Author Topic: Reloading steel cased 223's -- UP DATE -- (Read 1486 times)

stimpylu32 · « **on:** August 04, 2012, 01:41:15 PM »

I've been working on this test for a few weeks now , just more of a " can I do it " thing than anything else . Well today was trip 8 to the range , meaning the case's have been loaded & shot 8 times and in 2 different rifles , first my Handi rifle and then my Steven's 200 every other time .

I started with Wolf range pick-ups that were shot in I believe an AR platform rifle , judging by the case dints , after I checked to make sure that the rounds were in fact Boxer Primed , home with me they went . I started with a New set of Lee RGB dies ( cheap ) and a can of Imperial sizing wax to do the first resizing , which to be real honest was not as bad as I had expected . Once the case's were FL sized I checked OL of the case and used that as a base line from which to work .

Well as of today I have had no split necks as one would expect from brass being " Work Hardened " and the OL has only grown between .003 and .004 , another suprise to me being as the expander ball is rubbing & pulling on steel not brass ( tight fit ) and I'm not seeing anything that would lead me to think that their is any case head seperation starting either being fired in 2 different chambers . I'm hoping to get around 12 loadings on these case's before I start to see case failure , but we shall see , I'll keep you updated as the test progresses .

stimpy

Dand · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2012, 10:31:08 PM »

very interesting Stimp. thanks for sharing and keep us up to date. Are you lubing the inside of the case necks? I would have doubted it would work - but you have a lot of experience. How is accuracy and bullet neck tension?

thanks

YRUpunting? · « **Reply #2 on:** August 05, 2012, 01:34:10 AM »

Great info. What load are you using? FPS?

alan in ga · « **Reply #3 on:** August 05, 2012, 01:44:28 AM »

you get the 'neat stuff' rating. I never even thought about reloading the steel cases. Well actually I did to a degree. I took Norinco steel case 7.62x39 ammo, pulled the bullet via pliers/loading press in reverse method, and reseated a quality soft point jacketed hunting bullet back in the case without removing the factory powder charge. Seated the bullet and crimped it in place with a Lee Factory Crimp die. I don't think I did any neck sizing, as pulling the factory FMJ bullet did not expand the steel neck any. It still had plenty of force to hold the new bullet and then I would crimp it with the Lee FC die for extra measure. If shooting in a bolt rifle the crimping could probably be skipped. I crimped them because I was hunting deer with my SKS fitted with a 4X scope. It was nice to hunt and not worry about where the empty case went! My Chinese SKS shot 1 MOA if you can believe that! Amazing to see an UGLY rifle shoot as well as many spiffy looking sporting rifles!

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #4 on:** August 05, 2012, 05:53:23 AM »

Dand

I got a great deal awhile back on some 50g TNT HP's so I'm using them for this test and neck tention is very good , as their shot in a single shot and a one at a time feed bolt gun I don't bother with trying to crimp them , as far as groups , those have all been 5 shots in less than 1 1/2" @ 100 yards .

YRU

I've been switching up the loads some , have used IMR 4895 , BLC-2 and Ramshot's TAC so far , trying to stay wiith mid level loads @ around 2900 to 3100 fps for the 50 grain bullet .

All the talk of late about ammo prices going WAY up and the SHTF / end of the world stuff got me thinking ( Bad thing I Know )

with all the steel cased stuff just laying around , I thought what the he-- and tried it .

alan

I had one of the old SKS's and it shot VERY well , traded it off for a Handi rifle in 45/70 and was still happy !

stimpy

necchi · « **Reply #5 on:** August 05, 2012, 06:20:59 AM »

Good info, TY for doing a reasonable study and handing us a report. looking forward to more.
How's the pockets and flash hole holding up?
I use high end loads pushing velocity while still holding accuracy, and the pockets are the thing that tend to make me scrap the brass long before neck failure or seperation happens.

mdi · « **Reply #6 on:** August 05, 2012, 08:56:55 AM »

Thanx Stimpy, good to see a factual answer to the old "...reload steel cases" question. My attempts were much less involved, mebbe just lazy. Did you see any down side to reloading steel? How about the "poly coating" wearing, or mebbe in the long run rust?

ratdog · « **Reply #7 on:** August 09, 2012, 09:10:35 PM »

thanks for the imfo i will be keeping all my steel 223 now. i have a lot i have not shot yet.

m60 tanker · « **Reply #8 on:** August 11, 2012, 05:20:10 PM »

You can Pam Cooking spray for case lube. I have for years.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #9 on:** August 13, 2012, 11:52:43 AM »

Quote from: m60 tanker on August 11, 2012, 05:20:10 PM

You can Pam Cooking spray for case lube. I have for years.

