First Lot of 300 .223's

[1911Shooter]

I have recently gotten into reloading. I took Andrews class on March 26th, and felt very comfortable with it, so I decided to get a press and all the tools and get into it.
Yesterday, I recieved my setup and got it all put together. Then I decided to start reloading. I loaded up 300 rounds of 223. CCI primers, 24.0 Grains of Benchmark powder, and a 55 Grain Remington FMJ to top them off.
After shooting today, all I can say is WOW. I shot all 300 rounds out of my AR without one malfunction. They ended up being about twice as accurate as any other round I could find. I could stay on a golf ball at about 50 yards with iron sights. Remington UMCs could only stay on about a softball sized target and American Eagle came in second with just a slight difference from the UMCs. All the other ammo I shot was even further out (Winchester, Black Hills, Hornady, Federal, Wolf, Fiochhi).

With all that said I do have to say. THANKS ANDREW

 

[Johnson]

I've been on the fence about taking Andrew's class. Looks like I have to make time to go.

Do you anticipate much cost savings loading the .223, or is it mainly the better quality?

 

[SSGSAD]

Reloading, is a fun, hobby, the only problem, is you, load, shoot, and then clean, and then load, shoot, clean, and then load, again..... where, does, all my time go ?????

 

[DarkRose]

I've been on the fence about taking Andrew's class. Looks like I have to make time to go.

Do you anticipate much cost savings loading the .223, or is it mainly the better quality?

I looked into savings when I get set up, someone posted this somewhere on here a while back, numbers seem to add up if you put accurate costs in...


Handloading Cost Calculator

The load I worked up for 9mm ended up coming out to around $6 a box/50 if I remember right, and that was with Gander Mtn powder prices...

 

[Osobuco]

Reloading, is a fun, hobby, the only problem, is you, load, shoot, and then clean, and then load, shoot, clean, and then load, again..... where, does, all my time go ?????

Therein lies the rub - time is $$ in my book and the savings just does not add up for me. I thought about reloading from time to time but would rather spend the limited free time I have with family, shooting or posting on INGO

 

[1911Shooter]

It takes a little time to do that many rounds, but in my opinion it is well worth it. I enjoy reloading and a few hours to create 300 rounds doesnt seem bad to me. The cost savings were significant and the accuracy like I said before was great.

 

[Johnson]

I looked into savings when I get set up, someone posted this somewhere on here a while back, numbers seem to add up if you put accurate costs in...


Handloading Cost Calculator

The load I worked up for 9mm ended up coming out to around $6 a box/50 if I remember right, and that was with Gander Mtn powder prices...

Thanks for the link. If I venture into reloading, it wouldn't really be to "save" money, as much as I would hope the savings per round would take the edge off the equipment I would need to buy. I'm more interested in getting better quality ammo for bulk ammo prices.

Looks like I need to sign up for Andrews class and see where it takes me

 

[csmith]

Congrats on the new press. Did you end up with a rock chucker or what did you get?

 

[Aszerigan]

1911 - Glad you're on the right track. Congrats on the first 300 rounds, I'd ask for photos, but I'm thinking its a little bit late for that.

Seriously though - way to go. Keep it up, and save your brass. You're savings are important, but the accuracy (especially with Benchmark) is well worth the time.

-Andrew

 

[1911Shooter]

I went with the rock chucker turret press. I seem to do mostly 223 so it speeds things up a bit not having to reset all the time.

 

[GetA2J]

Jealous.
I got a Dillon, loaded some 9mm all is well. I got hooked, so I ordered stuff to reload .45 and .223.
NOW I'm IMPATIENTLY waiting on my order to arrive so I can load the .45's and .223's

 

[jblomenberg16]

I've found that I can reload .223 for $.21-.23 per round depending on components. That is using brass that I've saved from previous new ammo, range pick-ups, etc. making it in essence free.

There is a lot of time that goes into rifle reloading just from the extra prep work that it drives, such as case lube for resizing and case length trimming.

But, like the OP mentioned, it is well worth it if for no other reason than you have the potential for customized ammo for your rifle that shoots better than factory ammo.


Personally I've found that I shoot more now that I reload, and that in and of itself is a good thing, even if it does negate the savings.

 

[bman1962]

Congrats 1911. I was in the same class at Andrews and have loaded more than 400 rounds for our 1911's. It's nice to see were all busy at it.

 

[1911Shooter]

Great bman, its a great feeling knowing your the one that made the ammo your shooting. So far this week I have made about 600 .223's and I have handed them out to a few friends to see how they shoot out of other guns. I am just wondering if they will be as accurate out of different guns other than my AR.

 

[danielocean03]

Glad to hear things are going well! I've considered getting into reloading myself, I just might have to take one of Andrew's classes sometime soon.....