223/5.56 weight different

223Animal

223Animal

Member
I'm loading a bunch of 223s for my AR, I check weight on my powder every 7 bullets or so,I also weight the complete bullet after it's done just making sure no mistakes, normally it's
175. To 177 I'm checking I get a weight 189.5 I pull the bullet apart perfect powder weight bullet 55grain but I find out the brass is a 5.56 the brass for a 223 is 95. The 556 is 108.5 I load 223 specks I realized the 556 has more pressure didn't realize the brass was alot heavier. Shouldn't be any problems shooting right. I'll take any replies.
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My take if it weighs more there is more brass and that brass is somewhere. It can't take up space on the outside of the case so it has to take up space inside. Less space inside, higher pressure. If your running a very mild load it might just mean a flyer or maybe nothing, with the peddle to the floor it could mean a blown primer.

The only time I use range brass anymore is if I find 50+ of the same headstamp on the same day and keep them as a lot, not mixing them with anything else. I just tossed a hundred rounds of 20P I made up from mixed range brass when I got my 20P AR. I decided to go with commercial brass of one headstamp for each different rifle of the same cartridge. It is just easier to keep track of specs.

I tried sorting by weight but it was just too easy to mix them up again.
 
AWS said:
My take if it weighs more there is more brass and that brass is somewhere. It can't take up space on the outside of the case so it has to take up space inside. Less space inside, higher pressure. If your running a very mild load it might just mean a flyer or maybe nothing, with the peddle to the floor it could mean a blown primer.

The only time I use range brass anymore is if I find 50+ of the same headstamp on the same day and keep them as a lot, not mixing them with anything else. I just tossed a hundred rounds of 20P I made up from mixed range brass when I got my 20P AR. I decided to go with commercial brass of one headstamp for each different rifle of the same cartridge. It is just easier to keep track of specs.

I tried sorting by weight but it was just too easy to mix them up again.
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Thanks, I bought 1000 pieces of 223 ,I don't even remember where but I'll probably buy good brass all the same, I here lapua brass is good. Right now using what I have for plinking, thanks John
 
I sort my brass by headstamp noting the manufacturer & date if milspec. Some brass is way heavier than others. Pretty much, if the brass weighs the same it will have the same internal volume. I toss/recycle all the heavier brass and lightest brass. LC and Federal are pretty consistently in the 95-96 gr area for weight (not deprimed, as found) and quite serviceable after prepping.
 
Look at a half section of 223 brass compared to 5.56mm
The base and lower case is thicker ...more beef ! more weight
They take pressure well... more pressure as the capacity is less....
BUT built to take a beating
 

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Shotinthedark said:
Look at a half section of 223 brass compared to 5.56mm
The base and lower case is thicker ...more beef ! more weight
They take pressure well... more pressure as the capacity is less....
BUT built to take a beating
Click to expand...
Thanks I just want to be smart im old and don't need any problems with my guns l really appreciate all the info, I doubt I'll ever load any 556,stick to the 223 I have 2 ARs that are set up for 556 but I'll just keep loading for 223,thanks again off tomorrow to test some of my rounds get the numbers. RETIRED LIFE is good.
 
Hellgate said:
I sort my brass by headstamp noting the manufacturer & date if milspec. Some brass is way heavier than others. Pretty much, if the brass weighs the same it will have the same internal volume. I toss/recycle all the heavier brass and lightest brass. LC and Federal are pretty consistently in the 95-96 gr area for weight (not deprimed, as found) and quite serviceable after prepping.
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Thanks keeping my eyes open. Love to load.
 
