Recently I saw some Hornady Frontier 223 soft point ammo at a good price, but I read the description of it that said it is Hornady bullets loaded by Lake City and is military grade ammo. I called Hornady to determine whether the ammo has crimped in primers, was told it did and nearly all Hornady 223 ammo has too. Once I got some 308 surplus ammo that had crimped in primers, and the crimp had to be removed before cases could be reprimed for reloading. Do other brands of 223 ammo have crimped in primers too, has anyone tried reloading brass from such ammo, and does crimp have to be removed to reprime as it does with the 308 military cases?
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223 ammo?
- Thread starter bevills1
- Start date
Jester896
Senior Clown
no
yes...it would be best. you can do it with a swaging die/tool. Lyman has a tool that goes in their handle to cut it out. You can also cut it out with a standard deburring tool. I think swaging is better.
wareagle700
Senior Member
Several manufacturers crimp primers, not just Hornady. It's a pain in the rump to add that extra step in the reloading process but the cases can certainly be reloaded once the crimp has been swaged or cut.
Totally agree, the extra step is a pain in the but, and you have to be sure the crimp is completely removed being careful not to remove too much material. Is there an easy way to find out which brands of 223 ammo has or has not crimped in primers? I also found Fiocci soft point ammo at a decent price. Does anybody know if Fiocci has crimped in primers?
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wareagle700
Senior Member
I don't know of a list but most "5.56 spec" ammo is going to have crimped primers. Thats going to include most m193, m855, and ball ammo in general.
Jester896
Senior Clown
wareagle700 pretty much pegged it I think...military contract for the most part requires crimping I think. Even Federal 6.8SPC small primer stuff is crimped.
I have a Dillon and it is sweet. There are other options that cost less and probably as effective. All it does is add a step to processing your brass. If it was a race...you would buy it loaded
At least its one time and done for the most part.
I have a Dillon and it is sweet. There are other options that cost less and probably as effective. All it does is add a step to processing your brass. If it was a race...you would buy it loaded
I have a Ruger Mini14 chambered in 223 and can't shoot the 5.56 ammo anyway. It may require calling each manufacturer to determine which ones don't have crimped in primers for 223 ammo if there are any.
Jester896
Senior Clown
the Remington UMC I have on hand in .223 isn't crimped on the primer end.
wareagle700
Senior Member
Yes you can. You may get a smoked or popped primer here and there but 5.56 ammo isn't going to blow up a Ruger mini. While it may not be ideal, it isn't "unsafe".
Jester896
Senior Clown
chamber is probably + .004-006 deep...might not even get that
frankwright
Senior Member
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1165253550/hornady-primer-pocket-reamer-cutter-head
I use this in a drill motor, it works fine. Extra step but not a big deal.
I use this in a drill motor, it works fine. Extra step but not a big deal.
transfixer
Senior Member
I just ordered one of those, I picked up 1,000 5.56 cases a while back, they are already sized and deprimed and cleaned, but a lot of them don't have the crimp cut out yet. I plan on using it in a drill also
Jester896
Senior Clown
That comes in the Lyman Tool I mentioned along with some other nice ones if you don't already have them.
rosewood
Senior Member
This is what I use. Works great. https://www.midwayusa.com/product/235832/rcbs-primer-pocket-swager-combo-2
With exception to the “target” version they made years ago (and I say that 1 simply because I don’t know for sure). Otherwise, all Mini 14s are chambered to 5.56 specs. It does say “.223” on the reciever, but read the manual, it’ll say it’s perfectly safe to shoot them.
I’ve been doing it since my 1st Mini about 25 years ago. With several thousand rounds through several different guns, and never had a pierced primer or any other sign of a over pressure load.
Wyman
According to http://www.answers.com/Q/Can_you_shoot_5.56_mm_ammo_in_Ruger_Mini_14 either 223 Rem or 5.56 ammo can be used in the Mini14 even though the rifle is marked 223 CAL, but near the end of the first page it says "A .223 Remington cartridge can be safely fired in a 5.56mm chambered rifle, but NOT vice versa." However, it says right at the top of the page the Mini14 has always had a 5.56 chamber which should make it safe to use either 5.56 or 223 Rem.
Jester896
Senior Clown
I don't think it has a .223 Remington chamber. When I read that it seems to be talking about a bolt gun chambered in .223 Remington that you shouldn't shoot 5.56X45 in.
It would certainly ease your mind if you called.
It would certainly ease your mind if you called.
