Painless .223 Reloading on the Lee LoadMaster

[RogueCivilian]

I'm really looking into starting to reload 223 .45 and 9x9 ammo would u highly recommend the load master or a different press

[Liberty4Ever]

@RogueCivilian The priming system can be a bit fussy and finicky on the LoadMaster. Otherwise, it's heavy duty and rock solid. For straight wall pistol brass, it'll serve you well. If you're mechanically inclined you should be able to keep the primer working well. If not, simply hand prime the brass and do everything else on the progressive press (fast). For .223, be meticulous about cleaning & swaging/reaming primer pockets so they're the same size. Rifle ammo is a PIA on any progressive.

[Liberty4Ever]

@RogueCivilian If you aren't in a hurry and are interested in the most accurate .223 or other rifle ammo, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Lee Classic Cast press. It's simple and very heavy duty. You can reload pistol ammo on it too, but single stage presses are slower.

A good compromise of speed and simplicity is the Lee Classic Turret press - basically a single stage press that does one thing at a time but it indexes the dies so you finish one round at a time, with multiple handle pulls.

[Liberty4Ever]

@RogueCivilian You can't learn reloading from YouTube videos. Hopefully, there's a reloader near you who can help you get started. At the very least, get a good reloading book and READ IT. Study it. This isn't a pursuit where you can be "close enough". For your safety and the safety of others, you need to completely understand what you're doing. If you're a "look at the pictures and take shortcuts" kinda guy, head to AmmoToGo (.) com and buy your ammo!

[pwalsh20]

Do you get any play in the tool head? My Dillon xl650 has some play in the tool head.

Also does your auto indexing cause powder spillage. My Dillon xl650 will spill powder when auto indexing, if it is not controlled.

[Liberty4Ever]

@pwalsh20 There is no perceptible play in the turret. LoadMaster turrets pivot to lock in place, similar to the locking lugs on a rifle. The turret is secured by a set screw to keep it from backing out. It's fast and very rigid. The frame of the press is very stiff and rigid too. However, the shell plate does flex a bit, although it's not noticeable unless I'm resizing difficult brass. I resize and prime rifle brass on the Classic Cast single stage press anyway, so, no problem.

[Liberty4Ever]

@pwalsh20 I've read complaints from others about jerky motion of their LoadMaster leading to powder spillage but I've never had that problem, and I've done a considerable amount of reloading, both pistol and bottle neck rifle cartridges. I think that must be the result of a press that's set up incorrectly. Maybe there's something not aligned correctly inside that screws up the timing of the indexing motion?

[TheProPilot100]

couple of questions

1.where do you get the reloader

2.how much did the reloader cost

3.do you cast your own bullets or do you buy them

[Liberty4Ever]

@TheProPilot100 Bought at MidwayUSA but can be purchased at eBay, or a number of other online stores. Search for "reloading press" I paid about US$200 for the press set up for one caliber. Plan on another $100-$200 for other equipment (electronic powder scale, calipers, case trimming tools, etc.) I buy bullets for .223 and other rifle calibers but I cast most of the pistol bullets I shoot from automobile tire wheel weight lead.

Read a book on reloading to get up to speed before buying stuff.

[ritzcracker12kb]

Im looking for a nice progressive press any thoughts?

[Liberty4Ever]

@ritzcracker12kb The Lee LoadMaster is a good solid press that produces good ammo, but it's more finicky to set up... particularly the priming system. For a LOT more money, there is the Dillon. It uses the more reliable primer tubes instead of a tray, but only the very most expensive Dillon presses are true progressive presses. For 2-3X the price of a LoadMaster, you'll be manually advancing the shell plate on a Dillon. I hear Hornady now makes a nice progressive press for a decent price.

[turneynicholas]

amazing some people dont care if they create hazardous rounds but clearly you do

[kenyanblast]

@jones3420012001 I live I'n California too , go up to Oregon for a family (trip) any on your way home ( still I'n oregon ) buy a couple thousand rounds then reload them you'll save alot of money.

[joel2009vids]

how much does it usually cost to reload 100 rounds of a .223 if u do them yourself , instead of buying then for $20 to $30 a box of 20??

