223 Once Fired Brass Question

TheBig1

New member
I have several thousand 223 cases that I got at an indoor range for reloading. It never occurred to me to check case length because they were only once fired brass. I happened to check them for some reason the other day prior to adding powder and bullet.

It seems that they're all different sizes and also over the max length. I know that I'm showing my inexperience here but is that normal? I didn't think to check because I didn't think that they'd expand that far already.

Chad
 
Perfectly normal. Usually on once fired you are completely safe. For plinking or general work you are OK. I usually trim all of them after the second firing. The biggest issue with mixed brass is consistency in case capacity can make a difference in accuracy and pressures. Not loading to MAX gives you a cushion.

Trimming is no fun and you can go from $6.00 t $500.00 to get it done. Data for trim length is in the Lyman book.

BTW based on your questions what reloading manuals are you using/reading?

Greg
 
Greg, I have both the Lyman 49 and 50th Editions, Sierra, Hornady, and Speer.

That's good then, I can shoot the untrimmed out of my AR for now and then trim for my daughters bolt rifle.
 
give a look at the Lee quick trim/power trim system.

its a press based system for trimming brass that you connect to a hand drill.

keep the RPM around 1500 or so (ie dont use a really high speed drill/driver/tool) and you can get a nice consistent trim out of it for a relatively value based system. plus this system also chamfers and deburrs for you in the same step.

i'm running about 500-600 cases an hour like this on 223, 204, 300 blk and other similar sized cases. its bout 4 seconds of spin time with the drill i'm using to turn the cutter for a complete trim/chamfer/deburr.

on larger cases with thicker brass (308) i only can run about 400 cases an hour due to requiring more spin time to get trim/chamfer/deburr completed. still easier than doing them by hand!

hth
 
Plant, or anyone for that matter, as it pertains to trimmers. I picked up a Lyman Ezee Trim which uses my drill. I noticed that when I put the brass on the collet (I think that's what you call it) for the 223, even after being sized, that it's still very tight in the neck and you really have to work it to get it to go in and get it out.

Is everything ok with that, is that the way it's supposed to be?
 
resizing, as it applies to the neck area of the brass, squeezes it down from its fired size. thats intentional - its how we get neck tension (grip) that keeps the seated bullet in the case at a consistent length and helps us achieve good consistent ignition. you dont want your bullets moving during chambering or while the gun is recoiling. this can do all kinds of bad things, including the possibility of over pressuring your newly loaded ammo if the bullet get set back too far into the case.




as to how tight the guide/pilot is (the stem part that goes into the case with the lyman system) by necessity should be relatively snug. thats how you get a nice true square trim. the sloppier it is, the more likely you are to have a trim thats not consistent, or even has burs/jagged parts because the cutter face will be flopping around. especially when spun at drill speeds vs doing it by hand.

if you want, try spraying some case lube on the pilot and see if that helps. however you should be making sure that when you're spraying your case lube onto the brass before sizing that you're getting it inside the necks too. lubing the inside of the neck is as important as lubing the body so that the sizing button on your die moves in/out easily and doenst over stretch the necks or damage the shoulder during resizing.

thats one of the reasons i like the plastic shoebox for applying One Shot (or spray lubing in general)... the cases tend to stand up and you get lube down inside the neck as well as on the outside by spraying from a slight angle.

hth
 
Plant, when I spray my brass I always stand it up in my reloading blocks, hold the can several inches back and above the cases to that it not only gets on the sides but inside of the case neck also. Then I turn the block to the other side and do the same thing.

As for lubing the pilot, I tried that and it seemed to work. I put a little Imperial Wax on the part that sits in the neck and it did well.
 
I tried several (much more expensive) case trimmers when I was shooting LOTS of ammo in HP competition but finally settled on the Lee Case trimmer for use w/power screw driver/or drill.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1012835597/lee-case-trimmer-cutter-and-lock-stud

I found it easier (for me) to trim after each firing than to measure every case, sort & trim as needed.

I use this "Mickey Mouse" setup to speed things up by completing the trim, chamfer (inside/out) and remove case lube, all in one step.

35344204834_8602bd30bc_z.jpg

On the left is a primer pocket cleaner using a sewing machine motor w/collet to hold short piece of stainless steel boat steering cable. The cutter and chamfering tool, mounted in oak handle so that trim/chamfer can be accomplished in one smooth operation shown on the right.

36048395731_29fbbc10f6_z.jpg


Don't look like much but works for me.
smile.gif


First step is to size/decap all the pre-lubed cases.

Next, sized case is inserted in lock stud, trimmed, chamfered and case lube wiped off (without shutting down drill) with an old sock slipped over the ball handle of one of the Dillons all in one operation.

Regards,
hm
 
Glad you told me it's a sewing machine motor. I was trying to figure out how to knock a hole in the wall between the garage and my reloading room so I didn't have to take the trolling motor off the boat. But that would be a great purpose for the boat the other 6 months of the year in Minnesota.
 
Here ya go Chad! Like you I find quite a bit of .223 or 5.56mm range brass at the club I belong to.
I check every "sized case" for length just by setting my caliper at the desired length and then using it as a go or no go gage. I just got done prepping a bunch of LC 5.56 cases that were almost all over the max. trim length and needed to be trimmed.
BTW, since you're new to reloading! After trimming you need to chamfer the outside and the inside of the case neck, especially the outside to cut off any burr that trimming may create, the inside is for ease of starting the bullet. The tool I use looks like a little rocket and is shown in the pictures above. If you aren't chamfering the outside of the neck after trimming, that could make it hard to chamber the round also.
 
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