Alright guys. Here we go. With the recent election and the threat of soaring ammunition prices, everybody needs to start learning to reload (note, reloading and hand loading are NOT the same thing). We’re looking at the possibility of ammunition tax increases of upwards of 400%. So those of you that have been waiting on the fence, you’re out of excuses. Start learning and buying NOW! Loading your own ammo is easy, cheaper, and usually of higher quality. It is a skill that may be very useful to you later in life.
There are several routes at getting started, some cost effective, some not. The quality of ammunition you wish to produce is completely dependent on the quality of your equipment, your skills, and the amount of time you want to put in it. Most of us, however, are going to be fine shooting ammo of slightly better quality than ammunition we can by over the counter. This can all be done quite easily and in a cost effective manner.
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The Equipment:
The very first step in starting to reload is learning exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. A good first step is buying the Lyman reloading manual. They don’t sell components, so they tend to have a realistic set of data and a great explanation of the processes. Here’s a link, get a hardcover cause you’ll put some wear on it:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... t=11082005Second, you much determine the amount of money you’re willing to spend to get started. I highly recommend starting with as high a quality kit you can if you don’t plan to upgrade parts as you go. The bare minimum kit that is fully functional out of the gate is the RCBS Rockchucker Supreme Kit. It can be found here:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... =000449357If you really just want to get started, and plan to upgrade, you can get a Lee Anniversary kit. That was the route I originally took several years ago, but I really didn’t use anything from the kit for long. Its rather low quality, but functional:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0000690030If you go with the RCBS, the powder measure and scale are of much better quality and very functional. Many will use the Rockchucker press their whole life, so if you can, go that way.
In addition, you’ll need a few other items. One of them a shell-holder set. Just buy the LEE, you’re not making bench rest ammunition:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0000690197If you’re worried about that costing $21 for a whole set, you can just get individual shell-holders for the cartridges you plan to load for. I’d recommend getting two of each, really.
You’re ultimately going to be shooting brass several times and it’s going to stretch beyond spec and will need trimmed. Trimming all cartridges to a uniform length with a square mouth will also enhance accuracy. For high-volume shooters (aka: AR shooters, varmint hunters, or SHTF scenarios) get the RCBS trimmer. You can add a motor to it later. Trimming is sure to be your least favorite part of loading. Fortunately, it’s not necessary with each firing. Here’s the RCBS trimmer:
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.e ... t=11082005A tumbler is a great idea, but not necessary. Instead you can use steel wool for polishing brass, but tumblers are inexpensive. Here’s one for $30:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... search=yesThere are a few other small hand tools that can aide you in making more accurate ammo such as primer pocket uniformers, flashhole deburring tools, neck turners, and so on, but you don’t need this to get started.
Selecting Components:
There are four major components to a rifle cartridge: the casing, the primer, the propellant, and the projectile. Obviously the casing is limited to, for the most part, one cartridge. The projectile, or bullet, can be used in any cartridge of the same bore. The primers and propellants can be used in a wide variety of cartridges. Because of that, you should choose propellants and primers that are versatile.
Because the standard infantry rifle for our country is the 5.56x45 NATO, it’s become quite popular in the civilian sector and so have AR15s. While the above article gives lots of good data, it really doesn't help you decide what is best for you.
When choosing components, you want to choose a very efficient list that is very versatile as well as economical. Developing a good load for the AR15 rifle is very, very easy.
Because the AR15 is America's infantry rifle, let's focus on that first.
Casings/Brass:
The first thing you need to select is simple: what brass to use?
I would rank .223 Rem. brass in this order according to quality:
Lapua
Norma
Nosler Custom
Winchester commercial
Lake City
Remington
Winchester military
Federal military
Federal commercial
While the high-end is good stuff, the average person cannot afford to stock up on it. It isn't very affordable to stock up on the lower quality brass for the most part if buying it retail. So what does one do? Buy surplus once-fired!
There are three major brands of casing that can be had on the surplus market...Lake City, Winchester, and Federal. I would list them in that order by preference.
The Lake City is the most durable and the thickest. Winchester is middle of the road. The Federal is a bit soft. All three, however, are more than adequate. Buy what is available, but do not mix your brass for different loads if you can keep from it.
Because of different thicknesses, a given load will create more or less pressure depending on the case you are using. Go to brassman.com, gibrass.com or a number of other online sellers. You should be able to get them for under $100 to your door. Bartlett Reloading has LC for $65/1000. Order all you can afford while you can get it. (NOTE: you can often pay more for processing in which they give you good brass with little to no machine gun brass and they deprime and remove the military crimp. This will cost as much as $25/1000 more. If you opt to do this yourself, you’ll need to get a crimp removing tool or use your chamfer tool with great care.)
Primers:
After selecting brass, you need to determine what primers you want to use. There are dozens of options for primers for reloading .223 Rem/5.56. Over the last few years there have been repeated shortages of primers. Often you'll have to buy your second or third choice.
The best choice for primers for 5.56 is getting the primer with the hardest cup and the hottest ignition. The reason for the hard cup is to reduce pierced primers or slam fires. The reason for a hot primer is that many of the best powders for .223 Remington require hot primers for uniform ignition. Of course, get what you can.
My personal preference is CCI 5.56 #41 military primers. These are both hard and hot enough for any powder. Another plus to this selection is the price! You can often find them for $20 or $25 a brick! My local guy sells them 5 bricks for $100.
