Reloading .233 vs 5.56

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BigV
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Reloading .233 vs 5.56

Post by BigV »

I am sorting through a bunch of .223 casings that I recently picked up and found what I believe to be 5.56 casings mixed in. Will I be able to reload the 5.56 casings after cleaning, resizing and then trimming or is there something different about reloading the 5.56? I have heard that some (or maybe all) 5.56 casings have the primers “crimped”. If that’s the case, can I still use them?
Do any .223 casings have crimped primers?
Thanks!
BigV
willbird
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Post by willbird »

Black Hills ammo sells ammo that uses reloaded military ball brass. So if it is once fired black hills it will already have the primer pocket crimp removed.

The black hills 223 ammo in blue boxes is reloaded military brass.

Bill
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Tither
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Post by Tither »

I have been loading the 5.56 brass for sometime now. I have 2000 of them. They are longer in the neck and the cases are thicker, is about the difference I have found.

I have a primer pocket swaging tool I got from CH, $ 29.75, but found that I did not have to use it. I punched out the primers and the crimps came out with the primers.

Load them light and work up is the advised method, but in my gun, I found out I can load the full charge from the Hogdon manual.
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BigV
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Location: Akron, OH

Post by BigV »

Thanks all who replied. I tried to de-prime and resize some 5.56 today and I had to lower my de-primer about 1/8” lower to get the primers out. I also had to really press hard to get them out. I have not trimmed or tried to prime any yet.
The good news is that the .223 I have reloaded so far (about 200 of them) have cycled through my AR without any problems.
BigV
Tither
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Post by Tither »

BigV wrote:The good news is that the .223 I have reloaded so far (about 200 of them) have cycled through my AR without any problems.
Yeah, many AR's will run 5.56 interchangeably with the 223. They have longer chambers and are commonly marked 5.56 and 223. If you are using the 5.56 in a gun chambered for just 223 then it becomes an issue and one needs to tread slowly.

The longer neck brass can often get crammed into the bore creating higher pressures, and one can easily see the problem. :lol:
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willbird
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Post by willbird »

Your really gonna have fun when you find a BERDAN 5.56 case, they do exist, they do slaughter your decapping pin.

Bill
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