Bare minimum

[rickyrick]

Sorry. Been around TFL long enough to know I'm about to ask a redundant question.

Is it feasible to hand load .223 rem and what's the bare minimum equipment required? I don't foresee any more than one or two boxes a week. I'm thinking just plinking ammo at the moment.

[Unclenick]

Just about every service rifle match shooter in the country reloads them. It's one of the most commonly reloaded cartridges out there. Just go to the sticky at the top of the forum for basic loading tools.

For less than 50 rounds a week you can use a single stage press setup. Some people use fancier equipment even for those small quantities just because they don't have much free time. That element will be up to you to decide. Also, how much you spend depends somewhat on your level of accuracy interest. But for basics, even a Lee hand tool will handle these small cartridges.

[Lost Sheep]

I know of no one better qualified to give advice.

Having said that, I think Unclenick missed the one obvious answer to your specific question. (edit: I mis-read the post. When Unclenick said "hand tool", I was thinking "hand press". I think he meant the Load-All kit, also known as the Lee Loader and colloquially as the "Whack-a-mole" loader)

The Lee Load-All kit. It fits in a box the size of a paperback book. Add a mallet (not a hammer!) and a block of wood and you can load (albeit noisily, slowly and with not very much versatility).

To add versatility, you will need a scale to mete powder (the kit comes with a single dipper, leaving little ability to adjust power levels, much less the fine tuning to get good accuracy from your rifle).

To take advantage of the wealth of information available, you must have access to it. A loading manual will have load recipes for your cartridge which have been tested in ballistics laboratories as safe. While you can get such information over the internet, using a published manual from a reputable manufacturer of powder, bullets or loading equipment is a guarantee of validity and correctness unavailable from casual sources on the web.

There are various other accessories you will want. A micrometer, loading block or two, dropcloth, a glove to protect your hand from the occasional primer pop, etc.

Eventually the kit will occupy, instead of a 4"x5"x1" box, a 5"x10"x20" box. And the cost will go from $30 to $100-$150.

At that rate, you might as well get a press, dies and all the other accessories (sans mallet, though) and load in a quieter manner. Besides all the banging away with the mallet, it is unnerving to onlookers who expect you to blow yourself up with every whack.

By the way, what are you shooting? At the quantities you mention, I suspect your 223 is anything but a semi-auto. What are your shooting goals? How much experience do you have?

Lost Sheep

[Sevens]

No fear whatsoever about a redundant question. If we got mad at those, this place would dry up and die in a matter of weeks.

I've been doing this long enough to know what I can get by with, but where it simply makes sense to spend a little bit for a COLOSSAL return. Here's a small example, so you can see my thought process.

If you want SHOE STRING budget and even a dime more is not an option, I'm not going to give the best advice. But if you are willing to spend just a few dollars more for something that really gives you a major upgrade in ease, speed, or uniformity -- I would think a rational person would say, "yes, that's likely the better idea."

Things you must have -- in my opinion, to get the most bang for your buck on a limited budget, for a small output of .223 Rem:

--press
--dies
--priming tool
--case trimming and chamfering
--caliper for COAL measuring
--scale
--powder measure

1) Press--you can "use" the Lee Reloader press that is an open "C" frame design and it would be the lowest dollar route you could take. However, at minimum, I'm suggesting the Challenger "O" frame press is the minimum I would buy. There are much better and more expensive presses that I'd certainly choose if I had the luxury of spending more. But whatever you do, I -beg- you to not buy anything, not one SINGLE item that is bright yellow and branded "Smart Reloader." Just...don't. Please.

2) Dies--anyone's dies will do a darn fine job of building .223, but I prefer Lee dies over all others simply because they do exactly what I want out of them. That they cost less is like a bonus. If you are talking semi-auto, you can shoestring it with the lowest cost, green box Lee RGB 2-die set, but you will need to also purchase a shell holder. In my opinion, a better purchase is the 3-die Deluxe set which gives you the shell holder and also the very useful Lee Collet Neck-Only size die. You'll see there is a fairly big jump in price between the two sets, but IMO, the Deluxe set is worth the extra $. Everyone else's dies are great, too, but they all cost more dough.

3) Priming tool--most single stage presses have some manner of a priming tool built in, but none of them work quickly or easily and you end up fingering a lot of primers which isn't a great idea. Spend a little bit and get a hand priming tool. Lee makes one, many others prefer to spend the extra money for the better tool from RCBS. Being that I don't own a hand primer, I'm out of my league a bit on this one.

4) Case trimming--this is a hassle and not enjoyable, but it truly is a must for SAFE rifle ammo. The more $ you spend, the easier and quicker it is. Problem is, the money here gets nutbar in a hurry. Want the best? Giraud trimmer, but that's over $400. (probably worth every cent! ) Most folks go in the middle with a small purpose built hand-operated mini-lathe, built specifically for case trimming. Expect to spend between $50 and $100 by the time you are rolling here. Still hurts? Well, that's where Lee comes in again. They have designed an ultra low-buck system that so cheap it's hard to believe and it works very well, but it's horribly labor intensive. Case length Gauge/Shellholder is around $6, cutter is like $5-$10, little hand chamfer tool is like $2 and you are fully outfitted to trim in one caliber. You can even chuck it in to a drill and take some of the work out of it, but it's still a major chore. On a budget, though, it works brilliantly.

5) Caliper-- I used to believe this was a "good thing to have" but the truth is, it's a staple that no handloader should operate without. Don't have to spend a heap here, can even get a really low-buck one from Harbor Freight. Many like a digital, I prefer my dial caliper. I spent like $25 on mine and you can beat that price depending on what you pick.

