Loaded my 1st 100 rounds

[Wildman1024]

So I finally completed reloading my 1st 100 rounds. I decided to reload 223 1st and went with a 55gr V-Max hornady bullet. I used 25 grains of varget and an overall length of 2.25". I trimmed all my cases to 1.750" but set my calipers to 1.755" and if the cases fit they did not get trimmed. If they didn't fit then they were trimmed. Once done and reloaded I weighed all the rounds on the scale and all were between 173-178 grains with the exception of 1 round which was 187 grains. Hopefully they all safely go bang when I try them out.

 

[96coal449]

Congrats! Your wwaaaayyy ahead of me.
Why not pull the bullet on the 187gr and re-powder? I think I remember you having the tool for it in your other thread. Can't remember the name of that plastic hammer.

 

[Wildman1024]

Congrats! Your wwaaaayyy ahead of me.
Why not pull the bullet on the 187gr and re-powder? I think I remember you having the tool for it in your other thread. Can't remember the name of that plastic hammer.

A bullet puller. I will pull it and double check.

 

[dwa12479]

That's a lot of rounds to make up for an experimental load. I usually do batches of 5 for testing purposes. When I find one that works nicely, THEN I'll go triple digits with the load count. Always start low and work up the load. Good luck!

 

[Wildman1024]

That's a lot of rounds to make up for an experimental load. I usually do batches of 5 for testing purposes. When I find one that works nicely, THEN I'll go triple digits with the load count. Always start low and work up the load. Good luck!

It's just plinking ammo. Not looking for super accuracy or anything. I left room at the top end of the charge according to the book for safety. I loaded at 25gr and max is 26.4gr.

 

[GOYABEAN]

Congrats @Wildman1024 Now let's see if they go BOOM ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[dwa12479]

It's just plinking ammo. Not looking for super accuracy or anything. I left room at the top end of the charge according to the book for safety. I loaded at 25gr and max is 26.4gr.

I've had loads before that were middle of the manufacturers specs that wouldn't cycle the action on my G19. Luckily I didn't have a shit ton of them loaded up. Just a heads up to keep you from wasting a ton of time and power and projectiles. Pulling projectiles and powder recovery operations suck.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

Awesome dude! I have shotgun re-loaders but haven't ventured into rifle or handgun. I would like to though, my rental situation doesn't really allow for me to set up a serious re-load room.

 

[ArmedCorgi]

Congrats @Wildman1024 Now let's see if they go BOOM ---------------------------------------------------------------------

You mean "BANG" not "BOOM".

 

[Wildman1024]

I've had loads before that were middle of the manufacturers specs that wouldn't cycle the action on my G19. Luckily I didn't have a shit ton of them loaded up. Just a heads up to keep you from wasting a ton of time and power and projectiles. Pulling projectiles and powder recovery operations suck.

I will keep that in mind. Thank you.

I am about to start some 9mm so I will do a few small batches to try 1st.

 

[GOYABEAN]

You mean "BANG" not "BOOM".

BANG you here after the BOOM

 

[ArmedCorgi]

BANG you here after the BOOM

BANG me where after the BOOM?

 

[Wildman1024]

I do have 1 question though. There was no cannelure on these bullets so I did not crimp them. Should they be slightly crimped anyways?

 

[Kent Goldings]

When I was first reloading, I went crazy and loaded about 300 rounds. I got lots of practice. The problem, the load didn’t shoot that great in my 308. I was stuck with the crappy loads for months until I worked through them.

Since then, I only load 15-30 rounds at a time, until I have the load perfected.

My 223 and 308 get too hot to shoot with optimum accuracy after about 30 rounds anyway. So, I’m just wasting ammo to shoot more than that. I switch rifles after one heats up.

BTW, 22 cal Sierra bullets are not expensive and I’ve had better luck with them over Hornady.

Depending on the make over your brass, empty 223 cases can vary quite a bit.

Try weight sorting your empties after they are trimmed, cleaned, and ready for priming.

I get a bit of roll-out with my 308 loads. Hornady makes a concentricity tool to correct roll-out.

Good luck and keep it up.

 

[Kent Goldings]

I do have 1 question though. There was no cannelure on these bullets so I did not crimp them. Should they be slightly crimped anyways?

