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Question: How difficult is it to reload military brass?

I was hoping to purchase a 1,000 rounds or so of 5.56, but want to be able to reload it. Looking at getting something like Lake City M855 or XM193F 5.56mm 55 Grain FMJ.

Thanks!

No problem. One extra step - removing the crimp - everything else is the same. Military brass is said to sometimes be thicker than commercial, meaning slightly lower volume, meaning start with a slightly reduced powder charge to avoid excess pressure, but I've read that this is not necessarily the case with 5.56 / .223 brass.

Deprime as usual - you might notice it takes a little more effort to push the primer past the crimp.

You can buy a tool to swage the primer pocket (RCBS makes one), or you can cut the crimp away with your deburring tool.

Two or three revolutions with the debrring tool to cut away the crimp and chamfer the pocket a little and you are done. Some people like to use a countersink in an electric drill, but don't take too much material.

You only need to do it once to each case, since you are not going to re-crimp the primers.

Other people will be here shortly to post their experiences, and correct any misinformation I might have given you.

What BobCat said

Bob Cat's correct. The deburring tool is your least expensive option. The primer pocket swager is next and, finally, Dillon sells a nifty little machine for just under a hundred dollars.

Thanks! That is kinda what I thought but I wanted to hear from the experts!

One other question, is there any problem using a .223 die on 5.56 ammo?

Thanks again!

No problem - I'm not even sure you can buy dies marked 5.56 mm, I think they all say .223 Rem.

Do you have a trimmer? Forster, RCBS, Lee, and others make trimmers; ideally you want to trim the sized cases to 1.750" (do not believe numbers from the net, look it up in your manual). I think the main difference in .223 and 5.56 is in the throat. Cases at the trim-to length will be least likely to be tight in the throat and inhibit the bullet leaving (leading to high pressure). The history and so forth of the .223 and 5.56 are at http://ammo.ar15.com/ammo/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

Have fun!

Great thanks! Yes I have a trimmer and a reamer.....so i will use what I have!

BobCat wrote:No problem - I'm not even sure you can buy dies marked 5.56 mm, I think they all say .223 Rem.

Do you have a trimmer? Forster, RCBS, Lee, and others make trimmers; ideally you want to trim the sized cases to 1.750" (do not believe numbers from the net, look it up in your manual). I think the main difference in .223 and 5.56 is in the throat. Cases at the trim-to length will be least likely to be tight in the throat and inhibit the bullet leaving (leading to high pressure). The history and so forth of the .223 and 5.56 are at http://ammo.ar15.com/ammo/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; .

Have fun!

Right. I had this question as well, and found that I could not find dies in 5.56. Everything available is .223. I've found that brass from 5.56 in my limited sample of range pickups tend to be longer than trim length for .223 spec. Since my book says to trim it, I will when I get around to that brass.