6) Scale-- it's crazy, IMO, to handload without a scale. Cheapest scale on the market that is absolutely, positively accurate is the Lee Safety Scale. $20 and you are rolling. It's slow, it's difficult to use and it confounds and confuses some folks who can't figure it out. But it's "bet your wallet" accurate. For similar money or a bit more, you can roll the dice with any of a hundred different ultra-cheap chinese small digital scales. These can go either way... many have had great experiences while others have been left frustrated. On a shoestring budget, I think one of EACH isn't a bad way to go. Use the Lee scale to keep the cheap digital honest, but work more easily & quickly with the cheap digital. Either way, I use a quality Ohaus/Dillon beam scale and you'd have to kill me to pry it from my hands. It'll run you closer to $80 or above. (I think?)

7) Powder Measure-- a misnomer, it does NOT "measure" your powder. Rather, it meters out a repeating charge. You set it for the charge weight you want, ensure it's correct with a scale, and you use this tool to give you a bunch of them repeatedly. Used properly, this device is the biggest blessing at a load bench. Here's a place where you need to spend a bit, but the return is, well (IMO, anyway), life altering. Sure, it's possible to hand weigh each and every charge, but I can't accurately describe how quickly that will wear you out. You won't even want to handload anymore if you do that. Spend the money on a powder measure to do this for you.

Lee makes one called the "Perfect Powder Measure" and the reviews are mixed. It is made of cheaper materials and it doesn't like every single powder on the market, but it works awfully well for many folks. I'm a dedicated Lee tool user and I used mine a lot for a couple of years but still chose to upgrade. I wouldn't go back -- the measure I use now makes me MUCH happier and it's my favorite handloading tool of anything on my bench. I use the Lyman 55 and it costs like 4 times as much as the Lee Perfect.

These are my recommendations for the least amount of money I would spend to get started handloading .223. There are corners you could cut, but (again, IMO), it wouldn't be worth it. There are many places where you can do much better than the suggestions I've made, but all will cost more dough.

[Unclenick]

Lost Sheep,

Actually, I was not thinking of the Lee Loader because it neck sizes only and he might be loading for an AR. He didn't say. For the AR you want the Hand Tool (hand press) and dies. If it is just for a bolt rifle, the Lee Loader is the cheapest starting point, indeed.

[Sevens]

Actually, I think Lee's bench mounted C-frame press might be a bit cheaper than their hand press, even.

[Marco Califo]

I recommend the Lee Breech Lock Hand Press. They can be found for $20 to $35 dollars. I have a turret and single stage press too, but the hand press gets the most use. If you are using once fired cases and loading 223 you can skip trimming for a loading or two. Lee dies work fine. You will need a way to prime, the RCBS hand tools are good. A powder measure and scale are very useful, but, Lee ships their dies with a powder dipper, which is usually the right size for typical powders to produce a safe and reasonable load, even without a scale. They also include loading data. You can get the Lee Perfect Powder Measure for around $20 that is adjustable and includes charts for all powders. Again, this can be done without a scale (but you will eventually want a good balance beam scale).
Sevens is right, the Lee Reloader Single Stage Press may be cheaper $28 at Midway. But, I still recommend the hand press because it is portable and you can use it in front of the TV (depriming and sizing) or at work if you are lucky.

[hooligan1]

Rickyrick, I want to add that handloading in it's self is funner than shooting, if you get into the depth these repliers are at. It is for me anyway.

[the led farmer]

don't forget the lee scale, it's cheaper than any and just as accurate as any out there
lee safety powder scale

[dwhite]

I'd get the "C" style bench press over the hand press. I've had
a hand press for years because I had no room for anything bigger.
I've done .30-06 on my hand press. The cheap C style press
should handle .223 easily.

I now have a Lee turret press.

Go ahead and buy a fairly decent bench style press and good dies.
You may later find you really enjoy reloading and will add
other calibers. Then all you will need is dies.

If you buy Lee dies and follow the load table that comes with them
for the included dipper you can get by without a scale for your initial run.
You will want a scale though down the road. (Flame suit on, zipped,
vision shield in place).

I had a Lee "whack-a-mole" kit that I loaded many hundreds of .30-06
rounds on with only the included dipper when I got started. Made many
hundreds of rounds of darn good ammo too.

All the Best,
D. White

[Sevens]

If you buy Lee dies and follow the load table that comes with them
for the included dipper you can get by without a scale for your initial run.
You will want a scale though down the road. (Flame suit on, zipped,
vision shield in place).

At the price of the Lee Safety Scale for like twenty dollars, I do think in the year 2012, this is a foolish suggestion.

I'll readily admit that I started metallic handloading in '89 with the big box of dippers, the Lee slidey-chart and a pound of Hercules Green Dot and some Speer Swaged LSWC slugs. It worked, it was safe and I had fun.

But I needed and I deserved a scale. I was a kid in high school with no mentor and no internet.

[sc928porsche]

Lees c press will work, but isnt very strong. I use one to decap my brass for cleaning. You would probably be best off with a starter kit. Lee's kit will come with everything you need to get started with including a decent O frame press. You will have to get dies and case length trimmer for your particular cartridge.

[chris in va]

I've loaded thousands with my Hand Press. Works great, plus I can watch TV while using it.

You can use homemade dippers for whatever powder/charge you like, but as of late I am looking at the Perfect Powder Measure for a bit more consistency. My chronograph shows more extreme spread than I would prefer.