i have been reloading my .357 for about 2 years and now shooting a .223 i am thinking about trying this caliber also.having just looked online and found lapua brass costs £65 per 100 i am thinking it is not worthwhile.just how many times can a single piece of brass be reloaded ?.at the moment i pay £66 for 100 reloaded rounds that have sierra bullets so there is only one pound in it

[ASHCROFT]

Depends on a few factors, which rifle you running for example ar15 will eat the brass quicker, are you shooting hot loads.

However you will load cheaper and get better accuracy than factory in the long run. I would be disappointed with less than ten reloads per brass piece in 223

Winchester is good 223 brass as is remington no need to buy lapua at that price.

[Daryll]

If you're already shooting .223, presumably factory rounds....so what are you doing with your brass..??

Even cheapo American Eagle is reasonable brass to reload.

[sidesy]

lapua is good qulaity brass......but i use remington and a number of others with great results. I use a mid load in my .223 so no pressure issues ...COL is 2.258 and i can get 5 + ish reloads out of my brass (with the odd split neck) . Again this can depend on whether you full length and then just neck size and do you anneal......etc...etc.....

For load testing i'd have a look at Richard Uttings youtube page. Plenty of tips and food for thought.

i've always done the powder charge way then COL. But, the i know the people who shoot long range do COL ....ladder charts...etc......

i see on your loads you've gone up by .3 and not .2 on the last one ?

[Bomag]

Prvi brass is great too, buy loaded shoot it and then rekoad it. Works out nice and cheap, assuming youre not using varget!

[blue]

The only brass to avoid I would say is Federal. Primer pockets expand too easily to reload more than a couple of times. My Favourites were Lapua, Norma, Hornady and IMI. All were very good and gave more reloads than expected.

[sarge4318]

I have found both Federal and Lapua .223 brass to be very soft and need constant trimming. If you are pushing the limits than I think there maybe a real risk of pocket expansion or case failure after a few loadings so I leave it alone now.

I prefer Winchester brass, I can get many reloads and it hardly needs trimming after the initial prep (although I run them through the trimmer as a matter of course, it just doesn't remove much).

Lake City brass is also very good, and much of the military brass (eg RG) is great for general reloading although it can have a smaller capacity due to thicker walls and might not be as consistent.

[Parabuteo]

Funily enough GGG brass works well to reload. A lot of CSR folk reload it as do I without any complaints.

Buy the factory stuff, use it at a sensible range for practice, reload for match.

My match 77gr loads are coming in at 39 a round against 42 for GGG with half the group size. That price assumes IMR powder and CCI BR4 primers.

I have just started tinkering with Ramshot wild boar and Muron (Murom?) primers with great results and a price drop per round...ideal.

Lapua is great for top end precision shooting, I used it exclusively for FTR etc, but if you can deal with 1MOA shooting GGG is fine and extracts well.

Dannywayoflife off of here has got some stunning results with his DTA and S&B brass (although I would not dream of reloading their .303 brass).

[223AI]

Funily enough GGG brass works well to reload. A lot of CSR folk reload it as do I without any complaints.

Hope so I've just bought 200 and have another 100 kenny gave me to keep me going for a while!!

[Graham2]

Hope so I've just bought 200 and have another 100 kenny gave me to keep me going for a while!!

GGG brass is very good but the primer ring staking is quite severe compared to say RUAG's 3 little stakes. You only have to do the pockets once though, so isn't a problem once it's done.

[bewsh]

I use norma brass in my .222 and most of the cases are into double figures by now
no problems at all

[223AI]

GGG brass is very good but the primer ring staking is quite severe compared to say RUAG's 3 little stakes. You only have to do the pockets once though, so isn't a problem once it's done.

Have just done 50 of the ones Kenny gave me, definitely a pain but as you say only needs doing once

[Blackbaronfish]

Norma brass for me works.

BBF

[ZaksGod]

thank you all for the usefull information.will have to get some supplies at the weekend