Bulk Military 5.56/223 Brass Prep for RELOADING 

I am OLD school, reloading for 25 years plus. I use a Hornady case trimmer which I have replaced the cutter once. I like the RCBS primer pocket swager to remove military crimps. I have had exceptional life out of military LC head stamps brass. Lately I have picked up AMI head stamp brass of great quality. I believe this comes from Australia, a mystery on how it came here. I clean my brass with a RCBS ultrasonic cleaner which works well. My 223 hand loads typically shoot 1 MOA or better. I enjoy your videos and have learned much, and yes as an old dog I have learned new tricks. I am retired Navy - 76 years young.

I have been prepping 5.56 casings most of this morning (instead of running the pressure washer and lawn mower). And finally now, after about 400 of them, I see your video.

About to start reloading again after a 30 year hiatus. Getting up the learning curve watching YT videos. Rehabbed my Dads 1970’s era Rock Chucker Jr. Midway USA order due delivery today! Start w .223 cartridges!

I wet tumble, dry, then lube with 10:1 alcohol/lanolin and let dry. Resize then wet tumble again. Run through a frankford case prep center then load progressively on a pro 1000. Cases shine like gold and look brand new. I used to trim like this but it’s hard on the fingers doing batches of several hundred. Might invest in a wft.

I'm new to reloading . .I reload just like this . Nice and slow, and no skipping steps...

Thanks for getting back to your 223/5.56 roots that you started your channel with! Its my favorite caliber to reload and shoot.

I do not reload. I have been watching reloading videos for sometime now. I will probably start reloading pretty soon. I loved your video. Very informative. Thank you for sharing.

I like how you pay attention to detail. I'm a brand new reloader.I'm watching your video from start to end to learn how to do it. Thanks man.

More people are getting into reloading 👍, range picking brass is even getting difficult to find

For anyone who is ok paying for convenience I’d buy a CH4D primer swage die. About 2 seconds per crimped brass. Also an RCBS case trimmer with the RCBS 3 way cutter and power adaptor will save a ton of time by trimming chamfering and deburring at once. You can also rig the handle with paracord to use your foot to lock/unlock the brass in the trimmer and keep your right hand on the drill and left hand handling brass. I’ve been at this a few years and definitely have learned what is worth the cost. There’s a lot that I would do differently if just starting out

I'm a Greek army sniper AND a Quartermaster! Don't ask me how I did this. I did it... I get a ton of used brass from the range and I definitely can get a lot of this brass for reloading. I'm not special forces and we don't have match ammo in the infantry. I've checked some lots of DM41 7,62 and found many inconsistencies in the load. I'm talking about 0,5 to 1 grain from bullet to bullet. This is a nightmare for me in the range. I want to get started on reloading and your video got me fired up. Thanks for the links :)

Ben reloading for over 40 and you or doing it right good show keep it up

I usually prep 2-500 pieces of .223-5.56 at a time so I bought a Lee APP and the swaging kit. I already had a Lee Universal Decapping die. Makes a world of difference in the time it takes to do basic brass prep before resizing.

I love your process. It is very efficient and straight forward! Thank you!

Pro tip, use a universal primer remover and remove the primer before taking shoulder measurements. If you don't, your measurements will likely be off between .002-.004" to long. I'd also recommend finding your rifles chamber's headspace measurements because I've seen a significant difference in my chamber compared to other chambers, I had some "range pickup" brass last time I did a batch that was near .015" over my chamber... those came from a full auto.

Great video. I really enjoyed it. I wanted to see the process for prepping 5.56 mil brass.

I have been reloading for a few years now but only straight wall cases for pistol. Looking to start reloading rifle and was mainly looking for order of the steps...the video was great and gave me the info I needed. Appreciate the time you took to explain the tools and the process.

I have found that 223/5.56 is very thin at the neck and splits easily. My solution is to anneal the neck area by setting up a cordless drill with a hex to 1/4 in drive adapter connected to the appropriate size 1/4" deep socket. Using a hose clamp or ziptie, set the rpms of the cordless drill to about 2-3 revolutions per second. This helps keep heating uniform. Use a metal container with 3-4 inches of water to collect the heated brass and quickly cool them. A propane torch with a medium flame is used for heat. Place the water container under the ends of the deep socket and get started. Heat the neck of the case and dump them in the water to quench and anneal. Watch the color of the brass as you heat it. A blue or gray line will appear about the shoulder and I quench when this color change line advances to about 1/4 inch below the shoulder. Just tip the heated case toward the water to dump it without having to touch that fingerprint removing piece of hot brass. It's vital that your water is deep enough to completely submerge each case at first touch. I do this after the first clean, deprime and resize, basically just before I reprime the cases. Though a person could anneal before the deprime/resize process.

