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Old February 5, 2013, 11:21 AM   #1
danielhv
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Join Date: February 5, 2013
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.223 Loading - Bullets, Powder, Primers?

My classic turret kit came in a few weeks ago, and I've been reading the book that came with it. As I near the end of it, I want to go ahead and place orders for reloading supplies. (Also, it's my b-day this month and midwayusa is giving me a decent discount on everything I order, so I have no prob. ordering things on backorder just to save the 12%)

Only problem is... I have no idea what to go with!! I don't know what grain of bullet, what shape, what powder, what primers, etc. This book has a ton of load data, but I don't know whats better than what. There's probably 300 different loads for .223 in here and I dunno where to start.

Just to clarify, I'm not going to start pounding out rounds without a little more education and some supervision... I'm just simply looking to order stuff to take advantage of the discount.

I'm looking to load some decent plinking rounds. Nothing special, and I want to stay WELL within the limits of my rifle. (Rock River Arms CAR A4 w/1:9 twist)

So I'm looking for a good powder to learn on that meters well, some good (cheap) projectiles, and primers. Book said to stay away from Federal, and seemed to favor CCI.

So far, I have the Lee loading bench and 2 extra 4-hole turrets in my cart.

Can someone steer me in a direction here? This has gotten pretty overwhelming!
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Old February 5, 2013, 11:26 AM   #2
ScottRiqui
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You'll get lots of recommendations, but here's what I went with when I started reloading for my AR:

H335 powder. Meters beautifully in the Lee Autodisk Pro.
CCI #41 NATO 5.56 mm primers.
The cheap Armscor 62 gr FMJBT bullets from Midway. They're certainly not match-grade, but they're good for plinking and short-range target shooting.

Do you already have brass?
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Old February 5, 2013, 12:17 PM   #3
danielhv
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottRiqui
You'll get lots of recommendations, but here's what I went with when I started reloading for my AR:

H335 powder. Meters beautifully in the Lee Autodisk Pro.
CCI #41 NATO 5.56 mm primers.
The cheap Armscor 62 gr FMJBT bullets from Midway. They're certainly not match-grade, but they're good for plinking and short-range target shooting.

Do you already have brass?
Perfect! Thank you!!

No, I don't have brass. Can't find it anywhere either. PPL on craigslist are just trying to rip people off. So I guess that part will have to wait until things calm down.
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Old February 5, 2013, 04:07 PM   #4
GTOne
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The problem is, you likely aren't going to find any of those items mentioned in post #2 unless they are at outragious prices, and probably local to you.

1:9 barrel, check powder valley, and browse hornady rifle bullets, they have some selection in 40-50 grain(they will do well in 1:9. ), 55 grain and up are scarce.
H335 powder is as rare as the brass. Search the powder manufacturers websites and write down all the compatible powders for what you are loading, because if you are too picky you will be waiting for weeks/months, possibly.
Small Magnum rifle primers will have to do(If you can find any, anywhere), you aren't likely going to find any CCI #41s any time soon, either.

After you know what you are willing to buy, it is time to set yourself up a set of bookmarks of all the good retailers so you can check them often(new listings for 223 stuff can go out of stock in an hour or two, sometimes just minutes), and like them on facebook, follow them on twitter, etc, because some of them give a heads-up what is coming on the truck that way.

Not the greatest time to get started reloading for .223, unfortunately.
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Old February 5, 2013, 04:50 PM   #5
Popeye77
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Natchez has some Sierra's but pricey.
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Old February 6, 2013, 02:15 AM   #6
mohr308
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Daniel

If that's the 16" barrel, I have the same rifle. I spent a lot of time creating a hunting load for that. As always work up your loads! My load is as follows, H335 @ 24.5 gr, LC brass, 65 gr SGK (1395 stock number), CCI 41 primer, 2.250" col. I get sub moa groups at 100 yds. BTW, good luck finding supplies, everything I've ordered is on back order, who knows when it's coming. It's not a plinking load, because of the cost of the game kings, you can't buy them in bulk unless you drive to the Sierra factory. Oh yeah, welcome to your new favorite website!

You can back order brass on www.brownells.com, if you can find Lake city brass (good luck) buy it. If you can get brass, according to a thread I started, buy the Winchester.
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