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Progressive reloading of rifle calibers

flyingfrog509

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Been reloading for 5+ years on a single stage. Picked up a Hornady progressive last year and have been able to reload a few pistol calibers wo/to many problems.

I want to start loading some .223 and maybe 6.5cm for some bulk ammo for AR15/AR10 platform.

QUESTION IS...What is the best way to go about making sure the case length end up OK and what about case lube on a progressive?

Normally on a single stage I check case length after full length resizing & obviously the case is already lubed before I size. Just looking for some sanity check before YouTube. :-)
 
Rifle brass requires several steps before reloading. For 223, I De cap, check the primer pocket, (esp. if crimped), resize, check with case guage for chamber fit and length, Trim the long ones, and a final tumble to remove any lube inside/outside. THEN use the progressive to prime, powder, and set the bullet. For the 6.5 I'm after a more accurate round, so powder is hand measured and loaded on a single stage press. BTY some cases will fail in the case gauge after resizing.
 
For case lube you can use some of the sprays offered by different manufacturers, Dillon's case lube has good reviews, Hornady One Shot not so much.
Or you can lube each case before you put it in station 1 (negates the use of a case feeder), Imperial Sizing Wax works best and goes a long way, put a little on your fingers and rub it on the case before sizing. I have also used Mobil1 synthetic, again a little on your fingers, rub on case then resize.

I don't trim .223 as it's rarely out of spec after FL resize and the neck case usually splits after the 3rd or 4th reload.

No experience with 6.5CM
 
Lanolin/alcohol lube, resize, wet tumble, carnauba wax, dehydrator to dry........then on to loading. For plinking ammo that works well. For long range I load on a turret and use a digital powder dispenser for each charge.
 
I tray my brass, use the commercial spary (aerosol) lube. Resize them all. Then measure. As someone stated earlier, most of them don't need trimmed but those that go over spec I throw in a seperate bucket. I then take those cases and use my lyman case trimmer that I hook my drill to. I slap a case in, hit it with the electric drill powered trimmer. I then deburr the inside/outside of the neck and toss it back in the bucket with the ready to load brass.

*Side note, I can usually tell when a primer has been crimped when I"m decapping, if so I also throw those in a seperate bucket. I use a primer pocket swager tool, Super easy and uniform. I then wet tumble them all and move them on to the reisizing portion.
 
I can't speak for reloading on a progressive, as I'm still turning a turret and dropping powder digitally.

But as far as lube. Lanolin from Amazon, Heet 4 packs from Wally World (Cheaper than singles and only during the winter, stock up for the year), Dollar tree oil drain pan and spray bottle.. 1k or so cases, swirl pan to stand cases, mist/spray visible mouths, toss them suckers around by hand rubbing lube on bodies, let alcohol evaporate off for a few min.. And size away! It will rinse off with hot soapy water, I avoid using my dry tumblers.. It kills the media way quicker. Happy & Safe Speed Loading to you!

Lube.jpg
 
For case lube you can use some of the sprays offered by different manufacturers, Dillon's case lube has good reviews, Hornady One Shot not so much.
Or you can lube each case before you put it in station 1 (negates the use of a case feeder), Imperial Sizing Wax works best and goes a long way, put a little on your fingers and rub it on the case before sizing. I have also used Mobil1 synthetic, again a little on your fingers, rub on case then resize.

I don't trim .223 as it's rarely out of spec after FL resize and the neck case usually splits after the 3rd or 4th reload.

No experience with 6.5CM

Careful on the past if you use to much it will put dents below the neck
 
for progressive press I do most of my prep before I load. I deprime the brass with a hand deprime or a universal deprimer on a single stage. then wet tumble the brass so the inside, outside and primer pockets get cleaned. lay the brass on a towel and put a fan on it for a couple of hours.

I use my own spray- 99% alcohol and liquid lanolin from amazon. Mix proportions per google (IIRC like 10% lanolin) plus it's been handy to have the alcohol around for stuff recently. :). The big thing is let to alcohol evaporate after you spray. if you start too quickly you can get stuck cases. put cases in box, spray liberally, mix around with hand or something (a rubber glove helps to not get all the lanolin on your hands).

For bulk loadings (like 1k+) I tend to do prep as I have time and then store things fully prepped and ready to roll. So I will usually resize the cases and then measure them, trim them, remove primer pocket crimp mostly with a Frankford arsenal case prep station (replaced most of the cutters with RCBS heads (carbide cutter, crimp remover, VLD chamfer, etc)). Then I store them fully prepped with notes about condition and if I haven't finished all the steps.

The when it's time to reload, I prime, drop powder, bullet and out comes a nice round. tumble briefly if I want them nice and shiny. Store for a rainy day.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I like to deprime (too dirty) & reprime (to finikey on the progressive) ahead of time anyway. So I think I'm just going to have to play around a bit to see if over all length is going to give me problems. Sounds like if I start w/223 that will be the least likely to give me hassles in that department. When I think about it, even if I only end up using the progressive for powder & pill...it is still going to be faster than a single stage. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Time to get reloading.
 
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