newbie has question on .223???

hoosierboy · November 20, 2000, 09:14 PM

Ok I have begun loading .223 for my bushmaster. I lube them up, then size and decap. I then run it through the tumbler, but my corn cob gets stuck in my primer hole. I go through them one by one with a safety pin and poke them out. Is there an easier way, do others have this problem too?

Art Eatman · November 20, 2000, 11:24 PM

I polish my brass before starting the reloading process. Less "grunge" rubbing against the resizing die. Use the minimum lube that gives smooth operation. And clean the resizing die as needed; it gets messy in there.

I use mechanic's shop rags to wipe down the ammo after it's all reloaded...

FWIW, Art

AlbertaCanada · November 21, 2000, 12:38 AM

In my humble opinion, It is more important to get the brass blean before running it through the sizer die, than after.
So the brass may not look as nice with micro-scrathes on it, but the only option I know of that will remove them is re-polishing.
It's up to you.

FOOTNOTE: I use a small jewellers screwdriver to remove the walnut media (and it drives me nuts)! I HAVE THOUGHT OF USING GLASS BEAD MEDIA FOR POLISHING BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD CASE HARDEN THE SURFACE OF THE BRASS. ANY METALURGY EXPERTS OUT THERE?

AlbertaCanada · November 21, 2000, 12:43 AM

WOULD YOU PLEASE SHARE YOUR LOAD SPECS. WITH US? I JUST STARTED RELOADING .223 ABOUT 1000 ROUNDS AGO. BUT I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR PROVEN FORMULA'S.
THANX AND tight groups!

hoosierboy · November 21, 2000, 07:07 PM

The reason I dont lube after tumbling the brass, is the possibility of deactivating the primer from the lube. As for loads, I am new to this so I have more experimenting to do but if you do a search I found a bunch of different loads.

Art Eatman · November 21, 2000, 07:59 PM

Hoosierboy, it takes such a "eensy-teensy" bit of lube! I put a minimal amount on one of these patented RCBS lube-pads, smear it out, and lightly roll the cases across. Just picking them up and handling them gets enough lube on my fingers that I merely "clean my hands" on the next handful of cases and that's plenty. No way anything could hurt primers.

For that matter, wiping down the cases could easily be the next step after resizing/decapping...

Art

Patrick Graham · November 22, 2000, 08:51 AM

I went through the same thing, in both 223 and 308. I finally started buying them pre-processed from scharch and rvo.

Longtrain · November 26, 2000, 10:44 AM

I tumble my brass before it's resized, cleaning out primer pockets can cause you to go nuts. I use Hornady's One-Shot spray lube. I dump about 50 cases in an open plastic container, (wife's tupperware is best), a light back and forth spray, what 3 minutes, shake the box, respray and resize. Since I switched to One-Shot, I'll never use conventional lube again, it's too easy.

Good luck,

Longtrain

WalterGAII · November 27, 2000, 02:09 PM

Longtrain's using the most commonly-used, common-sense method. Clean; lube; resize; trim (unless you're using the X die); prime; charge and seat. (And maybe crimp, if you wish.) There's nothing wrong with tumbling loaded rounds in a vibratory tumbler for short periods of time, in order to remove the lube.

fed168 · November 27, 2000, 06:26 PM

I guess I did it the hard way. Just tried out the Midway spray lube, boy did it save time! I did this: spray, resize, clean out the primer pocket, tumble, and reload. I too had the media in the flash hole, took a small jag and removed it, annoying as it was.

The last time I used Lee lube, the grease stuff, took more hours than the spray, I am sold.

Joel Harmon · November 28, 2000, 11:54 AM

fed168 wrote:
"The last time I used Lee lube, the grease stuff, took more hours than the spray, I am sold."

Fed,

I buy those cheap two ounce tubes of sizing lube from Midway and squeeze a whole tube (every last bit I can get out, anyway) into a clean spray bottle. I then measure out 15 ounces of denatured alcohol and pour it into the bottle as well. I shake this until the paste dissolves into the alcohol and it looks like a white cloudy mixture. I then place my .223 casings in a large flat bottomed bowl (about 200 or so) and continually roll the casings around with my left arm while I spray the mixture in from the bottle with my right hand. Just spray while sloshing the cases around. After about one minute you will have cases coated with a visible light coat of white lube ready to be resized. The alcohol only takes about five minutes to completely evaporate. You can use water to replace the alcohol if you want to wait longer for the water to completely dry.

This bottle will last for at least two thousand casings and a new tube of that lube is only something like $3.00. You don't need to pay $14-20 for a bottle of the same size that does the same thing when you can pay a total of maybe $5 (with the alcohol included) with this home remedy. I usually buy my alcohol in one gallon containers because it is a little cheaper that way. Hope this gives you some ideas. Lubing is definitely one place where you can cheapen the reloading process.

Joel

November 20, 2000, 09:14 PM	#1
hoosierboy Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 1999 Location: south bend, IN usa Posts: 475	Ok I have begun loading .223 for my bushmaster. I lube them up, then size and decap. I then run it through the tumbler, but my corn cob gets stuck in my primer hole. I go through them one by one with a safety pin and poke them out. Is there an easier way, do others have this problem too? __________________ "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." --Ayn Rand, in "The Nature of Government" http://hometown.aol.com//jsax13/web.html Member NRA, GOA, JPFO, SAF, and CCRKBA.