Just make sure you use the PLAIN , the stuff with flour makes a He-- of a mess

stimpy

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 30, 2012, 01:17:42 PM »

Well as of loading #9 I have lost my first piece to a split , the odd part is that it split at the angle of the shoulder not in the neck itself which kinda supprised me as I truly expected it to do as brass and work its way down the neck .

Also on another note , still no signs of head separation from being FL sized and fired in 2 different rifles .

stimpy

necchi · « **Reply #11 on:** August 30, 2012, 07:30:41 PM »

Thanks stimpy,m really appreciate the follow ups.
Are you measuring for head separation or just feeling for it with a wire?

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2012, 02:11:37 AM »

Quote from: necchi on August 30, 2012, 07:30:41 PM

Thanks stimpy,m really appreciate the follow ups.
Are you measuring for head separation or just feeling for it with a wire?

Both , I'm doing an OL check to see how much their growing as well as running a paper clip along the inside , so far the OL has not changed enough to even worry about ( .003 to .005 )

stimpy

mdi · « **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2012, 09:12:35 AM »

Thanks Stimpy. Finally an honest to God, real life test! Where I shoot, up in the hills, there's a gazillion steel cases laying on the ground, I think I'll bring some home next time and try reloading a few (.223 and 7.62x39).

LaOtto222 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 01, 2012, 12:40:00 PM »

It is too bad that you did not do a brass side by side comparison. That is my engineering background popping out. Load up 10 steel and then load 10 brass exactly the same and then see when the first would fail. If the steel does so well, why can't we buy steel cases. They are obviously made. Maybe they are not that much cheaper to manufacture? Or is it as simple as you can pick them up for free at the range.

Good Luck and Good Shooting

Old Syko · « **Reply #15 on:** September 01, 2012, 02:48:35 PM »

Stimpylu I don't mean to demean your results because I'm willing to trust them to be correct but I will say if you increase bullet weights and charges steel case life will fall off exponentially. The tests I did were with 55 and 62 grain slugs such as were used in the original loads. Powder and charge weights were also same as the original loadings. The lower pressures you're achieving is what I believe to be the difference in our results.

stimpylu32 · « **Reply #16 on:** September 02, 2012, 09:06:35 AM »

Quote from: Old Syko on September 01, 2012, 02:48:35 PM

Stimpylu I don't mean to demean your results because I'm willing to trust them to be correct but I will say if you increase bullet weights and charges steel case life will fall off exponentially. The tests I did were with 55 and 62 grain slugs such as were used in the original loads. Powder and charge weights were also same as the original loadings. The lower pressures you're achieving is what I believe to be the difference in our results.

I totally agree , the fact that I'm running them at lower pressures is no doubt why they are lasting so long , this was just a test to see that in a " worst case " could it be done to put food on the table or keep the bad guys at bay .

Will we ever get to a point were BRASS case's are not to be had , not likely , yet one never knows and this will do the job if that ever happens . Will the game or scumbag ever know the difference in a couple hundrad feet per second , if it comes to that point I'll Ask them .

stimpy

Old Syko · « **Reply #17 on:** September 02, 2012, 10:52:46 AM »

I also wonder how much if any difference there is in the steel used now compared to the old lacquer coated stuff I used. Shoot, some of that stuff had shoulder splits after shooting the original loading.

beerbelly · « **Reply #18 on:** September 03, 2012, 01:13:21 AM »

Working that steel my question would be how long will your dies last?
Beerbelly

Old Syko · « **Reply #19 on:** September 03, 2012, 02:20:55 AM »

Quote from: beerbelly on September 03, 2012, 01:13:21 AM

Working that steel my question would be how long will your dies last?
Beerbelly

Unless you're loading on a commercial basis with consumer quality dies you should never notice a difference. Dies are made of higher strength steel than any cartridge. Just like using high speed steel tooling in a mill or lathe.