Loading 223 (Part 1)

[terry2425]

Thought I would share my process to load 223.

First, the brass is soaked in a solution to remove the residue and turn the brass case back to its original shiny color. The brass is then rinsed and dried in an oven. The cases are put into a vibrating tumbler with walnut shell and Nu Finish car polish for two hours.



Once the cases are cleaned, they are put on a case lube towel case neck up. A mist of homemade case lube (lanolin and alcohol) is sprayed on the cases. They are rotated 180 degrees and sprayed again. The cases are then rolled back and forth to evenly spread the lube and take off the excess.



Next they go to the size/case trim machine. I use a Dillon 650 with their automatic size/trimmer. Since the machine has an automatic case feeder I can do over 1500 cases per hour.



The brass then goes to the loading machine. I use a Dillon 1050 with an automatic case feeder and a carbide sizing die. I also use an automatic primer filler to speed the process up.




Once the round is loaded they are put on a towel and are paper toweled with mineral spirits to remove the case lube. The rounds are then sprayed with alcohol to finish the case lube cleaning process.



The loaded rounds are then placed in a vibrator tumbler with walnut shell and Nu Finish car wax for a final polish, about 20 minutes.

 

[carbinemike]

Very nice set up. Thanks for sharing the pictures! Do you have many issues with orienting the primers and/or the primer pockets?

 

[terry2425]

The Dillon auto primer filler machine fills the primer tube with the anvil up, the correct way to be put into the machine. The Dillon 1050 on the #2 station has a primer pocket swedger, which will take the crimp out of the primer pocket allowing a new primer to be seated. Not need to sort military brass out of the mix. Just run it through and load it.

 

[oli700]

awesome !!!.....almost as good as an ammo tree

 

[nitesite]

That is a very impressive undertaking. I hope business is doing great and you are almost running behind on orders!

What pound kegs of powder are you purchasing, and what powder if you don't mind? I'm not inquiring about a load recipe but what brand of powder you are comfortable with using.

 

[terry2425]

I'm and old fart now (65) and I try to keep the business on a part time basis so I still have time to load and experiment with the guns and calibers I shoot. Business is very good, I have a huge local customer base and the two sporting goods stores here are mad as hell with me. I sell a box of 50 45 ACP for $18.00 a box and they are getting $25 to $30 a box. It's a no brainer who they buy their ammo from. Same difference in pricing for all of the calibers I load. I'll sell at least 10 thousand rounds of ammo on a weekend and do another 2 to 4 thousand in custom loads. Because of my former connections and friends in the ammo business (buying components), my profit is just over 50% and a minimum of $10 a box of 50 profit. An example is 9 MM. A box of 50 9 MM 124 copper RN costs $6.73 a box to make (including packaging), add $10 profit for a total of $16.73. The selling price is $17.00 a box. A very good value for the customer and cheaper than the stores.

It's taken about 8 months to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. Powder, primers, bullets, brass and packaging. For a part time business it's not a cheap undertaking. I have over $12,000 in equipment, $10,000 in components and $11,000 in finished inventory. $33,000 doesn't sound like much to run a small ammunition business, but it has been "pay as you go" to get to this point. After a year, I can finally start taking some of the profit from the business and not turning it all back into equipment and components.

My powder comes in 4 pound kegs, 56 pounds per hazmat shipment. The powder I use is called ETR-7 from Expansion Industries in VA. The powder is actually a faster burning shotgun powder made by Maxam in Spain. They call it Maxam CSB-1. The flake size is about the same as WW 231 and measures very well for accurate loads. Probably the cleanest burning powder I have used in over 40 years. It's so versatile, I use it in all of the calibers from 380 Auto to 44 Magnum. I just got Expansion Industries hooked up with a friend of mine who is the largest reloader on the West Coast. Mike will buy a minimum of 5,000 pounds a month. For putting the deal together, they have agreed to sell me my powder for the same price Mike buys it for, $14.50 a pound freight paid.

Sorry, I get a little "windy" talking business and ammunition!

I don't mind sharing any of the load recipes for any of the calibers I load or other information that helps anyone on the forum.

 

[mingaa]

During the powder pistol shortage last year (still not over,really for the reloader) - a local reloading shop arranged to import a large bulk import of Maxam CSB-1 from Spain. They were dispensing into powder containers only & at a fair price and kept a lot of people in the region (competitors especially) shooting.

I bought a pound to confirm load data for 9, 40 & 45 then went back for a BUNCH more.

It makes great range/competition rounds in all 3 calibers - minor PF in 9 and Major in 40 & 45 - consistent and accurate for me! I'll be shooting it for a while despite being able to buy other powders now sporadically.

The tale ends at an international shotgun match where the shop 'closed out' the inventory. They kept a lot of clients with that move!

I understand that Rio is going to be selling reloading supplies in the US in '15. Last I checked their website info was "coming soon". Works for me - with some supplies being very sporadic, the more the merrier!

I'll have to look at Expansion Industries as well - curious about their selling practices.

Ammo prices are dropping Terry - I'll keep loading regardless of price. Everything I shoot is now custom tailored to my needs - some on a per-gun basis!

You feeling the pinch or is loyalty winning that one?!

 

[terry2425]

Expansion Industries will sell to anyone. Their powder comes in 1 pound or 4 pound containers. If you need some from them and you have any problems, let me know and I'll talk to the owner and get it resolved very quickly.

Loyalty is a big factor but one thing I do that the stores can't or won't do is a brass credit. Bring 50 rounds of fired brass and you get $1.50 of the purchase price of a box of ammo. Makes it really easy to compete with the dropping ammo prices with the stores. Ammo in Central California hasn't dropped very much in the past year, except for Walmart.