223 case prep

[xdmikey]

can some of you all walk me through your prep steps? I'm kind of in the middle of a pile of brass, thinking I'm on the down side then I find another large flat rate box of once fired and I'm getting dizzy with it.

I start with: deprime with universal depriving die, two cycles in a pin tumbler, rinse completely and dry, ream primer pockets, size and trim, and tumble off the lube.

Am I overthinking my cases? Anyone got a shorter plan?

Thanks.

 

[grasshopperglock]

You're on track. You didn't cut corners on case prep. It's laborious no matter how you look at it.

The only option that's not on your list is deburring the primer flash hole.

 

[Younggun]

I don’t know why you would need to cycles in a wet tumbler. I run suppressed and my nasty brass comes out looking new after 90 minutes in the tumbler with a dishwasher soap pack. Could probably shorten the time.

Also, I use One Shot and don’t tumble to remove the lube.

I deprime, clean, dry, size, remove primer crimps, trim if needed, chamfer/debur If trimmed, load, shoot.


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[Younggun]

You on track. You didn't cut corners on case prep.

The only option that's not on your list is deburring the primer flash hole.

Pfff, there are way more options than that. But it doesn’t look like he’s going for match grade.


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[Vaquero]

I've never used a decapping die.
Always used the sizing die decapping pin.

 

[Younggun]

I've never used a decapping die.
Always used the sizing die decapping pin.

I like it for wet tumbling because it gets the primer pockets clean.

With dry media it just gets media stuck in the flash hole that has to be cleaned out. Just use a decamping die so I don’t crud up or scratch up my sizing die.


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[ROGER4314]

223/5.56 is harder to prepare than most. I use the RCBS case prep machine to deburr the case mouth (inside diameter and outside diameter).

Using a good case lube prevents stuck cases in the sizing die but if you're going to get a stuck case, 223/5.56 is the case that will stick! Pulling the rim off of the case is common.

You can gather parts like the RCBS stuck case remover kit or buy the kit. It makes short work of removing a stuck case for less than $20.

Deburring the case mouth ID is pretty important. When you seat the bullet, it's very easy to collapse the case at the shoulder, otherwise.

I load on Dillon RL550 presses and Dillon recommends that chunky powders like IMR4895 be avoided due to bridging in the case neck. One round is lightly charged and the next round gets extra. IMR 4895 works great in 223/5.56, But we switched to 748 to prevent bridging.

Good luck and have fun!

Flash

 

[xdmikey]

I only pin tumble once; second run is dry tumbler.

And I buy once fired brass which is really dirty and has crimped in primers.

 

[Vaquero]

I only pin tumble once; second run is dry tumbler.

And I buy once fired brass which is really dirty and has crimped in primers.

I haven't had any trouble with once fired.
A few hours in the cleaner before I start sizing.
A short run in the cleaner after to get the one shot lube off then the trimming, deburring and pocket reaming or swaging.

 

[xdmikey]

What can I say, I like blingy brass. It makes it easier to find!

There was a guy I met at Baileys in west Pearland that plated his brass(he owned a shop). I could see that when you have 5-8 shooters all popping 40 cal brass(1999, not a lot of it around like now).
The bling makes it easier to find for me.

 

[ScS]

The only time saver I have found is in the trimmer. A trimmer that registers off the shoulder such as trim it ll, little crow or many others relieve a lot of the pain. Once set you don't have to measure each piece of brass. I run them through after each firing instead of measuring, if it is too long it will trim it off, if not it won't. The shoulder is the true measurement anyway

 

[Gummi Bear]

You’re definitely on the right track!


I have a procedure.

Deprime
SS media tumble
Swage crimp
Square primer pocket
Debur flash hole
Lube
Size
SS media tumble
Trim
Debur neck (inner & outer)

Anneal every two firings

I throw these tags in the containers with batches of brass, so I can keep track of their progress. It appears this is an older tag, I’ve since added Annealing as a regular step in the process.

I tend to do batches of 500-1000 pieces at a time in each high volume caliber. Bolt gun stuff will be in batches of 1-200.

I tend to store small batches in plastic mixed nut containers. Larger batch stuff in 5 gallon buckets.

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately...

Henry David Thoreau

 

[xdmikey]

I start with the wet tumbling because I buy once fir d brass with crimped in primers(sure way to tell once fired)and they're usually pretty messed up and I don't want to run them through my good dies.

 

[deemus]

my process:

lube em up
resize / deprime
ream primer pockets to remove crimp
check case mouth / de-bur
tumble

I like my brass shiny too. So its the last thing I do prior to loading.

 

[rp-]

What can I say, I like blingy brass. It makes it easier to find!

There was a guy I met at Baileys in west Pearland that plated his brass(he owned a shop). I could see that when you have 5-8 shooters all popping 40 cal brass(1999, not a lot of it around like now).
The bling makes it easier to find for me.

I tried plating. It's a lot of work and on a small (garage) scale and a small (pool guy) budget, it's very finicky. I have access to things like pH monitors and chemicals so I was able to make my own nickel salts which cuts cost down but increase work. Ultimately, it just wasn't worth the trouble.

As for my prep, I do mine like this

Tumble
Full length size and deprime
Tumble again
Ream
Trim
Chamfer
Deburr

I have a bunch of little 1 gallon plastic buckets which hold 450 easily. I start on a bucket and ream them and drop into a new bucket. The. The first is empty, open a new bucket and start filling the newly empty one. Them same process to trim. Then chamfer. Then deburr. This way I know I'm not missing any steps along the way. I'm currently building myself a prep station to handle some of this for me though. I'll post pics when done.

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[Lonesome Dove]

I always size brass before tumbling.

 

[TexMex247]

My process is similar to everyone else's and I completely agree that the 223 forces you to put in the work. I still don't have a case prep station or multi headed tool setup but I did by a lee quick trim last year and it saves a little time.

Since I load for 10+ different cals, I have finally conceded that some brass I will put in the time to make "match quality" and sort and perform every operation. My hunting/precision rifles get the match treatment.

Other brass like 9mm will get headstamp sorted only and almost never trimmed or checked for length. In the straight walled pistol cartridges, it doesn't seem to make much difference in accuracy. Also since I shoot 9mm in high volume I just can't bring myself to put in all the effort for a round I'm going to shoot within 20 yards.

 

[Charlie]

Why is it important to have shiny brass? Clean brass, yes, but shiny adds absolutely nothing to the issue but "beauty". I clean my with an ultrasonic cleaner that does it in a few minutes, (primer pockets, inside, outside, etc.)

 

[Younggun]

A better finish does a better job of resisting corrosion.


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[Charlie]

So you think you're going to use cases (stored inside, etc.) that will corrode before they can't be reused? I've got nothing against having shiny cases but it does not prolong the life of them (well, maybe if you left them in the gutter somewhere).