Is my 223 setup sound?

[gregshin]

I will load and prep my 223 in 2 stages. I own a dillon 550.

The first stage -
1.) Decap with universal decapper
2.) Clean and tumble with stainless pins.
3.) Trim with Gracey with upgraded Bob Jones blade.
4.) Ream primer pocket with my dillon 600 if needed.

The second stage - On my Dillon 550
1.) Lube with the RCBS lube die on station 1.
2.) Resize and prime on station 2.
3.) Powder drop on station 3.
4.) Bullet seat on station 4.
5.) No crimp and wipe off excess lube? or do i need to tumble again?

Please let me know if the setup is sound? I have loaded pistol but never rifle and i'm about to start!

 

[ksthomas]

Re: Is my 223 setup sound?

Gregshin,

Well, for starters, the RL550 is intended to load from start to finish in just those four stations. That said, yeah, I do something very similar to what you're trying here; a two-step process that incorporates a stop-over between processes to allow for trimming cleaning, etc., which you can't do if you use the press as Dillon intended. Here's what I do:

First, I start with polished (cleaned) brass that has been lubed with Dillon spray lube.
Station 1, Neck Size and deprime. NO priming at this point.
Station 2, a Full Length Body die
Station 3, a Small Base body die, just for the added insurance. I should note that this only applies to ammo I'm loading for use in an autoloader (Service Rifle)
Station 4, a Redding Instant Indicator, to verify that the headspace dimensions are remaining right where I want them to.

With that done, I tumble to remove lube and give it the final polish. Trimming, if needed, is done on a Giraud trimmer, and the cases get a final inspection before loading. On to the second phase.

Station 1, a decapping die, just to ensure that the flash holes are clear of media, and then reprimed using the standard Dillon system.
Station 2, cases are charged using a Redding BR-30 measure, munted on Dillon's RL450 adapter.
Station 3, bullets are seated using a BR competition die, either Redding or Forster, both are excellent.
Station 4, a very slight "touch" (and damned little more than that) of taper crimp, just to ensure the necks have no burrs on them.

Once off the press, I'll now do a final exam of the loaded rounds, looking for high primers or other issues that might have been missed on the press. Just the way I do it, but there's plenty of others that I'm sure would work just as well. In doing it this way, though, I don't have loaded ammo that has to be de-lubed, and it gives me several points to do QC checks along the way. It's worked for me, and I'm used to doing things this way.

 

[2ndPanzer]

Re: Is my 223 setup sound?

Might want to trim after the size.

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: Is my 223 setup sound?

I see no reason to use a universal deprimer. I tumble for about an hour in corn cob. Then full length size and deprime. Next is trim and if I have to decrimp primer pockets. I use an ultra sonic cleaner to remove lube. From there I have preped brass. I load on a T-7 but you would have no problems with brass prepared as I do on your 550 and skipping the sizing step. I know quite a few match shooters who load their 200 and 300 yard ammo on progressive presses.

Why do you trim before you size?