What is everyone using? Looking at the outragous ammo prices, I'm looking for a price/accuracy balance. I shoot Wolf for plinking and practice and looking for a reasonable brand for accuracy that won't break the bank.
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.223 Ammo for DCM/CMP ?
- Thread starter BillO
- Start date
Dirtypacman
NES Door Greeter
I was going to suggest getting into reloading as well... just ordered my .223 conversion kit and die set for the dillon. I can't see myself buying commercial at the cost right now.
The best deal I have gotten anywhere in the recent few years is through Qmmo at the last pumpkin shoot.
The best deal I have gotten anywhere in the recent few years is through Qmmo at the last pumpkin shoot.
Lucky me. I have a Dillon RL550B, and have been reloading pistol ammo for a number of years. Rifle ammo is another story. My only try at it wasn't pretty.
So, I guess at this point, I need advice on brass, bullet weights, & type.
I'll give it a go.
So, I guess at this point, I need advice on brass, bullet weights, & type.
I'll give it a go.
The Dillon will make great ammo for you.
Brass: Lake City, Winchester, and Remington are probably the best for the $. Stay away from Federal brass.
Bullets: They may not be as sexy as custom bullets, but Sierra bullets simply work well. 77's for the short lines and 80's for 600.
Powder: Reloader 15. There are many that work, but I never hear complaints about RE15.
Primers: Everybody complains about WSR's, but that's all I've ever used and I've never had a problem with them. Most opt for Rem 7-1/2 (?).
Buy in bulk
Brass: Lake City, Winchester, and Remington are probably the best for the $. Stay away from Federal brass.
Bullets: They may not be as sexy as custom bullets, but Sierra bullets simply work well. 77's for the short lines and 80's for 600.
Powder: Reloader 15. There are many that work, but I never hear complaints about RE15.
Primers: Everybody complains about WSR's, but that's all I've ever used and I've never had a problem with them. Most opt for Rem 7-1/2 (?).
Buy in bulk
I'll also add: don't get too fancy with the loading procedure. Don't sort cases by weight, necks, etc.. Don't sort bullets. Dump all powder. No need to weigh charges. Some may find the extra accuracy gain, if any, worth it, but I'm not going to see an 1/8" when firing. It's a big target. Find a decent load that will shoot under an inch and start cranking on the 550.
Rockrivr1
NES Member
What about the whole trimming of the rifle brass? Is having to do this as prevelant in 223 as it is in 308? Like BillO, I've been reloading pistol ammo only and have never tried rifle as of yet. From some past posts on reloading rifle rounds, it seem like a really big hassle?
It depends but in some combinations of chamber & brass it can be a safety issue. If you go to AR-15Barrels.com they have the dimensions of popular chambers. I just measured a piece of once fired and resized brass that is .008 longer than the PTG Remington Match chamber. That particular chamber is not used in my rifles but it does make me think twice about the length of the brass when I reload it.
I remember a number of years ago that a guy at a club I belonged to had an AR let go on him. There was a lot of talk about how the rifle was junk, but in reality they just never trimmed their brass. I asked them specifically about that and they said that they never trim any of their brass. They had a piece of brass that had been loaded a number of times and the neck length grew and when they dropped it in the chamber and let the bolt release fly, it jammed the case mouth down around the bullet and didn't want to let it go when the pressure started to spike. The upper was a loss and the lower needed to be squeezed in a vice so it would hold a magazine.
I guess the lesson is to know the dimensions of your chamber and reload/trim accordingly.
B
You'll start doing that when you start hitting the 490's, well the team captain will start making you do it.
![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
![[smile]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/001.gif "Smile [smile]")
You'll start doing that when you start hitting the 490's, well the team captain will start making you do it.
490's...........right...........I'm still trying to get through a season without a crossfire.
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
keep a little record book of your best scores in all the positions & yard lines and faithfully update it every time you improve. I'd tell you to do it before you clean your gun, but I know you only do that once a year. 
