Help for a noobie

[MrBump]

Hello everyone, I have been lurking around for quite a while learning what I can here and there. I had recently bought a Lee single press with .223 dies for reloading for my Bushmaster AR-15. Got 3 manuals. I loaded about 80 rounds last night and was going to sneak off to the range later today and see if i did well enough to take up reloading and save myself some money so i shoot more often.
I used all new remington brass this time, I know I won't save any by doing this, it's a first time thing I guess. I used IMR 3031 powder and loaded at 22.5 grains EXACTLY for all 80 rounds. I double checked every load on both my scales and I used serria 55 grain soft point boat tails. CCI 400 small primers.
How does this sound for a first time. I had no Idea initially which powder would be ideal, I just saw that particular powder in the book I had was buying at the store, and that powder they had on the self. (not a fan of stick powder now).
I have been getting alot of conflicting information as far as bullet weight and crimping and I was hope to get some advise here.

My rifle is a 1-9 twist. I would love to use a heavier bullet. what would some recommendations be for this. I hear I would be good to around 75 grain. With the 1-9 twist is little heavier than 55grain better all around?
I'm am having a little bit of a hard time with identifing the different dies for resizing, Lee destructions aren't very clear. in particular the full length resizing and short dies. Does anyone have a picture ?
I want to keep everything safe to shoot obviously, I am not looking for 1/2" groups at 300 yards or anything,as i'm sure reloading in itself, as anal as i am about my charges well be far better than factory anyways, especially when I "fine tune" with powders and bullets (with your help naturally). Also, I have ALOT more time than money, so spending 3 hours to get 50 rounds if perfectly acceptable for me.
Just looking for advice, decent bullet/powder combinations, and were to buy powder and bullets in bulk. I was thinking of loading brass 2-3 times for practice/plinking then maybe loading the same brass for the last time for storage with my "good" bullets.

Sorry if I'm rambling on. Here is exact steps I took for my first 80 rounds.

-new brass-
- Trimmed brass with Lee hand tool, (was all good because new)
- lubed and ran through sizer (uncertian which die it was, short or long )
- Tumbled brass for 1 hour (remove lube)
- Primmed with small CCI 400 primer
- Charged with IMR 3031 22.5 grains exactly
- seat bullets to 22.5 OAL

I have about 150 .223 cases some of which i shot which was once fired and reloaded and other I policed up at the local range I was at a few weeks back.
I went ahead a reloaded some of this. same order except I tumbled first, then decaped, sized, and cleaned the primer seats.

Again, sorry to ramble on, I'm just new to this and still learning!
When I get more comfortable with the .223, I hope to start reloading my 9mm also. Thank you all very much for your patience and help in advance.

Kyle

[margiesex]

I'll let the guys that shoot .223 speak to your loads, but once you get to 9's it's WAY easier than bottle-neck rifle loads! Trust me on this one!

God bless and welcome to the hobby.

Margiesex

And remember - Hug your God and your guns - 'cause he's coming for them both - and soon!

[DiscoRacing]

Bump.... .your process looks pretty good/tight.... couple of things that I noticed.... you might have better luck with Ramshot Tac powder....(is what I use after talking to several people about .223)....the sizer there are only two.... one is full length and one is neck only which they call a collet die... if you are sizing for an auto... you should full length size always... also.... your bullet seat depth should be checked by trying to aquire your individual rifles chamber length... not all lengths are the same.... is part of fine tuning your reloads... your bullet should be seated 5 thousands behind the lands of your barrels rifling.

[Jim243]

I do reload for my bushmaster AR-15.

1. You didn't say which model you have, it makes a difference.

2. You are going to be stuck to 55 grain bullets, the 75's will not fit in your magazine (OAL too long). You could get the single shot feed ramp for your magazine and make it a single shot instead of a auto.

3. Depending on your model you will need a X-Small Base Resizing die for resizing your cases. RCBS makes one for about $45.00. Semi Autos are fussy about that.

4. Brass prices are crazy compared to when I started reloading 223, get youself a brass chatcher, it's cheap and saves you from having to chase the spent cases.

5. Your OAL is not 22.5' maybe 2.250' but that is the longest that will fit in the mag. I found the best OAL for the Bushmaster is 2.200' but you need to check your books for the correct load of powder for that OAL.

6. Never used the powder you are using, so I can't help you there, but I find that H-335 at about 25.0 grains works about the best (again check your manuals on load data).

