.223 Case Preparation - Part 2

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THOL_S7Hngs

This video shows in chronological order all the steps needed to prepare .223 rifle brass to be reloaded. The cases are tumble cleaned, resized and de-primed, the resizing lubrication is removed, any military primer pocket crimps are removed by swaging, the cases are trimmed to length, the case necks are de-burred and chamfered inside and out, and a new primer is installed into the primer pocket. After this point, the cases are ready for powder, bullet seating and bullet crimping, which are not shown in this video.

Multiple methods are demonstrated for trimming and chamfering, and the advantages of full synthetic motor oil as case lubricant for the resizing process is demonstrated. This case preparation process is essentially the same for almost any rifle brass.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• .223
• case
• preparation
• brass
• trimming
• trim
• chamfer
• de-burr
• lube
• lubrication
• synthetic
• oil
• swage
• swaging
• primer

[fishcop444]

Will the adjustable chuck holder fit into the electric drill/screwdriver? Is it easier to use than the standard shell holder?

[Liberty4Ever]

@fishcop444 I use the Lee three jaw universal shell holder on the Zip Trim and it is convenient, although it needs to be kept clean and well lubed to work as designed. Unfortunately, it has larger diameter female threads for the Zip trim that don't fit the Lee case lock stud's smaller diameter male threads. I suspect there isn't an adapter, or a universal shell holder for a drill because that mechanism works better on a bench mounted device and would be awkward in a drill.

[Liberty4Ever]

@fishcop444 Maybe a better solution would be something similar to an ER style collet chuck used in machining. They have wider grip ranges than older collet designs. With the small gripping force required, it should be possible to make a collet style universal shell holder that could work with .223, .308, 243, 270, 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 ACP, etc. The collet would have thin metal fingers and a lot more open air space, for the widest possible grip range with the minimal grip force needed.

[rossmetacraft]

Excellent pair of videos! Great for beginners like me. One question ... how can you tell if a piece of brass is military and thus needs primer pocket swaging? I have a bunch of brass that I shot myself that I'm planning to reload, some was 5.56, the rest is .223. Is the 5.56 stuff considered military and thus needs swaging? Can I tell by looking at the primer pocket to see if it is crimped in some way? Thanks again for the great vids.

[Liberty4Ever]

@rossmetacraft I tried to keep my brass separated, but never could. I always end up reloading assorted range pickup brass from dubious sources. I find it easier to assume all .223 / 5.56 brass needs to have the primer pocket swaged. I'd put the RCBS primer pocket swager in the Lee Classic Cast Press and if the primer pocket fit over the swaging button, it didn't need swaging, otherwise, I'd pull the handle to swage it. Now, I process all the brass through the RCBS Case Prep Center.

[SyFurr]

Being a machinist myself, I like seeing the mill used for case trimming.

[Liberty4Ever]

@SyFurr I'm not a machinist, but I play one on the internet. :-)

A 2 HP milling machine makes fast and precise work of trimming .50 BMG brass.

[Mrcaffinebean]

Excellent video! Neat trick with that mill, I see you graduated from the School Of Overkill! lol

[Liberty4Ever]

@tony10376 So far, I only made videos describing case prep, as there are many options and that can be the most confusing part of rifle reloading.

The case neck should be resized such that the .224" bullet presses in without too much difficulty but isn't so loose that the bullet can move between the bullet seating step and the subsequent bullet crimping step. I never use the bullet seating die to crimp. I adjust the die to seat only, and I use the Lee Factory Crimp collet die in the next step.

[tony10376]

Have you done a follow up set of videos for the rest of the steps for loading? I have been running into problems when it comes to setting the bullet and then crimping. The depth thing is confusing for me and you have done the first video which actually makes sense and takes the time to show the whole process...