If you add up all your best scores I'll bet you make 490 or are very close. Once you see how close you are, you just have to keep telling yourself that you have already shot the scores needed to break that threshold. I've found that shooting to that level is easier than convincing yourself that you can actually do it. The tough part is that most people have to convince themselves they can do it before they ever will.
B
If you add up all your best scores I'll bet you make 490 or are very close. Once you see how close you are, you just have to keep telling yourself that you have already shot the scores needed to break that threshold. I've found that shooting to that level is easier than convincing yourself that you can actually do it. The tough part is that most people have to convince themselves they can do it before they ever will.
B
J
Jose
Agree with B. I have used that technique to motivate myself. Now that I shoot mostly prone, cleans are the only goal. In smallbore prone, clean with 95% or better Xs is the goal. And since I have on occasion achieved cleans in both disciplines, I know I can do it every time. That's a big hurdle to get over.
The stuff is straight out of Basham's Shooting for Gold. I'm still working on a couple of clinics. I'll see if I can get them off the ground this year.
Have you got your EIC matches picked out? The first one at Nashua would be a great one because there will be all kinds of people that took the clinic that are sticking around for the EIC match. It might be a little crazy though with all the Noobs.
B
Have you got your EIC matches picked out? The first one at Nashua would be a great one because there will be all kinds of people that took the clinic that are sticking around for the EIC match. It might be a little crazy though with all the Noobs.
B
J
Jose
Now THAT'S a good way to get some leg meat!
I agree. I thought that was a novel way to get more people to shoot the Leg match. With CMP allowing EIC matches like crazy there has been a steady decline in the number of shooters participating. The other idea that has been tossed about is to have a EIC Pistol match the same day.
B
Making progress. Going to order the Dillon 223 dies. Picked up the Sierra catalog. There are two .224/5.69 77grain bullets, the #9377 MatchKing, and the #9378 MatckKing cannelure. Is one better than the other? Also, I have a Accurate Arms reloading guide and planning on using AA2230. Planning on picking up some brass or just buy good stuff new and reload.
If the price is the same, I would opt for the non-cannelured bullets. I use 69s at 200 yards, 77s or 75s at 300 and 80s at 600. It's not uncommon for some people to just load 77s and shoot them all the way across the course.
I use R-15 but others have had good luck with Varget and 4895. I've used 2230 with the 69s and had great results with it, but with a little heavier bullet I thin it is a little fast. If you want to stick with a ball powder you could use 2520 or 2460 but I think you will get better results with extruded powders.
YMMV
B
I use R-15 but others have had good luck with Varget and 4895. I've used 2230 with the 69s and had great results with it, but with a little heavier bullet I thin it is a little fast. If you want to stick with a ball powder you could use 2520 or 2460 but I think you will get better results with extruded powders.
YMMV
B
Dead end.
Midway, as expected, won't ship to Massachusetts.
Looks like I have a supply problem. I'll have to do some hunting around to find what I need.
I think I'll head out to the Shriners show next weekend and see what reloading supplies the vendors have.
Midway, as expected, won't ship to Massachusetts.
Looks like I have a supply problem. I'll have to do some hunting around to find what I need.
I think I'll head out to the Shriners show next weekend and see what reloading supplies the vendors have.
Dirtypacman
NES Door Greeter
Just ordered my 223 Dies for the Dillon on Friday.
Have not reviewed my load data yet to get the rest of my goodies.
Shooting out of a 1in8 twist 24" Barrel - need to research the proper weight bullet.
A good message board that is geared to reloading for highpower:
http://www.nationalmatch.us/forums/index.php?showforum=92
Read through all the pinned posts. Tons of reloading/highpower shooting experience posted there.
http://www.nationalmatch.us/forums/index.php?showforum=92
Read through all the pinned posts. Tons of reloading/highpower shooting experience posted there.
+1 Lots of HP knowledge there.
Thanks for the link. Getting an education already. My Armalite DCM/CMP upper arrived today (for NES#168) and had a yellow "223" tag attached. I didn't even know there was a difference between 223/5.56. It seems I have quite a lot of reading to do.