[Liberty4Ever]

@joel2009vids Unless you live behind enemy lines in Kalifornia, you should be able to buy .223 ammo for about 40 cents a round. Only the really good match target ammo should be $1.00 to $1.50 a round. You can load good .223 plinking ammo for about 20 cents a round without too much trouble. I bought some pulled military surplus bullets a few years ago, and bought in bulk, so I'm still reloading for about 11 cents a round, but when I resupply, it'll be more in the 15 to 20 cents a round range.

[joel2009vids]

@Liberty4Ever We live in west aus and an average price for ,223 remmington ammo is about $25 aus

[jones3420012001]

@Liberty4Ever Unfortunately for my shooting hobby, I live in California, but I just bought a 100 rd "value pack" of Winchester .223 at Walmart for $40. So, you can find it here for decent prices as well. I do not live in one of the more urban counties and this might have an effect on the availability of ammo in general. I doubt the walmarts in East LA carry any ammo ;)

[Liberty4Ever]

@jones3420012001 From what I've heard, East LA NEEDS ammo more than most places!



[StunnedMutha]

man your shit is organised! 

[rx1ton]

great info, how do you like the case feeder with the 223. its a big selling point for me so i would like some feedback on this equipment. I have heard that the taller cases tip over a lot but they seem to work for you. any thoughts?

[Liberty4Ever]

@rx1ton I find the case feeder to be a useful addition when loading straight wall pistol cases. It's not perfect. A tube will hold about 25 9mm cases. I don't rotate to select one of the other four tubes. I just put another handful of cases on the edge of the funnel. It will feed a case upside down, particularly if the cases are dumped in the center of the funnel. The case pusher relies on friction, which varies with cleanliness, oiliness, tightness of the slider screw, etc.

[Spearfisher1970]

You can sorta fly through them, as Liberty stated - but you've got to stop every 10, or so, IMHO,to make sure the powder dropper doesn't get clogged. Removing nearly 20 bullets because of a mechanical error with the machine taught me that. Granted, my buddy and I were comfortable enough with it that we felt we could, and often did, go for many rounds of loading without a failure... until that one time.

[sdemcher]

Like your video... Would it be possible to re-configure your .223 setup to use an RCBS lock-out die in one of the empty spots?

[Liberty4Ever]

@sdemcher According to RCBS, their Lock-Out die works in almost any progressive press to stop the reloading process if there's too little or too much powder in a case. It should work in the LoadMaster, but I haven't tried it. RCBS also says it only works on straight wall pistol brass, so I wouldn't try it on .223.

There are other dies that check powder level and sound an alarm if too high or too low.

[smaj100]

@Liberty. What I saw in the video was called a swaging die on a super 1050. I'm not sure how you could run a die on there like that. I ask for the poster to clarify or tell me what die it was but I haven't gotten a response. As soon as I find out anything specific I will let you know.

[smaj100]

I'm gonna setup the trimmer, full size die and a swage die as soon as I find out who makes the swage die. I saw one on here a few days ago and I'm waiting for a response. I think those items together will allow the brass to be prep so much faster and easier. I'll keep you update or post some vids of the setup. :)

[Liberty4Ever]

@smaj100 Are you referring to a primer pocket swager? I've used the RCBS primer pocket swager on the Lee Classic Cast single stage press, but I've never heard of anyone using any primer pocket swaging on a progressive press. I'd be very interested in that.

[smaj100]

@Liberty, Thanks for the info. I would assume you are right about the loyalty issue those who love the blue usually hate the others. I just can't stomach parting with that much of my hard earned money for the blue. My LLM works awesome on all the pistol calibers I load, keep it clean with a little lube on the right parts and I rarely have a problem with primers or otherwise. I plan on purchasing a 2nd in 223 and leave it dedicated to 223 and M1.

[smaj100]

Liberty, has anyone mounted a dillon rt1200 up on the LM to expedite some of the case prep work specifically for 223? I use the casefeeder with great success and would love to mount one of them up to rapidly prep the brass prior to reloading it. I've thought about using a universal deprimer, sizer die and the RT1200 on the last station on it's own turret to run all the brass through, then tumble it to remove the lube, and reload it.