Second choice would be commercial CCI small rifle primers...if all you can find are commercial primers get these. Even the commercial CCI primers have nice hard cups. Wolf primers will fit the bill, too. Rounding up the list, I'd go Remington small rifle or small rifle magnum, then Winchester, and finally Federal.
Projectiles:
After selecting your brass and primers, you'll need to select a projectile. The average person will want bullet weights of 55-65 gr for their M4 or AR15. As civilians we are not limited to PC bullets so you can select the best bullets you can afford. For maximum reliability and safety, you’ll want to choose a bullet with a cannalure for easy crimping to avoid jamming the bullet further into the cartridge should it get jammed into the bbl extension. I'll focus on budget and middle-quality bullets.
FMJs are probably your cheapest selection and will be easy to load for and pretty much all have the cannalure. They are often found surplus in "pulled" form. You can find them for as little as $60/1000 at times. Remember, FMJs can be really prone to ricochet so be careful if you take them to the varmint field.
Another selection will be the hollow-point varmint bullets. Olin makes bulk bullets with a cannalure that are sold by a few retailers including Midway USA and Midsouth. You can get these for $70/1000. They offer very rapid expansion. They work well for "varmints" of all kinds but will not penetrate. They may be a very poor choice for a survival scenario as they won't take down medium sized, think-skin game like whitetail deer in an ethical manner.
One can also find the bulk Olin bullets in soft-point configuration (both with and without cannalure). These are going to hold together slightly better than the HP varmint bullets and will work great on coyotes and will take down deer if necessary (though I'd recommend a larger caliber if you have one available). Prices run slightly higher than the HP version and come in 55 and 62 gr.
Moving up the ladder are ballistic tip and V-Max polymer tipped bullets. Some do have cannalures, some don’t. These are popular choice for both varmint hunters and LE agencies. You can find bullets weights from 40 gr up to 65 gr in this style. This will be more expensive than FMJs or HPs at about $15-30/100. The polymer tips provide better ballistic coefficients and often better accuracy than other bullets in their class as the polymer tip protects the tips (bent tips lead to varying BC and therefore, vertical stringing down range).
Powders:
This is a very, very vital decision to make. MAKE SURE YOU PICK THE RIGHT POWDER!
First, a little history:
When the AR15 was designed, it was designed to use IMR4075 (commercially, IMR3031). It was very accurate and very reliable. When the military got ahold of it, they ordered a change in powder, despite being against spec.
The military went with a ball powder, WC-846. This powder was both too slow and very dirty. It caused deposits in the gas tube, excessive chamber pressure (sticky cartridges, quicker bolt speeds, and broken extractors) , and poor accuracy.
Because most of us have multiple guns and multiple calibers, we want to select a powder for our AR15 which we can purchase in bulk for use in multiple firearms. Adequate powders for the AR15 that can be used in other guns are the following:
IMR4895
IMR3031 (the original powder used in AR15 development)
H-335 (current military powder)
H-4895
RL15
Benchmark
W748
RL10x
IMR4198
IMR4064
And there are a whole slew of others. So odds are you already have an adequate powder. If you're new, pick a versatile powder that will work in many cartridges you plan to load for. Your best bets are a stick type powder and mild loads for reliability reasons. Many argue powders like 3031, H4895, and Benchmark are the best AR15 powders for reliability.
You can get more velocity out of a number of ball powders, but you will run more pressure which makes things wear out quicker. With ball powders, it is necessary to use the hottest and hardest primers you can, so it doesn't hurt to use CCI small rifle magnum primers.
Personally, I'd go with H4895 as a good compromise. It can be used in cartridges like .22-250, .243, and .308 as well as the .223 Remington. It will be quite good with the hard-cup CCI military primers and is a very, very clean burning powder.
Whatever you choose, remember that your AR15 must be reliable above all else. So be sure to start with a low load and work up. Things to look for are reliability, uniform ejection patterns, carbon build-up and finally accuracy. It is a good idea to buy 1lb of the powder you select initially to see how its going to work. After you’ve determined a load is adequate, buy the big cans of powder and stock up. Be sure that your load is going to be used in a variety of guns, not just yours. So stay within specs on loading.
If you select your components properly, you can load 1,000 rounds of .223 Rem/5.56 NATO for much, much less than purchasing it. First time through, you can load 1,000 rounds with newly purchased brass for about $240. The second time through, you’ve already got your brass so costs will be whatever your brass cost less. That means you could likely load 1,000 rounds (depending on the components you’ve selected) the second time through for as little as $170!!!!!!!!!
The Process:
So you’ve done well and bought your equipment and you’ve got your brass. May as well do something with it while waiting on your other stuff to show up, right? Why not start prepping your brass now.
First thing you need to do is clean them. Whether you want to tumble, use ultrasonic, or use steel wool, get the brass clean before sticking it into your dies. Make sure you also get the neck area clean so that there is no debris between the expander ball and neck when you get around to sizing. This can cause variances in neck tension which leads to poor accuracy.
Once the brass is clean you can proceed to sizing. For small cartridges like the 5.56/.223 Rem, Hornady One Shot is a great lubricant even for full-length sizing. However, it can get expensive at $8.00+ a can. If you don't want to mess with it use the Hornady, but you can make the same thing for pennies on the dollar using one part Lanolin to 8-12 part alcohol. You'll have to experiment to find the best mix for you. More info and other do it yourself tips at
http://www.frfrogspad.com/homemade.htm.
More to come later...
....its sticky