Check wight with the round already loaded is a waste of time. Did it years ago and for the most part it made no difference in how the ammo shot. Have to say though, the worst brass I ever used was military surplus brass, as far a weighting went. One exception was some Lake City Nat match stuff, it was some of the best I ever used! I sit and think about it and have to believe weighting brass makes about as much sense as weighing primers! I Have heard of guy's that don't weigh powder charges and somehow seem to get good reloads. I don't weigh but every five or six rounds using ball and flake powder but I weight every round with stick powder. Stick powder is its own worst enemy, It often blocks enough powder from entering the machine simply because of it's shape. I used to think a case might need to be closer to each other as different weight should effect volume, doesn't seem to matter. One time weighing cased I even put each case weight in a different line to try to separate them. Ya end up with a lot of different lines of case's and not enough cases weighing the same to make up a box of ammo! Maybe that why no one has ever fired a group measuring .oooo! Sometimes ya just have to live with what ya got! Then again maybe better than all the case's weighing the same, change the idiot doing the shooting!

Best brass I ever used was Lake City Nat match brass. Other than Lake City I think military once fired brass is the worst you can buy but I still get it any way. Works fine with cast bullets and short-range shooting!
 
Polock said:
Check wight with the round already loaded is a waste of time. Did it years ago and for the most part it made no difference in how the ammo shot. Have to say though, the worst brass I ever used was military surplus brass, as far a weighting went. One exception was some Lake City Nat match stuff, it was some of the best I ever used! I sit and think about it and have to believe weighting brass makes about as much sense as weighing primers! I Have heard of guy's that don't weigh powder charges and somehow seem to get good reloads. I don't weigh but every five or six rounds using ball and flake powder but I weight every round with stick powder. Stick powder is its own worst enemy, It often blocks enough powder from entering the machine simply because of it's shape. I used to think a case might need to be closer to each other as different weight should effect volume, doesn't seem to matter. One time weighing cased I even put each case weight in a different line to try to separate them. Ya end up with a lot of different lines of case's and not enough cases weighing the same to make up a box of ammo! Maybe that why no one has ever fired a group measuring .oooo! Sometimes ya just have to live with what ya got! Then again maybe better than all the case's weighing the same, change the idiot doing the shooting!

Best brass I ever used was Lake City Nat match brass. Other than Lake City I think military once fired brass is the worst you can buy but I still get it any way. Works fine with cast bullets and short-range shooting!
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Thanks heading out tomorrow get some numbers from the new powder have $209 8lbs trying to get 3000 fps 24.5 grains should get it 24 grains got me 2980 25 was 3113 also testing 9mm and 45acp 3 different powders unique, titegroup and accurate #5 I'll post the numbers
 
as others have noted - just sort your brass by headstamp and it should reduce most of the wild weight variance.

if you want to be able to load safely across the board, what you'd do is check water weight of a primed case across multiple headstamps you have, use the ones with the lowest water weight (aka case volume) for testing/developement and then go to town. much better to have a bit lower pressure - and therefore velocity - round than one thats wildly overpressure because you developed it in a case with the max case volume and then loaded that same charge into a much lower capacity case.

now that method is not necessarily gonna produce the nicest ES/SD numbers, but if all you're making is plinker ammo.... meh. and if you're shooting in close - lets say under 150 yards- you probably wont even notice much of a POI difference.

now if you're trying to make precision loads to shoot out to 500 yds with, you'll probably want to be more selective on your brass sorting and loading techniques.

but it mostly depends on what your goals are.



also worth noting, if you do decide to sort out and only use one or two headstamps, dont toss that other brass just because. i mean.. if theres only a handfull of it... sure probably not worth saving, but at least leave it at the range for someone else to maybe use. if there's a bunch of it, put it up for sale and get a few sheckeles back to fund your hobby - or use it for trade value.
 