[Liberty4Ever]

@smaj100 It seems like I have heard of the Dillon case trimmer being mounted as you described, but it's probably not done too often based on brand loyalty and barely overlapping market segments. From my experience, most people who would buy the Dillon case trimmer would buy a Dillon press for it.

One thing is for sure. Compared to straight wall pistol brass, the prep work for bottle neck rifle brass is a PIA.

:^)

[funnyman1972]

your shooting for 2.220. What is the shortest and what is the longest we should run. on over all length for 55 gr.

[Str8Blazn1]

How much does a single .223 bullet casing weigh?

[Liberty4Ever]

@Str8Blazn1 An empty .223 case should weigh about 95 to 97 grains, with the heavier weights typical of military (5.56 mm) brass which has slightly thicker walls. That's the weight of the empty brass with a spent primer. Probably subtract a couple of grains if you want only the brass with no spent primer.

[Str8Blazn1]

@Liberty4Ever Ok cool thanks man

[smaj100]

Liberty, I'm having a problem after I resize my brass the bullets tend to fall in the neck forcing me to use a puller to pop them out or stick a small punch in through the primer pocket and push it out. Any suggestions it seems no matter how I adjust the resizing die on my loadmaster they still tend to fall in the neck.

Thanks

[Liberty4Ever]

It's a fairly goof proof process. Either the expander section of the decapping pin is too large, the neck isn't being pushed all the way up into the die to compress it, or you're bullets are smaller than .224", the size needed for .223 reloading. I'd measure the bullet diameter first, as that's easy and seems the most likely problem.

[Liberty4Ever]

@smaj100 The way .223 resizing SHOULD work is the tapered decapping pin enters the neck and expands it a little and makes it a uniform circle, then the die compresses the neck back down so it's round and slightly undersized, then the decapping stem is pulled back out to expand the neck again. The bigger-smaller-bigger approach ensures roundness and proper size regardless of the initial condition.

[vdsgw52]

.223 brass, prep for large quanities is a bugger to say the least. Triming to lenght I got a Lee trimmer that chucks up in my desk top drill press that works great. However I can find nothing to champher the inside and outside of the trimmed neck that will chuck up in the same drill press. Help By the way your idea of using synthetic oil for sizing works great also. Keep them coming

[Liberty4Ever]

@vdsgw52 RCBS makes a trimmer that also deburs and chamfers at the same time. It's $30, but it avoids the problem of critical depth setting repeatability for chamfer/debur AFTER trimming. The only way I can subsequent chamfer/debur working is with a spring loaded mechanism so a given chamfer/debur force is applied for a given time.

I haven't tried the RCBS trim/chamfer/debur cutter head yet, but I don't see any reason it wouldn't work, but you'd realistically need one per caliber.

[TheYouwillsuffer]

blame it on the cam. lol is it cheaper to reload or buy them pre loaded

[huntwithairguns]

@TheYouwillsuffer Depends on the caliber, but for the most part its cheaper to reload.

[Glockster42]

Very well done!

[Chiliconnada]

How accurate or consistent have you found the measure to be when reloading long grain (ie IMR 4064) powders? Really interested in reloading .223 and .308 on a progressive, but have been reluctant because of charge discrepency when running the powder through my rcbs measure.

[Liberty4Ever]

@Chiliconnada I've tried running Varget through the Lee Auto-Disk powder measure with awful results. Hodgdon says ALL of their powders meter well, but I think that's the marketing department talking. Varget is a long stick powder that doesn't meter at all in the Auto-Disk. I suspect the Lee Perfect powder measure would work better based on numerous comments I've read, but I haven't tried it. You can use any manufacturer's powder measure if it was intended for 7/8 threads.

[rambryj]

@Chiliconnada I have had the same problems with my RCBS Uniflow and Varget powder. I end up just doing small batches and measuring each individual charge. It get's very tedious, but I've only loaded 22-250 so far and have yet to load very large batches. Have you found a better powder that burns similar to Varget? I tried BL-C(2) but I get better groups with Varget.

Maybe I just need to do more experimenting with other powders.

[namrog4]

Thanks to your great presentations, I think I understand the whys and wherefores of each step of prepping .223 brass. But other videos confuse me. Can you tell me why, when I watch folks loading .45ACP, there seems to be no consideration whatsoever for primer pocket preparation? I realize the straight-walled cases dont need the same attention as rifle brass, but is the condition of the primer pocket any less important for pistol rounds? Love your videos. Keep em coming!

