HELP with Reloading setup for AR

jedicazador

jedicazador

New member
I know most of you reload for your AR's, I have reloaded for sometime now, but never for a semi. So I need some help here.
I already have alot of equipment for reloading, but what specific items would I need to produce high quality .223 ammo? Do I crip the rounds? If so will it be a roll crimp or taper or non at all? I'm afraid that if I dont crimp on the semi the round might be pushed into the shell prior to detonation. What Dies would you recomend? Whats your favorite loads for 16" 1-9 twist barrel?
Thanks for any help
Jedi
 
RCBS Small Base Dies and Lee Factory Crimp Die will get you started.

I prefer Win. brass and the Winchester 64gr powerpoint is excellent in the 223 for game up to the size of small deer.
 
I beg to differ here. I and my daughter have been shooting ARs in competition for close to 20 years now so are not new to ARs. Small base dies and crimping are absolute no-no's for accuracy with ARs.

If you want to use small base dies or crimp, go for it. I would like to know how long it takes you to get your master card???????

Jack
 
what does a small base die do?,and is it just fore semi-autos,,, and is the lee crimp die just for that,,just to crimp the cartridge?
Thank you
Ohio
 
fire form your brass. then neck size only. i preffer 68 gr bthp match sierras for mine. play with seating depth as every barrel is different. varget is very popular in the 223. i preffer to spend the extra money for match grade primers when it counts. good luck.
 
Well, put me in the Lee Factory crimp camp, although I
don't use small base dies, I do Full Length size my
brass. If I were competition shooting,
I would have to prove to myself that the Lee Factory Crimp
adversely effected accuracy. If it made a measurable
negative difference, I would not crimp. But for my peace
of mind, .223 Rem. ammo loaded for my ARs, is crimped,
and the accuracy is very good.

I have a .223 load, using a 55 gr. Nosler BT, driven by
Varget, less than one grain under published maximums,
primed with Remington small rifle BR primers,
seated to just fit in the magazine(2.25" OAL), that groups
sub MOA in both my M4 pre-ban, and my 20" Varminter.
The Varminter shoots some .2 and low .3 MOA groups,
and if memory serves, the average is just under .4 MOA.
I don't recommend the 55 gr. Nosler BT's for coyotes,
but for varmints, and paper, this is a very good load in
my rifles. My Tikka T-3 likes them as well. I am working
with VihtaVuori N133, for the Tikka right now, and when
I get the load dialed in, I am going to try a 2.25 OAL version
of this load, to see what the ARs think of N133 loads. But
I will be hard pressed to find a better load than the current
Varget load, in these two AR rifles.

Squeeze
 
Yes, the Lee Factory Crimp Die is just for crimping. Does a excellent job crimping. The other reloaders are right also, you can neck size only if you use the same brass in the same gun...I suggest to start with new brass also. Varget is a excellent powder.

I crimp all my Auto/lever rifles and pistols, the Lee Factory Crimp does a excellent crimp, you can adjust it to the amount of crimp you need. For my Bench a must have die.

26.5- H4895- 55 Rem PLHP WW cases BR-4 Primer

Remington Power-Lokt 55 2.260" COL- Reloder 10x 24.8 - WW cases-CCI BR-4 Primer
 
Jack could you be more specific on what you would recommend? I do understand that you do not advise the use of small base dies or crimping but why not? And what are YOUR favorite loads?
Thanks Mike
 
You will never see any higher class competitors using small base dies or crimping. A small base die is not needed and the required neck tension is adjusted by the size of the expander ball or neck bushing if using that type die. Most all competitors use full length resizing and only push the shoulder back .002". If you don't push the shoulder back a little you will eventually have instances where the bolt won't lockup, especially in the rapid fire when you get carbon in the chamber.

Jack
 
Thanks Jack I'll look into getting a Full length Die set. Maybe you could help out on this though have you ever had the bullet slide into the shell prior to detonation, from not crimping?
 
You do need the proper neck tension on the bullet. This is adjusted by the size of the expander ball. The AR works well with neck tension between 50 and 100 pounds. Use a small piece of 2X4 to push the bullet into the case against a bathroom scale and see at what weight it starts to move. It is even easier if you have a drill press or arbor press to apply the pressure.

Jack
 
I use mostly all Federal Premium 223 ammo from my dept. Still, on occassion I will reload just to use a different bullet. Most coyotes I shoot are not the size of a dime, so dime sized 5 shot groups just isn't neccessary for me. The Federal stuff delivers good enough accuracy for coyotes.

However, I used to experience bullets getting pushed back into the cases once in awhile with my reloads. I purchased a Lee Crimp die and some problems went away. Never again did I experience the bullets getting shoved back. What I did find is if the cases are not all trimmed to the same lenght you will create another set of problems using the crimp die, ie, crimp occurring in various locations on the case neck. Also if the neck are not all the same thickness you could end up with different neck tension on your loaded ammo again creating accuracy problems.

On another note, I did replace my 223 dies and have had little to no problem with bullets getting pushed back. Obviously this was due to poor neck tension with the other dies.

In John Feamsters book "BLACK MAGIC" in chapter 5 on page 174 and 176, Feamster talks about crimping. He states " NEVER CRIMP the bullets when seating them in your AR ammo. He goes on to state "any standard dies should produce adequate neck tension to resist bullet set-back during feeding and to check your rifle if you experience this problem".
 


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