Your system is very similar to mine. I use a universal deprimer, then use the crimp remover and flash hole uniformer. I also use a primer pocket brush at this stage. Next, I use my sonic cleaner and dry my brass in the oven at 120 degrees for an hour. At this point I anneal my brass.. My next step is to size, trim, chamfer and deburr, followed by another trip through the sonic cleaner and dried in the oven. Once the brass cools, it's dumped into an old ice cream bucket, ready to be loaded. After its first prep the process remains the same other than not having to remove the crimp or uniform the flash hole.

I love that everyone’s process is a little different. I do pretty much the exact same process with the exact same tools, but I always decap ad tumble up front then brush and wipe the case at the end.

I appreciate your content, and your presentation style. Keep up the great work. Almost 50 here and started reloading with family at home in the 80’s. Lots of Lee equipment, don’t really remember any other brands except I think I have a memory of an orange dry media tumbler. Despite a lifetime of shooting and some early reloading experience, there’s plenty more for me to learn. I’m just branching out to a progressive press for reloading pistol, have never reloaded for handguns. Really only started into metallic to load .32 WS, which is pretty much obsolete. Hornady leverevolution powder with FTX bullets is a game changer for my lever guns. Your emphasis on primer seat prep is understandable. Seating primers in some of that 223 brass takes ridiculous torque in my Redding big boss 2 which is uncomfortable for me and likely more so for a rank beginner. I just bought a bunch of starline brass for .300 Blk to avoid dealing with it. Life is short. Btw I bet your MEC applies more torque than my Redding. I’ve owned hydraulic MEC 9000’s for shotshell reloading but they are sheet metal and stamped parts and while perfectly serviceable, I was ruined by Spolar, which is an aluminum CnC work of art. That MEC with its massive cylinder looks sweet. I like that you use inexpensive tech when it serves just as well. The Lee case length trimmer is a good example. I use these but I chuck mine up in the lathe. I use Lee dies, bullet sizer, hardness tester. Everyone has their own priorities when reloading. I appreciate accuracy but don’t shoot benchrest and don’t require .223 or .300 Blk to shoot better than I can. So I’m looking for efficiency over concentricity, etc, and just bought a Hornady lock n load to knock out more of my reloading tasks.

Thanks for the video, I’ve been wanting to find a way to specifically reload military crimped 5.56 and this video was awesome!

Haven’t started reloading yet but am just trying to learn! Thanks for the tips

Haven't started yet but planning on it. This was a excellent video, explanation of each step was really good. I really like all your videos, clear and informative, great job!

Just considering getting into reloading and loving watching videos like this. excellent video, thank you!

Really enjoyed this upload. I'm not new to reloading but watching how someone else treats the process is always informative and educational. Keep up the fine work and thanks for posting. MB

I started reloading as a way to have some sort of "self reliance" and figured better to master my technique before hard times.... I started about 3 months before COVID with a Lee single stage. I luckily bought a nice chunk from a broken fireplace worth of primers and then have been bilking up on powders since. I get my brass free by simply helping local range clean up. I upgraded to a pro 1000 9mm kit during COVID and my bumhole is still sore from the price raping I took on it but was well worth it in long run. Bought a load master press as a long term storage press to put up and also just got a pro 4000 223 kit. I enjoy the reloading (most of time) of 9mm and am currently looking for a faster way to check brass length as I'm now doing 223 which is a bit more prep intensive... That's what brought me here. Checking 1 case at a time is slow.

I am just getting my tools and parts together. Got my hands on a good amount of military brass and glad to have found this video. Very informative and I appreciate you leaving the link to the tools and parts you use. I’ve subscribed to see more

I'm new to reloading. Thank you for taking time to do this .

Great video man, I have my first press, dies, and a bunch of 556 brass on the way so this was super helpful to see the processing ahead of actually loading. Thanks man!

I am just starting. Really doing research before I unbox and get started. Finally got primers so now I am going to start getting things together. Thanks for this detailed but easy to follow video.

Thanks, I learned something watching this that explained why my reloaded 223 got stuck in the chamber. Didn't get the neck sized down enough. I've since bought that stainless gauge that you drop the brass in. The RCBS deburring tool gets rid of the primer crimps. Thanks a bunch for this video.

Regarding cleaning brass, I always dry tumble before decapping, decap the case, clean and condition the primer pocket and flash hole, go-no go the primer pocket, measure case length, trim if necessary, anneal the cases, lube the cases with Imperial lube, case size with the sizing die and the neck expander ball removed, lube the neck with graphite lube, expand the necks with a mandrel, check the neck inside diameter with the Pin Gage. Last step is to check the case neck run-out. If the run-out is 0.000 - .003, they are good. more than .003, I resize to try and get a better run-out. If now less than .003", ok. If .0035 to .005, target only, not for hunting. Over .005, discard. Then, after all this, I do a final wet tumble and thoroughly dry the cases which removes ALL inside material, metal, neck lubricants, case lubricants and provides a final polish. After the cases are dry, check for any stuck pins in the primer pockets or lying inside the case. Now my cases are ready to be primed and loaded.