[Liberty4Ever]

@namrog4 In almost every way, straight wall pistol ammo is easier to reload than bottle neck rifle ammo, and primer pockets are no exception. A lot of .223 brass is actually 5.56 mm NATO military brass with a crimped primer pocket. The purpose of the crimp is to make sure the primer is retained, but that makes it more difficult to punch out the used primer and MUCH more difficult to press in a new primer, so the crimp must be swaged or trimmed to make a uniform round primer pocket.

[XIIICougar38]

I'm just getting into reloading again after many years. I've reloaded shotgun shells before so I have some experience reloading, but no brass reloading experience. If you could I would appreciate some gouge on what I need to start reloading my own brass. Basically, what do I need to buy. I've looked on the Lee website and I can get an idea, but it would be nice if you could start me off in the right direction.

Thank you, and I really enjoyed your video.

[Liberty4Ever]

@XIIICougar38 I get open ended reloading questions like this. From my perspective, it sounds like, "Tell me everything I need to know in a 200 word YouTube comment."

I'll send you a YouTube private message with a link to a page I wrote with more info.

Basically, for a lot of pistol ammo, you probably want a progressive press, and for accurate rifle ammo, you probably want a single stage press.

Despite hating by reloading snobs, I like the value of Lee presses, but that's subjective.

[griffcrewchief]

This is a good vid. Very informative. Just one thing. Is it just me or does this guy kinda sound like Billy Bob Thornton. Sorry to be off subject.

[Liberty4Ever]

Some folks calls it a Kaiser blade. I calls it a sling blade.

French fried taters, I reckon.

[Glockerstein]

Great vid. I just finished building my AR15 two months ago and collect all the spent casings. I couldn't reload because the apartment I lived in didn't have room, now I have a house and have plenty of space...especially for a Man Room. I'll be picking up the book "ABC's of Reloading" as my first of many reloading books. Any other book recommendations? Thanks!

G.

[Liberty4Ever]

I have the ABCs of Reloading, 8th edition, but I actually prefer Modern Reloading 2nd Edition by Richard Lee. Some people complain that it uses the Lee products to explain the concepts, but it's not too much of an ad. They are proud of their stuff, and I'm OK with that. The information is very good and the products don't get in the way of the explanations. Some of the info is technical stuff you won't find anywhere else, and the 500 pages of load data in the back is great!

[ripmtb]

Think i found it. Is it the lee rifle charging die?

[Liberty4Ever]

Yes, for .223 and other rifle calibrs, you'll need the rifle charging die.

Some of the setup stuff is a bit more complicated than it needs to be. I bet most people place three orders before getting everything they need.

[ripmtb]

In the third stage you say your using a powder feed. Is that the lee universal charging die or something else? Thanks

[spscoutman]

Thanks, for a great video. I thought it was just me on the priming setup. I will try loading this way and see. Good job!

[CrazyBulletMan4]

Great vidio. What type of powder do you recomend I use on my 30 30 win rounds? I'm using 160 grain lee lead bullet. Thanks

[Liberty4Ever]

I have 30-30 dies, but I haven't reloaded any 30-30 yet. Even if I had, I'd be reluctant to recommend any load data in a YouTube comment. The powder manufacturers have free PDF load data on their websites. I'd try their recommended loads. I'd think that Modern Reloading 2nd Edition by Richard Lee would have a lot of load data for their lead bullets in the excellent 500 pages of load data, but that isn't the case in my experience. My Lee bullet mold instructions list load data.

[argo84]

Great video thanks much. It would be great if you'd do a video on setting up the Auto Powder dispenser. I recently bought a Pro Auto Disk and I'm having a heck of a hard time getting a consistent drop.

Thanks again!

[Liberty4Ever]

The AUtoDisk powder measure can be a minor pain to set up. Too loose on the screws and it leaks, too tight and it binds. It's important to select a powder that meters well in powder measures. It seems that all powder manufacturers say their powders meter well, but stick powders are too long and will jam and small ball powders will leak. I use Winchester WIN748 and Ramshot Tac or X-Terminator for .223. Varget is only good for hand weighing.

