.223 federal brass is short...around 1.74

[Jrabbit771]

I'm new to reloading....I have about 500 .223 Federal casings.....most of them are 1.74-1.745. Before resizing they were around 1.738....I have a few Hornady and Remington brass that is 1.755....which is normal after firing. Should I just trim the federal brass down to 1.74 and call it good? From what I've read....which consists of different opinions...but a lot of people said if it is under 1.75 then you are good to go. But will different case lengths affect my accuracy even if the OAL is consistent? This has me a little concerned since I'm loading for accuracy...I was shooting H-335 in them and 60gr Nosler Ballistic tip, Hornady V-Max 55gr (Moly), and 50 gr V-max. I loaded some with W748 and BL-C(2)... The only load that grouped well was the 55 Gr V-Max with 24.3gr of H-335... OAL was 2.255+/- .002.. So needless to say...I have all this brass that is ready to go....only thing I'm needing is some knowledge on case length Vs accuracy Vs OAL with differing case lengths.....if that makes any sense....haha....All opinions welcomed....

 

[Bevenue]

It really depends on how accurate your trying to get. Gas gun or Bolt gun? I would just load it as is and let it grow out to 1.750.

I trim to 1.750. Some of my FC/Federal is under 1.750. so it doesn't get trimmed. Everything over 1.750 gets trimmed. This is just my bulk planking ammo.

 

[Craig Westerman]

As long as they are all the same they should be good for the batch. I would trim to 1.740 and load them up. I've seen a lot of Federal 223 brass that had the primer hole not completely punched through. Small little flap partially covering the hole. I always debur these to make them more consistant.

 

[Jrabbit771]

Sweet...a lot of them were 1.744 so I made batch of those. I just tried matching the ones that were close....

 

[KurtM]

You won't see any difference in practical accuracy with different neck lengths as long as they are under maximum case length for the caliber and long enough to hold a bullet firmly. I wouldn't worry about it in the least. KurtM

 

[Spiff]

Federal brass kinda sucks though, primer pockets wear out pretty quickly.

 

[dennishoddy]

You just got some advise from some of the best!

 

[Jrabbit771]

The primer pockets are already starting to get loose....Only my 2nd time firing them tonight....I had a lot better results tonight. AR-15 is the gun. I got good groupings out of all of them tonight....The BL-C(2) worked out a lot better for the Nosler 60gr ballistic tip.