Reloading brass and headstamp question

Any small rifle primer will work for 223/5.56. Military brass case walls are thicker so if you put the same charge in a NATO case as you do in a commercial 223 case your internal pressure will be greater because the internal volume of the case on NATO is smaller. If you are using military brass the crimp in the primer pocket needs to be reamed out before it will fit a commercial Small Rifle primer. I have used all brands except Wolf and had good reults. I have used Small Rifle Magnum primers in 223 loads also but backed off the load 10% to be safe. I would suggest selecting the powder you intend to use load 5 rounds of several different loads going from minimum load to near maxand then test fire each 5 rounds to see which shoot the tighter group, then stick with that load for max accuracy. Here's my last test at the range, roughly 1MOA group-

The 75gr Hornady loads are Skypup's recipe using 25gr BLC-2 powder and Remington 7 1/2 SR primers. Hope this helps you.

saw9000 said:

Finally, what is everyone's opinion on cannelure? Considering my previous experience with setback in other rounds, I think it sounds like a good idea. Is any additional equipment required to apply the crimp, or is this accomplished within the die?

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Your sizing die with its internal expander ball should yield you enough resulting tension between the bullet and case to prevent setback. That said, I always crimp the 55gr and 62gr FMJ bullets that come with cannelures.

Roll crimps are the traditional method of crimping bottle necked rifle cartridges. Most seating dies include the roll crimp. Although you can roll crimp and seat at the same time if everything is setup perfectly, I would definitely suggest seating in one step and then roll crimping in a seperate step. You'll most likely get better results. You'll also need to trim all your cases to the same length. Otherwise you'll get some with less and others with more crimp.

In my opinion, a better crimping option is available from Lee. It's called their factory crimp die for bottle necked rifle cartridges. It forms a crimp that is more like factory ammunition and is not as sensitive to trim length. The Lee FCD is pretty inexpensive, so I think it's worth the investment. I have one for 5.56x45, 7.62x39, and 7.62x51. Note: Please do not take my endorsement of the Lee FCD for bottle necked rifle cartridges as an endorsement of their FCD for pistol cartridges. The FCD for pistol cartridges post sizes completed cartridges which is a bad idea in my opinion because it is frequently used to cover up poor reloading practices.