[argo84]

Thanks for the reply. I only reload handgun cartridges for now. Do you have an opinion regarding which of the common handgun powders meter well? Thanks again.

[Liberty4Ever]

Many handgun powders meter well. The big problem is with the extruded stick powder used in rifle powder. A lot of the handgun powders I use are disc powders or very short stick powders and they meter very well. I have used a lot of Hodgdon Universal for 9mm up through medium-light 10mm. I just started using Ramshot Zip.

[Liberty4Ever]

LongShot meters well and seems to be a very forgiving powder that seems to limit its own burn rate to avoid runaway effects, which also seems to make very accurate loads and I've had very good results with it in very fast loads with light bullets in 16" barrel pistol caliber carbines (90 gr 9mm +P at Mach 2!).Power Pistol is another good pistol powder. Most pistol powders are formulated for fast progressive presses so they will meter well.

[argo84]

Thanks again. I received a micrometer adjustable charge bar today from Midway and have replaced the disks with it. So far its metering 19.1 g of No. 9 really consistently.

[Liberty4Ever]

Wiping all parts that touch powder with an anti-static drier sheet will prevent static cling that causes problems with powder measures. Try running a powder reservoir full of powder first to polish the molded plastic parts and coat them with a graphite-like powder coating and you'll probably get much more uniform powder drops. Consistent press operation helps too. If the press jams and there's a kerchunk, the powder will settle and make a heavier powder drop.

[Liberty4Ever]

I always measure ten successive powder drops to check for consistency. Divide the total by ten for the average powder weight, but don't use any powder that varies more than +/- 3% or so. I try to accentuate the variation by quickly and smoothly operating the press one time for a light load, and tapping the side of the powder measure to pack the powder for a heavy load. The important number is the maximum load. Make sure that doesn't exceed the Never Exceed load.

[SafeArmsReview]

thanks for the vid

I'm just starting with reloading and ordered the Hornady Lock N Load AP Press w/o Shell plate, and it should be coming in soon. I locally purchased rcbs 9mm dies and Lord willing I will be able to reload some 9mm since I practice a lot.

I also hope to get .223 dies cause I plan on getting an ar15/m4. Again thanks for the vids.

If you have any suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

[Liberty4Ever]

The plinking bullets I'm using are some surplus bullets from pulled down military ammo. For .223 ammo, you actually use .224" bullets. They're labeled as such when you buy them, and you can verify that with calipers.

The resizing die should not be able to flare the necks enough for .224" bullets to "fall into the case".

I highly recommend reading ALL of a good reloading book, or two. Reloading isn't something that should be done without a complete understanding.

Have fun, but be safe.

[angeleyes1198]

Hello, why kind of bullets are you reloading? Brand? Grain? I had prep my cases and I ordered 45 grain 22 cal .223 and they actually fall into the case. Did I over size the cases? Or are the bullets not right? Can you use .224 diameter bullets also? I'm a noob and I want to learn how to reload! :-) I have a loadmaster too. :-)

[angeleyes1198]

Thank You so much for your info and your video!!! You actually inspired me to start to reload!!! Post more videos, Your a great teacher for us noobs!!! lol

[angeleyes1198]

Can you tell me the powder feed die # for 223 thanks

[Liberty4Ever]

For .223, you'll need a Disk Doubler kit for the Lee AutoDisk powder measure to throw a large enough charge for the rifle round.

midwayusa * com/eproductpage.exe/showprodu­ct?saleitemid=870920

You'll also need a universal rifle charging die.

midwayusa * com/eproductpage.exe/showprodu­ct?saleitemid=792057

[jmkpns]

Do you think it will be hard to buy bullets and reloading equipment over the next four years?

[Liberty4Ever]

It's been increasingly difficult and expensive to buy reloading supplies over the last four years, and I expect that trend to continue and probably accelerate.

Ammo and reloading supplies are commodities, and they consistently outperform any other commodities I know. Even the price of crude oil came down. Ammo prices and reloading supply prices will spike up, but they don't go down. They level off, and then spike up some more. Reloading supplies are a good investment, barring confiscation.