I wouldn’t crimp unless your shooting from an AR. Then again, quality 223 ammo is cheap enough not to require reloading for an AR at all.

 

[kev74]

Congratulations! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the improvement in accuracy of your rounds over store bought.

For plinking ammo, I get good accuracy and proper cycling of the action when I load toward the lower end. Saving powder and less wear and tear is a bonus.

 

[Wildman1024]

Tho

When I was first reloading, I went crazy and loaded about 300 rounds. I got lots of practice. The problem, the load didn’t shoot that great in my 308. I was stuck with the crappy loads for months until I worked through them.

Since then, I only load 15-30 rounds at a time, until I have the load perfected.

My 223 and 308 get too hot to shoot with optimum accuracy after about 30 rounds anyway. So, I’m just wasting ammo to shoot more than that. I switch rifles after one heats up.

BTW, 22 cal Sierra bullets are not expensive and I’ve had better luck with them over Hornady.

Depending on the make over your brass, empty 223 cases can vary quite a bit.

Try weight sorting your empties after they are trimmed, cleaned, and ready for priming.

I get a bit of roll-out with my 308 loads. Hornady makes a concentricity tool to correct roll-out.

Good luck and keep it up.

I actually used mixed brass on those reloads. Mostly just plinking and seeing what works at this moment.

I did sort all my 223 into 2 buckets. One bucket is anything marked 223. The other bucket is all LC/FC with cross mill spec and 556 marked brass.

 

[Robin]

I crimp all of my reloads, cannelure or not. On the ones without I want them all the same and a light crimp on all of them is the only way to make sure if it.
Robin

 

[Wildman1024]

I wouldn’t crimp unless your shooting from an AR. Then again, quality 223 ammo is cheap enough not to require reloading for an AR at all.

I will be shooting from an AR and SCR. So even though my bullets have no cannelure, I can still crimp them?

 

[kev74]

I will be shooting from an AR and SCR. So even though my bullets have no cannelure, I can still crimp them?

Yup.

 

[Wildman1024]

Yup.

Cool thanks. I'll go back through and give them a crimp then.

 

[Robin]

I wouldn’t crimp unless your shooting from an AR. Then again, quality 223 ammo is cheap enough not to require reloading for an AR at all.

I crimp non cannelure bullets that are going to be shot out of bolt action guns too. Recoil can be enough to make the bullet skip ahead in the casing, I have seen it. There are several reasons why that is not a good thing.
Robin

 

[MilesTeg]

Be careful crimping. You want a very light one just to be sure it doesn't set back. If you over crimp you can spike the pressure (very unlikely), but it's almost guaranteed to degrade your accuracy.

 

[dwa12479]

As has already been said above, give them a light crimp for sure if running them through one of those scary death machines that are only good for killing lots of people in a short amount of time. Bullet setback can cause bad things man, bad things.

 

[Wildman1024]

So...I just pulled that one round apart that was in question and measured it. I was 1 grain short on the powder charge. I was very careful with my measuring so so some might be trapped in the bullet puller or lost between the puller and scale. Anyways I measured the case and it was 108 grains. I grabbed a handful of cases from my stash and measured them all. They were all between 97 and 99 grains. Looks like my extra 10 is grains is in the weight of the case and I didn't mess up. I feel better now. I put it back together but will not use that case again.

I also went back through and gave a light crimp on them all. Now to test fire them.

 

[dwa12479]

It's fairly common for case weights to vary. Weighing finished rounds is usually pretty useless

 

[Wildman1024]

It's fairly common for case weights to vary. Weighing finished rounds is usually pretty useless

I just wanted to weigh them because I thought it would be a good indication of maybe an over or under charge. I would think they all would be within a few grains of each other, which 99 of the 100 were. Just trying to be cautious and not have any mishaps.

 

[kev74]

Shooting my first reloaded rifle round and not having it blow up in my face has to be in the top 3 best experiences I've had.

 

[Wildman1024]

Shooting my first reloaded rifle round and not having it blow up in my face has to be in the top 3 best experiences I've had.

Lmao. I've had that thought on my mind the entire time.

 

[thegatman]

Crimp it even though you have no groove. It’s groovy baby.