Im new to the ar15 and was thinking about reloading.
the lee seems like a good beginners press.
my question is, lee says to use rem or cci primers or to by the explosion shield.
what other primers/ cheaper primers are you using.
also any feedback on this press would be much appreciated.
Glacierwolf
Favorite Answer
I am a reloading instructor.
New reloaders should begin on a single stage or turret press. You need to walk before you run..... and in reloading that means learning how to make safe ammunition before making quantities of ammunition. 223/5.56mm has lots of issues - and much of scuttlebutt posted in forums by bolt gun shooters to increase accuracy - will blow up a semi-auto like the AR-15 or Mini-14. I highly recommend you find someone local to mentor you the first few years or take a class.
223/5.56mm uses small rifle primers. Any normal (not magnum) small rifle will do fine. CCI does make a milspec small rifle primer (CCI-41) with a thicker wall....... but other than that you would be hard pressed to find much difference at all between Winchester, CCI, Federal, Remington, etc. You want to begin by using the primers that are the easiest for you to buy all the time where you live. It's is not unheard of for someone to develop a wonderfully accurate load using Brand A primers...... and then they cant find Brand A so they buy Brand B primers and the load is no longer as accurate.
Bullet weight and barrel twist mean allot for the 223/5.56. Be sure you know your twist rate and buy the appropriate bullets.
Most manuals have a starting powder charge and go up to a max powder charge. If you have a bolt gun it is always smart to start at 'Start' and try to find nice accurate loads. However, if you have Mini-14 or AR or other semi-auto you want to start at the mid way point. Lower than this almost never cycles. You gets lots of jams and failure to feed.
Pay attention to your brass primer pockets. Military brass and allot of the inexpensive Winchester and Federal brass has a military crimp on the primer. This crimp will damage decapping pins. The crimp must be removed with a swaging tool..... otherwise it can hurt the new primer when squeezed past the crimp. Besides this pain in the butt crimp - military brass is also thicker than regular brass. This means you need decrease the max load by .9 to 1.0 grains. My advice - skip using military brass. Learn to load using nice commercial cases. Put that military junk aside for a rainy day. Lots of nice guns have been blown up by inexpert removal of the military crimp using drills, reamers, etc. RCBS makes a $35 press mounted swaging kit that is ok for doing a few here and there - but - to do allot you need that bench mounted swager by Dillon.
If you own a semi-auto 223/5.56mm you will need to crimp the bullet - always. Use a roll crimp on bullets with a cannulure and Factory crimp or taper crimp on bullets that do not. If you skip the crimp - good chance the bullet will get pushed into the bass during cycling and when it goes off - it blows up the gun.
And before you go droppoing $400 on new reloading equipment - check around to see if your stores have the right powder and primers in stock.
mascorro
Lee Precision Load Master 223
Anonymous
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Lee Precision Load Master 223 Remington?
Im new to the ar15 and was thinking about reloading.
the lee seems like a good beginners press.
my question is, lee says to use rem or cci primers or to by the explosion shield.
what other primers/ cheaper primers are you using.
also any feedback on this press would be much appreciated.
The Freak Show
I like my pair of turret presses. A friend has a progressive press that loads amazing amounts of ammo when it's working, but it seems like any little thing will cause problems. I don't remember what brand it is. I like to use a basic turret press. I process and prime large amounts of brass at a time. Once that step is done, I can load incredible amounts of ammo in a short amount of time. I use a lot of military brass, so I have to swage the primer pockets. Pressures aren't an issue because I don't bother to push .223 very fast, since there are better .22 centerfire cartridges designed for higher velocity anyway.
Mr.357
I like the Lee Challenger Breechlock Press kit. It allows you to prime off of the press. That last I knew, Kittery Trading Post had it for $119.95 with free shipping. Most of my reloading data calls for CCI primers.