[crazyredlion4500]

Not at all. I have had no trouble. If your worried about Obama it would be foolish of him to mess with the 2nd amendment. Many politicians are afraid to even talk about gun control for fear of losing elections these days. That guy better put his focus on the economy. That is what he was elected to do.

[jmkpns]

I hope you're correct. I'm not bashing democrats because I was one for years, but seems like we have to worry about gun control every time they're in charge, but like I said I hope you're correct. Go Steelers!

[rcooper260]

ummmmm!!! I dont know you so how would i see you out on the range??

[Liberty4Ever]

How would you see me out on the range? Well, there's the six degrees of separation. There's also pseudo-random encounters.

:)

[Liberty4Ever]

The LoadMaster is a solid press. The priming system could be more reliable. Plan on replacing the plastic primer sliders when they're bent. The Dillon 550B is a lot more expensive (2X to 3X) and still must be manually indexed, but it's a reliable press that's well built. Hornady is nice, but also more expensive. For maximum reliability (at slower speed), get the Lee Classic Cast single stage press. It's a great value, very reliable, heavy duty, and made in the USA.

[pingpong909]

question. How come you didnt load the .223 brass in the tubes?

also when you prep your brass... do you trim all of them? and clean the primer pockets?

[Liberty4Ever]

It's possible to load the .223 brass into the brass feeder but it doesn't save much time because the case sorter (the red funnel thing) won't sort .223. It's made for pistol brass. Besides, I keep the brass feeder adjusted for 9mm and .40 S&W brass.

[Liberty4Ever]

In theory, I could trim them every other time or so, but I always manage to pick up some other range brass with my brass and it's easier to just do the entire prep on each case - clean, resize & deprime, trim, chamfer and deburr the neck, remve any primer crimp and clean out the primer pocket and flash hole, clean, and prime.

[pingpong909]

would you say the Lee loadmaster is a good buy? compared to say.. spending a couple more bills for a Hornady n other proressive loaders?

[andrewjarvi]

Good vid. I've been toying with the idea of reloading. Would you recommend a 20 year old schmuck, with no knowledge on the subject, to look linto this process? Or would I be in over my head?

[Liberty4Ever]

Reloading isn't difficult in concept, but it can be fussy at times. If you are incapable of following instructions or you're more interested in finishing a job than doing it right, then reloading isn't for you. Otherwise, you can reload to save money and all you need to do is be careful, or you can really get into reloading as a hobby and learn a lot and spend a lot of time lovingly crafting unique (but safe) ammo.

A single stage press is simpler and makes more accurate ammo, but it's slower.

[andrewjarvi]

Is it possible to make some dangerously faulty rounds?

[Liberty4Ever]

Substitute pistol powder in a rifle case and you'll probably blow up a rifle, and that could easily result in injury or death.

Verifying the weight of the powder is very important, and so is ensuring the correct powder type. Good habits help. I only have one powder on the bench at a time, and I always verify that it's the correct powder before I use it - each and every time.

Too little or no powder can be bad too. A primer is just enough to stick a bullet in the bore. The next shot... kaboom!

[andrewjarvi]

I guess I'll give it a shot (no pun intended). If it can save me some money down the line, then it would be dumb for me not to. Plus as you said, it may be a fun new hobby. Thanks for your help, I appreciate it! :-)

[jackmehoffer68]

I am an American. I do not own a gun, although I understand that the second amendment rights are in danger. what things can i buy to ensure that we will retain our constitutional rights, considering the views of the president elect?

[eq2mortem]

a Nation Rifle Association membership.

[Warlocksxe]

A gun. Learn to exercise your rights to own one. Educated your self on using the weapon. Then spread the word so others can understand that they have the right to own firearms. I don't carry a gun because I have to I carry because I can.

[twal1011]

Really enjoy all of your reloading videos. They've really helped me to better understand the reloading process.

Thank you very much for taking the time to record and share them.

[wankstataz]

cheers for the great video.

im thinking of getting into makeing me own ammo.

looks pretty simple to do.

[shadowdog500]

Good video! I also like to look in each case to visually check the powder level. Since you can't really see the powder level in the

.223 case and don't use station #1 and 2 for anything, have you considered moving the powder drop to station #2 and putting some sort of powder check die in station number 3. You could probably rig something near station #2 to pull the powder return.

Chris