7. Since you have a auto loader, you should start your loads at 10% under max and work your way up by 0.50 (1/2) grain at a time to max load data to see what works best in your gun. You can tell by failure to eject or by how far it throws your cases, also check each case as fired for preasure signs. It's a pain in the butt on semi-autos to do this (chasing the case) but by doing this you will get the perfect load for your rifle.

Good luck and have fun.
Jim

[Farmland]

The AR is on my list to start reloading for too. I just picked up an additional 2,000 71/2 Remington small rifle BR primers. If I'm lucky I will get a few test rounds made up today.

You might find this link interesting on reloading for the service rifle.

http://www.exteriorballistics.com/re...sgunreload.cfm

[emcon5]

Process looks fine. Powder choice is a personal preference, most people tend to find a powder they (and their guns) like, and stick with it. I have always had good luck with IMR powders for rifles, but prefer Varget for .223, simply because it isn't as temperature sensitive as some of the others out there, and it meters pretty well.

As to heavier bullets in a 1:9 twist AR, 75gr AMAXs work in my rifle, but I have seen/heard enough anecdotal reports of it not working to say it isn't a sure thing. 69 grain Sierra Matchkings should work pretty well though.

What is your goal? Are you just wanting to lower your ammo costs so you can shoot more, or are you trying to get the best accuracy possible?

If you are just wanting inexpensive blasting/plinking ammo, 55 gr is fine, especially at the prices you find for Remington and Winchester bulk bullets. Last time I looked they were about for $45/500 for either, that is pretty hard to beat.

[MrBump]

wow thanks guys for all your replies!

Jim. Yes, i made a typo, OAL is around 2.250. ooops, also, were i shoot nobody pics up there brass, last time i was there i grabbed over 150 cases on the ground that were not mine, I can only assume there on to reload aside from the obvious.
- My rifle is a Bushmaster XM15-E2S with 1-9 twist, 16" barrell

I read about get my chamber length, i'll be doing that very soon.

I had some guys tell me at a ammo shop,that 55grain was no good for 1-9, said makes it tumble.. didn't really trust all that, at 200 yrds, my spread is all over the paper but no signs of spining

[JohnLaird]

^If you use the wrong bullet with the wrong twist, then the bullet will come apart in mid flight. That's probably what they were trying to get at...I think its even in the manual.

[firewrench044]

magazine length in an AR15 is 2.260, so your 2.250 is OK

1/9 twist will shoot 50gr to 69gr with no problems, 75gr and 77gr
maybe, some rifles will some will not
62gr and 69gr would be best

I get smaller paterns with Varget, but others prefer a ball powder because
it meters easier ( or better )in their set up, I dont mind taking the time
to weigh each powder charge

most AR's do not need a small base die, so unless you are having a
probem you will be better off with a standard die or a competion die set
to be used with a single stage press

[emcon5]

The guys at the ammo shop don't know what they are talking about. 55 grains is pretty much middle of the road for .223 bullets, and 1:9 is a little toward the high end for barrel twists for .223 rifles, but should be fine.

I have shot hundreds of 52 and 55 grain bullets from my 1:9 twist Colt, and never had any tumbling. Never heard of it happening either. Yes, 1:9 is faster than necessary to stabilize a 55 gr bullet, but in real life, it isn't an issue.

In reality it isn't the weight of the bullet that is the factor, it is the shape and length, it just happens that longer bullets are heavier, so it works out.

Generally lighter bullets don't need to be spun as fast as heavier bullets, so a 45-50 grain bullet will shoot fine with a 1:12, but heavier bullets, ~75 and above need 1:8 or faster.

Also, generally speaking, you want the slowest twist that will stabilize your chosen bullet for the best accuracy.

Pretty good chart and some discussion from Dan Lilja of Lilja Rifle Barrels here:
http://www.riflebarrels.com/faq_lilj...#twist%20rates

[MrBump]

OK so I know now I have a full length resizing die. Good to see that that clearly marked it on the RCBS box.

My goal is to save money initially. I figured just by reloading myself I would gain accuracy. thanks a lot for the great info, clears it up nicely.

Like I said, I have a lot of time, don't mind taking 8 months to make a 1,000 Accurate, reliable rounds cheaper. So im right there with Mr firewrench, don't mind so much the extra steps.

Any of you fellas ever have any experience with the Barnes Bullets?

Got a place down the road here they carry the Varget, haven't seen any of the other brands around. I would like to find that ramshot tac? I hear good things about this too.

Thanks guys