November 21, 2000, 07:07 PM	#5
hoosierboy Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 1999 Location: south bend, IN usa Posts: 475	The reason I dont lube after tumbling the brass, is the possibility of deactivating the primer from the lube. As for loads, I am new to this so I have more experimenting to do but if you do a search I found a bunch of different loads. __________________ "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." --Ayn Rand, in "The Nature of Government" http://hometown.aol.com//jsax13/web.html Member NRA, GOA, JPFO, SAF, and CCRKBA.

November 20, 2000, 11:24 PM	#2
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	I polish my brass before starting the reloading process. Less "grunge" rubbing against the resizing die. Use the minimum lube that gives smooth operation. And clean the resizing die as needed; it gets messy in there. I use mechanic's shop rags to wipe down the ammo after it's all reloaded... FWIW, Art

November 21, 2000, 12:38 AM	#3
AlbertaCanada Member Join Date: November 2, 2000 Posts: 73	In my humble opinion, It is more important to get the brass blean before running it through the sizer die, than after. So the brass may not look as nice with micro-scrathes on it, but the only option I know of that will remove them is re-polishing. It's up to you. FOOTNOTE: I use a small jewellers screwdriver to remove the walnut media (and it drives me nuts)! I HAVE THOUGHT OF USING GLASS BEAD MEDIA FOR POLISHING BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT WOULD CASE HARDEN THE SURFACE OF THE BRASS. ANY METALURGY EXPERTS OUT THERE?

November 21, 2000, 12:43 AM	#4
AlbertaCanada Member Join Date: November 2, 2000 Posts: 73	WOULD YOU PLEASE SHARE YOUR LOAD SPECS. WITH US? I JUST STARTED RELOADING .223 ABOUT 1000 ROUNDS AGO. BUT I'M CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR PROVEN FORMULA'S. THANX AND tight groups!

November 21, 2000, 07:59 PM	#6
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Hoosierboy, it takes such a "eensy-teensy" bit of lube! I put a minimal amount on one of these patented RCBS lube-pads, smear it out, and lightly roll the cases across. Just picking them up and handling them gets enough lube on my fingers that I merely "clean my hands" on the next handful of cases and that's plenty. No way anything could hurt primers. For that matter, wiping down the cases could easily be the next step after resizing/decapping... Art

November 22, 2000, 08:51 AM	#7
Patrick Graham Junior member Join Date: January 18, 1999 Location: Kokomo, Indiana USA Posts: 674	I went through the same thing, in both 223 and 308. I finally started buying them pre-processed from scharch and rvo.

November 26, 2000, 10:44 AM	#8
Longtrain Junior Member Join Date: November 26, 2000 Posts: 6	I tumble my brass before it's resized, cleaning out primer pockets can cause you to go nuts. I use Hornady's One-Shot spray lube. I dump about 50 cases in an open plastic container, (wife's tupperware is best), a light back and forth spray, what 3 minutes, shake the box, respray and resize. Since I switched to One-Shot, I'll never use conventional lube again, it's too easy. Good luck, Longtrain

November 27, 2000, 02:09 PM	#9
WalterGAII Junior member Join Date: November 7, 1999 Posts: 1,516	Longtrain's using the most commonly-used, common-sense method. Clean; lube; resize; trim (unless you're using the X die); prime; charge and seat. (And maybe crimp, if you wish.) There's nothing wrong with tumbling loaded rounds in a vibratory tumbler for short periods of time, in order to remove the lube.

November 27, 2000, 06:26 PM	#10
fed168 Senior Member Join Date: March 15, 2000 Posts: 1,040	I guess I did it the hard way. Just tried out the Midway spray lube, boy did it save time! I did this: spray, resize, clean out the primer pocket, tumble, and reload. I too had the media in the flash hole, took a small jag and removed it, annoying as it was. The last time I used Lee lube, the grease stuff, took more hours than the spray, I am sold.

November 28, 2000, 11:54 AM	#11
Joel Harmon Senior Member Join Date: April 25, 2000 Location: Omaha, NE. USA Posts: 165	fed168 wrote: "The last time I used Lee lube, the grease stuff, took more hours than the spray, I am sold." Fed, I buy those cheap two ounce tubes of sizing lube from Midway and squeeze a whole tube (every last bit I can get out, anyway) into a clean spray bottle. I then measure out 15 ounces of denatured alcohol and pour it into the bottle as well. I shake this until the paste dissolves into the alcohol and it looks like a white cloudy mixture. I then place my .223 casings in a large flat bottomed bowl (about 200 or so) and continually roll the casings around with my left arm while I spray the mixture in from the bottle with my right hand. Just spray while sloshing the cases around. After about one minute you will have cases coated with a visible light coat of white lube ready to be resized. The alcohol only takes about five minutes to completely evaporate. You can use water to replace the alcohol if you want to wait longer for the water to completely dry. This bottle will last for at least two thousand casings and a new tube of that lube is only something like $3.00. You don't need to pay $14-20 for a bottle of the same size that does the same thing when you can pay a total of maybe $5 (with the alcohol included) with this home remedy. I usually buy my alcohol in one gallon containers because it is a little cheaper that way. Hope this gives you some ideas. Lubing is definitely one place where you can cheapen the reloading process. Joel