Great video My Friend

I have a dollar tree wire frame waste basket in a bucket and just dump the tumbler in to it and the shake the basket to remove the walnut materials. Works great, but dusty.

I've collected 556 223 brass from shooting for the last year couple 1000 casings...I just bought 223 dies n wanna brush up on some basics so I know what to expect..thanx for great content...

Getting ready to start reloading pistol & rifle and watching to pick up instructions and tips before I start. Thanks for informative video

I enjoyed your explanations - very clear with some great time saving ideas. Everyone else I’ve listened to advises cleaning the brass in advance of sizing to ensure dirt and grit don’t affect the brass sizing or damage the sizing dies.

Brand new to reloading. Just got my press, dies, and tumbler. Watching videos for step by step directions.

Great video. I'm new to reloading. You've given me a new perspective to case prep. I'm starting out with 5000 pieces of expended brass, in .45, .38, 9mm, .223/5.56 and .308. Cleaning has been a bummer. I only have about 1000 pieces of 9mm that remain to be cleaned. Case prep will be my next step. ( primers were removed before the cleaning process) I was going to buy a 5 station prep machine but now I'm contemplating just chucking up individual tools into multiple drills for efficiency. Again, thanks for the alternative ideas.

I bought my first press a month ago..lee pro 1000... I've been watching everything under the sun and bought all the tools n things I need to start loading 223 n 9mm...I'm getting anxious no doubt but I want to make sure I'm ready cause wen it's on..it's no stopping..thank for the video,🤙🤙

Good basic case prep.I'm recommending it to a friend.

Thank you for a well done informative case prep lesson!

Thanks for sharing. I have been considering reloading but I wanted to know the equipment and process.

I have TONS, (well, not actual TONS), but i have mucho 5.56/.223 brass and with the price of ammo, I decided to start loading my rifle ammo, I purchased a few bricks of primers for rifle a few years back and some IMR-3031, never loaded. But recently I found some WIN 748 and I decided to start. I purchase all the tools I needed and I am getting ready, we de-capped over 1K round recently and found most of them crimp, so that will be the next step, but for the non-crimped brass, we are going to expect, resize, trim, (if needed) and then load some test rounds. I have bee loading Pistol for over 30 years, just never owned a rifle up until 2007, started with an AR and then a Rem 700, not up to my second AR and a really nice M1A. Great Vid, gives really great information.

I’m looking to get back in to reloading, I have loaded 45 ACP in the past. I got out of shooting do to career obligations. I retired a year ago, I’ve invested in more relocating equipment for rifle. Now I need small rifle primers. It’s always something. Thanks for the video.

Excellent presentation, very informative and easy to understand. Haven’t started yet, still gathering all my equipment, but I will defiantly look for your videos to help me along. One thing my mentor told me about is if you want your brass clean use your drill and case holder and hold 1000 grit steel wool to the rotating brass, really shines it up very nice, very quick….

Starting for the first time for me. This video was super helpful

Good video and comments Logan. I’m in the process of resetting up my reloading station after a two year hiatus due to moving and I’m enjoying setting it up right this time. A few tools I’ve enjoyed are the Frankfort Arsenal wet tumbler and case prep machine and the Little Crow Worlds Best Case trimmer on a WEN 8” table top drill press. I use the RCBS Rock Chucker IV as I’m more interested in accuracy than speed and I find if you get into a rhythm you can knock out batch loads pretty quick. When we were stuck in the house for Covid I sat out in the garage, listened to books on tape and prepped 3500+ rounds of once fired Lake City 556, by the time you get that many done you have the bugs worked out. By the way Logan, I bought the UP15 complete rifle, best shooting 223 I’ve ever shot, shot in a 500yd shoot in May, came in 5th only behind the high dollar Creedmoor Chassis guns so thanks for you reviews.

Just started reloading. Until the Keebler elves start putting primers on the shelves I’m left with learning. Awesome information and video!!

You have a great channel man! Good content 👍🏻

Just starting reloading, great video 👍

Great video. New to reloading. Thanks for the assistance

New to reloading. Enjoy and like you process.

Great video with attention to detail.

Thanks for this. You showed me the one tool I don't have...the crimp removal tool. I've heard of them but don't have one...yet.

If you want to remove more of that tarnished brass look where it is more brown use vinegar in a wet tumbler with steel pins - works wonders.

This video was really helpful, thanks!

