BlackHills Blue Box 55 grain Remanufactured . 223

tzoid said:

So how long does it take to load 1000 rounds of .223 ?How much for the equipment?

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For me, about 3 hours if you include set-up, disassembly, and clean-up. Possibly a snack in there as well. But this is a SLOW pace, someone in a hurry could do it much faster.

Equipment cost is varaible - I run slightly more expensive dies that most folks, because my dies will do precision rounds if I ask them to. Expect something in the area of 400 federal reserve notes or such.

My set-up is a Hornady L&L (not the old projector, that one's gone - and not the older model that doesn't take the case feeder, that's what I'm using now) with a Redding S-FL die in #1 (the decapping rod and expander are removed), a Lyman M die in #2, powder thrower in #3, Redding BR seating die in #4 and a Redding taper crimp die (typically NOT used to crimp! - for debelling purposes only!) in #5.

The only down-side to this is that I do my brass prep separately. They all go into the tumbler fresh from the ground. Then through a universal decapping die, and are recapped on a RCBS bench-mounted priming press - the one that uses 100 primer sticks - forgot what it's named. After they're primed, they go in a bucket for the wait...... then straight into the Hornady progressive.

Likewise, if you wanted to go with the electric case feeder, you're going to speed up the operation significantly. The next Hornady progressive I buy will have that - I've got two Hornady progressives now (one for shotgun, one for metallic).

The reason I don't go with Dillon instead? You noticed my powdering station is #3. Can't do that on a Dillon. Dillon makes great equipment, no question. Just doesn't jive with what I do.

I'm sitting here trying to remember what I paid for my stuff. I do use Dillon equipment. I think I've got about $500 odd in the basics...not including the extra press. However, I bought my 550 when they were still less than $300, so it's been awhile. I've always meant to get a second 550 (I run a Square Deal for large pistol), but never have gotten around to it.

Unlike some people, I don't particularly enjoy reloading as a process. I do like the results, however, so I do it as a necessary evil. This means I tend to break the process up quite a bit to avoid spending any more time than necessary in the reloading room. Everything rifle gets tumbled every time it's shot. Pistol I'll often let go, especially with 9mm since that means HKs have been chewing on the cases and I don't much care what they look like. P7s have a high brass attrition rate since they eject like a Saturn 5 rocket, so case inspection isn't a high priority with them. I use a lot of mil brass, so swaging primer pockets is a must. This sucks. Really. I use a Dillon swage. Again, I"ve always meant to get a second one so I don't have to constantly switch between large and small setups (it's a slow process), but have never really gotten around to parting with green. All this is done when I think I'll be reloading a lot of ammo soon.

Case trimming is another necessary evil that is a damned nuisance to do. I find myself mostly doing this with revolver cases, but you will need to if squeezing a lot of reloads out of rifle brass. It's a good idea on pistol brass, too, for headspace reasons, but I still tend to skip it with 9mm and .45 since case attrition is high, especially with 9mm. Here I use a Lyman unit. Powered units be nice. This is also something I tend to do in job lots and not during the actual reloading process.

When it's time to actually put powder in the brass, things go a lot more quickly. I tend to mostly reload .223, 9mm, and .45. I don't do .308 much anymore. Actually, little enough now I"m thinking of picking up a Co-Ax press just for precision .308 loading. Regardless, 1k rounds probably only takes a couple of hours and that's with a fair amount of screwing around. I'm easily distracted, heh. I also have a number of oddball calibers I reload for, but these I tend to do in small lots when I'm in the mood to actually shoot an individual gun. I don't tend to keep stocks of loaded .357, .41, .40, or Super .38 on hand. I'll probably be adding 6.5 Grendel to the mix soon, so maybe I will get that new 550B after all...

Aussie,

This is the stuff I have ordered so far. According to the Midway email, everything but the Hornady .223 dies, and I think one other small item has already shipped. I'm looking forward to unpacking it in a couple weeks.

Press - Redding model T-7 Turret press
Hand priming tool - RCBS Universal hand priming tool
Digital scale - RCBS Rangemaster 750 Electronic powder scale
Digital caliper - Frankford Arsenal Electronic Caliper 6" stainless steel
Dies -
Sizer and seater .223 - Hornady custom grade new dimension 2-die set
Hornady sizer and seater .308 - Hornady custom grade new dimension 2-die set
Lee factory crimp die .223
Lee factory crimp die .308
Case trimmer - Forster Original case trimmer kit
Chamfer tool - Forster chamfer and deburring tool
Case tumbler - Frankford Arsenal Case Tumbler Master kit w/media separator
Bullet puller - Hornady cam-lock bullet puller
collets for the puller - Hornady #2 (.224) and #7 (.308)
Die locking rings - Hornady Sure-loc Die Locking Rings
Locking ring wrench - Hornady die locking ring wrench
Case lube - Hornady One shot case lube
Shell holders - Redding #1 (.308) and Redding #10 (.223)
Powder trickler - RCBS powder trickler
Reloading trays - Frankford Arsenal #5 (.308), Frankford Arsenal #2 (.223)
Powder funnel - Lee Powder funnel .22 to .45
Manuals - ABC's of reloading
- Lyman 48th edition
- Loadbooks USA .223 Remington
- Loadbooks USA .308 Winchester

Thanks... from what I understand, all that stuff and more is absolutely required though.

For my next order, I've got on the wish list so far:

-tumbler media
-Imperial sizing wax (since I hear the One-shot really doesn't work that well, and the imperial wax seems to get universal rave reviews)
-Some sort of primer pocket swager. I hear the Dillon is the way to go, but I don't see it on Midway's site. I guess I'll have to look for an alternate source.

I hear I may also need a primer pocket cleaner.

I would like a chrono too.

I still need a bench.

And I'm sure the list goes on.