Plant.One said:
as others have noted - just sort your brass by headstamp and it should reduce most of the wild weight variance.

if you want to be able to load safely across the board, what you'd do is check water weight of a primed case across multiple headstamps you have, use the ones with the lowest water weight (aka case volume) for testing/developement and then go to town. much better to have a bit lower pressure - and therefore velocity - round than one thats wildly overpressure because you developed it in a case with the max case volume and then loaded that same charge into a much lower capacity case.

now that method is not necessarily gonna produce the nicest ES/SD numbers, but if all you're making is plinker ammo.... meh. and if you're shooting in close - lets say under 150 yards- you probably wont even notice much of a POI difference.

now if you're trying to make precision loads to shoot out to 500 yds with, you'll probably want to be more selective on your brass sorting and loading techniques.

but it mostly depends on what your goals are.



also worth noting, if you do decide to sort out and only use one or two headstamps, dont toss that other brass just because. i mean.. if theres only a handfull of it... sure probably not worth saving, but at least leave it at the range for someone else to maybe use. if there's a bunch of it, put it up for sale and get a few sheckeles back to fund your hobby - or use it for trade value.
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Thank you i do appreciate all the info and help,im building a new AR,will be a distance gun,instead of a gas gun"AR" should make it a bolt gun retired life's good I've got a 24" barrel just trying something different, any suggestions I'll listen, what powder and sites
 
so some good online resources are

Hodgdon Reloading Data Center – The Brand Thats True

Nosler Load Data

Explore the world of Nosler, renowned for crafting the finest bullets, ammunition, rifles, and brass. Discover our extensive lineup, including Partition, AccuBond, E-Tip, Ballistic Tip, Custom Competition, and more. Experience superior quality and performance with Nosler products.
www.nosler.com www.nosler.com

both are trusted publihsed data sources with lots of good load data online to cross reference.

i shoot a LOT of hornady bullets so i have a few copies of their paper manuals on my bench (9th, 10th & 11th) as well as subscribe to their digital app format as well for easy quick reference if i dont have my book handy. Their manuals have SO Much data in it, its hard to not recommend it to anyone to have in their reloading reference library!

as for references to case capacity, theres' lots of charts out there like this one that you can get case capacity (h20) from easily to reference from 6mmbr

223 Rem + 223 AI Cartridge Guide

223 Rem Guide for .223 Remington reloading, 223 Rem accuracy, .223 Rem hunting, 223 AI and 5.56x45 rifles. 223 Remington Brass, 22 bullets, powder, primers and loading dies for .223 Remington. Ballistics drop chart for .223 Rem, .223 Ackley AI, 2-250. 223 Remington Black rifle, service rifle...
www.6mmbr.com
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so another thing you can do to test relative case volume.... without doing the water testing anyway (which can be a bit finnicky from my reading)

resize and trim your cases. seat a primer. fill with as fine of a ball powder as you have around and use a straight edge to level off the case mouth to really fill it up. and then weigh the charges you dump from those cases. make notes. do some math and average out 10 or so cases from each headstamp. we're just trying to understand relative variances here.


or just headstamp sort and do load developement for each headstamp :)



also FWIW, if you're really trying to reload for precision ammo, i'd probably recomend not doing so with teardown ball powder. im not gonna tell you that you cant get good - or even GREAT - results out of it, but that stuff's more geared towards folks trying to make plinking grade ammo on the cheap. This isnt a knock on american reloading and their MP powders. Ive got a couple jugs of it on the shelf. its hard to say no at those kind of prices these days. but if i want to load 75gr bthp match loads i'm gonna grab something that i know i'm gonna not have to work so hard at finding a decent, consistent load with. obivously powders like Varget is a no brainer. or staball match, or even cfe223 - a powder i've had some incredible results with! and i'll save the pulldown powder for the 55gr m193 pulldowns i paid $0.046 each from them to pair with their pulldown powder where all i'm worried about is consistently hitting a 6" plate at 100 yds with :)

just my thoughts on things. but thats also one of great parts about the wonderful world that reloading - it offers us so many options it lets us each meet our own goals in our own ways.

just please stay safe along the way!
 
I use Hodgdon and Nosler, I also have lee precision loading book Lyman, I look at everything then I test to see how things work, I did buy mp415 $209 8lbs it's close to hodgdon H335 I test what I have .I love to load and shoot need to take some pic's of my shooting.
 
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