Great video Logan, I’m sure in two years you’ve picked up more tools to make the job easier as I have. Couple things you’ve done is using a small base resizer that works in both your AR and bolt action is a big plus. I also have a Uintah UP15 and I just necksize at least twice since they’re fire formed. I saw something a few days ago that I liked, a guy bought an extra drum for his wet tumbler and puts walnut shells and a little car wax in to do the initial cleaning before he starts the process. Like you I download a book on my phone and knock out a hundred or so rounds so they’re ready for priming, powder and bullets. Subscribed

I’m new to reloading.. tools and target recommended this video to learn about the Compartor head space gauge

This is an excellent video for beginners. And I consider myself one. The corn cob media will give a great shine but it creates an added step of clearing the flash hole.

I used the Lyman Case Prep Center. Switching from a drill to that really made a difference in how much brass I can prep before I get tired. There is an adapter to use the Lee trimmer

New to reloading, doing some homework! thanks!

Subscribed, good video all around!

Very good. I’ve been reloading for a few years, I wet tumble with pins after I de-prime. I never used the comparator that’s attached to your calipers, maybe later. I use standard base dies not small base.

I mark my 223 brass with an archival permanent ink pad on the head stamp. This makes it easy to separate out my brass from others that get picked up at the range. I’m still experimenting with the exact shoulder bump needed, but it’s looking like a Full Length die set to full insertion is only pushing 2-3 mills for my fire formed cases. Seems to wood good in my chamber.

Great explanation and steps...im just starting.....e.g. waiting for delivery of first reload equipment purchase...haha...buckets of brass from years of shooting on tap

When I cut the crimp rings I use a ballistic tool primer go/no-go gauge. They make one for small and large primer pockets It’s under $20 an you know for sure the primers will seat well or use it to see if the pocket are stretched out on brass that’s been fired multiple times. Great vid WDS

Thanks for this video! I’m about as green as a guy can get and I’m doing my homework before I start.

I would HIGHLY recommend a 3 way case trimmer! I do 1k rounds at a time and it saves a ton of time on case prep. I usually swage and chamfer my primer pockets, but I may try one of those military crimp tools.

Use the RCBS Brass Boss. Works great.

Pocket swager for military crimps will save you a lot of time

Magic content 💯🤙

You can also swage the primer pocket. This doesn't remove material which is always good

Of all three cleaning methods I feel wet media tumbeling is the best

Nice video!

Thanks for sharing.

That Lee case length trimmer is too slow for bulk work because of need to chamfer as a separate step. The Lee Power Quick Trim eliminates that step for not much more.

Thanks for the video! I have been reloading for a few years now and was wondering if I was chamfering the inside to much. I definitely was going a bit overboard. They are a little sharp so hopefully that’s not to bad…

For any newbies watching I highly recommend the Lyman case prep Xpress and the WFT trimmer. Really speeds things up. I also do the same thing for pistol and rifle. Get a bunch of brass prepped and primed so when I'm ready I just have to drop powder, seat and crimp

I do this but... I use an electric drill and it has a locking on/ off button, get a 15 degree counter sink for sheet metal chuck it up stick it in the vice and turn it on and feed it brass 1 second each and it cuts the crimp up to a perfect bevel I have learned that the whole crimp does not need to expanded just the first couple of hundreds or so and the new primer goes right in , just speeds things up a bit and you don't have to hold the drill.

Just getting started on 5.56/223 still buying pieces I have most of what you showed but still need to get tumbler I started with 9mm just built a AR-15 .

Just watching before getting anything

I clean before sizing. I just wipe the case lube off the case after I size. One Shot won’t contaminate the powder.

Great video oh, I enjoyed it. Echo

Just got over 2,000 .223/5.56 cases and getting ready to prep them. I need to set up stations that I can quickly do all these steps.

Thank you

I have not reloaded anything yet but am trying to research the best information I can. I have a dillon reloader and want to reload pistol and rifle loads. thanks for your time and information.

Just getting into reloading

Logan good job, it’s Ted

I’m a newbie getting info and understanding 😉

I use the 21st century reloading primer pocket uniformer . The pockets on military brass are very inconsistent

I pretty much follow your process, using all lee stuff.

Anyone here try having a separate press and a universal decapper for range brass? Decap, clean then resize/trim

Very good 👍

Hey @WestDesertShooter, excellent video. What are the tools you're using for trimming. That setup is slick and I want it.

Could you do a video n how you clean up your press?

If you ever need anything let me know I work in stg at least once a week. Stuff is hard to find right now for sure

Great video! New to reloading rifle cartridges What brand is your case trimmer?

I have a couple Giraud power trimmer. I process 5000 pieces at a time. Would like to send you a video. Not sure 🤔 I can. Not cheap but in my years it’s the best with a one step cut to length with a try bevel. Good for boat tails or with out. They will load.