Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

[Broken_Reticle]

Good Morning,

I was looking to load up some plinking rounds for my wife's ar this weekend. I am going to be using some varget powder, I have the hornady reloading book 7th edtion to get my powder rates from. I am mainly looking for info on case size and oal of the loaded round. Is that as important for a plinking around as a bolt gun?

I have a fl sizer die and seater. If most of the brass was previously shot out of her gun should I need to re-size it the first time I reload it or just check the case length and trim it if needed and reload away. I am not looking for long distance accuracy atm mostly just a little Sunday afternoon shooting fun.

Thanks for any info and tips. I am just now starting to cut my teeth and don't want to over process my brass if I don't need too since I don't have an annealing setup yet.

 

[Subxero]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

always FL each time when reloading for semi gas guns

Trim as needed if you are not looking for accuracy

OAL as long as they will fit in the mag, I think mine is like 2.245?? i would have to check my note book for exact number.

I use 24.5gr 3031 compressed load with 55gr vmax for plinking and varmiting

super accurate load out of my 16" bushmaster

 

[Broken_Reticle]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

Thank you sir. That was the little bit I was looking for. I couldn't remember the always have to do for gas guns. I will set my fl die up when I get home and goto town.

 

[rkaires]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

24gr AA2520 with a 55gr fmj.

 

[Subxero]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

funny enough when it comes down to it, if you buy cheap FJM .223 ammo in bulk it is not a whole lot more expensive than reloading for it and it doesn't take up your time.

I do feel you get a better product when reloading and can gear it more towards your needs.

But for plinking sometimes it is just easier go buy a cheap box and let them fly.

this is also good cuz it helps build up your brass supply, just keep track of your different brass.

 

[MALLARD]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

if your brass is only once fired chances are it hasnt streched enough to require trimming. I'd just load it up and shoot it.

if your going to be loading for an AR , your going to have to seat your COAL to the mag length , around 2.26 , maybe 2.25 if your using mil spec mags.... the magpul mags allow for a slightly longer COAL

make sure your sized brass will chamber in your AR before you proceed. Sometimes you need a small base sizing die to get .223's to work in AR's. It depends

 

[Rookie]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

As others have said, always always resize. As far as trimming, I've loaded many thousands of rounds of 223 and never found one that was over max length so I quit measuring. Just size and load.

 

[deadnbrkn84]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

25.5 H335 55gr hornady fmj-bt. That's my bulk load. I buy the Hornady's by the thousands when I get a good price on them. MidwayUSA ran a black friday special on them. $68 for 1k. I bought 6k

 

[Facemelter]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

^^^ That is pretty much my exact same setup for my AR. I have always had good luck with H335 powder and Hornady bullets. If I was just stuffing mags with ammo,I ran a COAL of around 2.24 ish.

 

[Broken_Reticle]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

I feel everyone on it is cheaper to buy plinking than the time it takes to make it. But I am just starting out reloading and I have a ton of spent brass. So I figured just making some plinking stuff and getting the machanics down will make loading for my .308 bolt gun a bit less stressful.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have a short base for .308 so I figure I need to pick one up for .223

 

[stang_j_99]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Broken_Reticle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I feel everyone on it is cheaper to buy plinking than the time it takes to make it. But I am just starting out reloading and I have a ton of spent brass. So I figured just making some plinking stuff and getting the machanics down will make loading for my .308 bolt gun a bit less stressful.

Thanks for the encouragement. I have a short base for .308 so I figure I need to pick one up for .223</div></div>


I hate reloading for my AR.....such a pain in the ass to cut the crimps out on so many cases. I try my damnedest to keep track of the ones that have been reloaded already. Think i just need a better crimp remover.

 

[LongArm]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

it would seem if you were plinking you could load it lite, just enough to cycle the bcg???

 

[Broken_Reticle]

Re: Loading some plinking rounds for an ar15

I am going to do a full post but.... I ended up loading 3 groups of 10 rounds one at 22.7 gr Varget, 23.8 and one .1 short of max load from the Hornady book @ 24.8

They rounds were 60gr on average tracer rounds on fl sized LC brass bullet seated to max c.o.l as I was afraid of crushing the powder on the 24.8 load. All the rounds cycled fine. No signs of primer push out. One round didn't load and the bolt put a hole in the neck of the case. I didn't see it till after the round fired and ejected with no signs of pressure escape.

I was shooting at 100+ yards in a gravel back drop i don't know which load was the more "accuarte".

Thanks for the help guys as these were my first 30 rounds ever loaded.

Thanks
BR