Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Progressive loader for .223?

Do any of you run progressive loaders for 223? If so what and how are the loads?

Thanks

Tagged.

Dillon and ball powders are your huckleberry....


I don't own one, but have used one belonging to a shooting pard many times.

RCBS RC & single stage

all I've ever needed & I run many p/dog rounds out in a summer

All of my AR ammo is loaded on a 550 but only after it is lubed and sized on a Rock Chucker.

My loads have to be accurate enough for sage rats out to two hundred yards.

Right now I'm using a old Hornady Projector to load .223 plinking rounds. I deprime size and neck expand in one pass, clean the lube off in corn cob then load them in another pass.

I have loaded them in one pass on my 1050 but lately I'm shooting a lot of .45acp so that press stays set up that. And its a pain to change primer from large to small.

Mostly my nephews come over and pull the handle right now since they didn't listen to me and buy ammo when they could.

I like the ball powders for loading with progressives. Other than that I use whatever components I want.

What sort of loads do you want to build?

Just want some accurate AR ammo. Been loading TAC and 55 gr V Max on my single stage and it gets old fast.

I hear you, sounds like you have the basics down.

If you can afford it a Dillon 1100 or 1050 is the bomb, never used a 650 or 550.

Used 2 Hornady Projectors to make most of the ammo for years of HP competition, still have one of them. Traded one in to Hornady for a LnL. The LnL has required more tinkering than the Projectors but works ok. I don't have the case feeder for it but its laid out pretty well to hand feed the case and bullet.

At one time used LnL's were easy to find maybe not so much now.

Good luck with whatever you decide on.

I have a few 550's and couldn't recommend them enough for .223 loads with TAC.

I have a SEQUENTIAL reloader, not some Commie "progressive" reloader. It's a Dillon 650. TAC is a fine powder for that weight of bullet, too, and pours well out of the Dillon measures.

But I never FL size and load at the same time. I will lube, deprime only, FL size only, expand only, on die stations, then tumble pretty. Reset the machine, then prime/pour/seat in a second trip through. Had too many stuck cases/tearouts trying to do it all at once. The other issue is "ride." Smooth is good, and the variations in the amount of lever force needed on FL sizing affects how charges get thrown. It's not a lot, but shows up as a group-size penalty, probably 30 percent larger. But it's the stuck-case rigmarole that I hate the most. I just run the FL die "naked" with no guts inside. Then if I jam up, all I have to do is unscrew the die, get a beefy drill rod into the case mouth and whack the case out of the die. Reinstall and go again.

YES! Dillon 450, 550, 650, 750, and 1050's are MADE for 223's! (and other calibers).

As mentioned by several others, ball powders work exceptional in the "progressives".

Benchmark and H4895 are good to go as well.

Yes, I have a Dillon 550 B and have loaded 223 on it. For fired cases I found it easier to FL size and deprime on my Lee 4 hole turret. This gives you a chance to inspect the cases before loading on the Dillon. If I was loading virgin brass I do the complete sizing, priming. powder loading and bullet seating on the 550 B. It can be a pain to set up initially, but once set up and running it is amazing what you can accomplish. If you do not want to invest in a full progressive you should consider a turret press. It will perform at a significant higher level than a single stage but not as high as the progressive. To make the progressive work out you need pretty
deep pockets for components.

Sounds like the 550 is a good way to go. Im assuming the brass needs to be sized and deprimed on a single stage first, yes?

Of course not the whole idea of using a progressive is to male it quick and easy

NO.

Only time this might be advised is with crimped primers.

Dillon 550b will load ammo that you can shoot accurately way past what you read in the magazines. Once you get one you will wonder how you ever got by without it! Single stage still good for load development, but then transfer over to the Dillon. I've used one since 1989 and have no regrets.
YMMV

David

I guess I’ll have to hang my head in shame as I’m using a 20 year old Lee Loadmaster. I tossed the original powder measure and installed a Hornady case activated one instead. I’ve loaded a whole bunch of ammo with it and like it just fine. I’ve loaded on my buddies Dillon 650 and can say it’s a bit better built. I can’t justify the cost difference to make the jump since mine seems to load ammo just as well; even if it does have it’s idiosyncrasies - they all do.

Under present market conditions I would say loading fast is for guys with secret vaults of primers....

I used to reload 223 & 204 for high power competition, and prairie dog shooting on my Dillon 650XL, as stated that is your huckleberry...

It has a powder alarm on it so you don’t get squib loads, along with a low powder, and low primer alarms so you can rock and roll when loading

I've loaded thousands of 223's on my 550 with BL-C2. Pretty often I'll resize, trim, tumble and reprime and then hit the Dillon. Partly because so many 223 cases have crimped primers now.

I have a RCBS Rock Chucker, I do it the slow way.

I use my Hornady LNL AP for handgun still use Hornady single stage with RCBS charge master for dropping powder for all rifle loading. The single stage fast enough as accuracy takes priority. What slows down rifle is all the case prep and lube & un-lube case in tumbler and oh need a primer too, then bevel the case mouth speed it up on progressive press. What I'm I missing ?

The point

Another Dillon 550 user. Like some I generally resize before starting on the Dillon but there’s really no reason you couldn’t use the Dillon for everything. Ball powder works extremely well. I know Dillon has done tests with their powder measures and they are as accurate or more than all other measures. Plus to me if you are into high volume loading a .1 of a grain here and there is not going to be a problem. The Dillon puts out a nice round at the end.

When I need larger quantities of 223 I'll run them out on the Dillon. I always de-prime and wash the cases in a separate operation using a single stage press. I use a worlds cheapest trimmer to trim, then I debur and inspect. I hate depriming on the Dillona as that grit from spent primer gets into everything. If I only need 40-50 I just run them out on the single stage. Heck I've been retired for over 10 years and the last 4 I've barely fired a round because I've been so busy. Well I got stuff off my back and I don't care if there is covid or no covid come 2021.

Two 550s and a 650here. the 650 with a case feeder is the cats pjamas. Sometimes I just se it up to deprime,size and trim with power trimmer. Can knock out a thousand in a hurry . Then follow with prime,powder,bullet.

Three Dillon 550s
2230 C for 223 Prairie dog loads.

223 is the only thing I load on my Dillon 550. 24.5 grains of W748, CCI primers and a 55 grain pill of your choice. I can load about 400 rounds an hour, and keep things right. Up until last year, all I used was a Rockchucker. Should have bought a 550 years ago!

I'm selling a 550C. Should anyone be interested please PM me.

If I were buying a progressive loader today (and I might) it would be a Dillon XL 750.

More truer words never spoken.

Sent you a message.

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Hank