Bushing for. .223

[jsthntn247]

I'm looking for bushing advise for a .223 with Lapua brass. What are y'all's loaded neck diameters running? I will probably be skim turning the necks for 75% cleanup.

 

[pacificman]

While I don't use bushing dies for my .223 my loaded necks are averaging .248 with about 50% clean-up. That is with Winchester brass. The fired rounds in my chamber are averaging about .254...lots of room but for some reason very accurate....3's and 4's at 100yds. so I am ok with this and have not felt I need to do more. Hope this info might be of some use...sorry I don't have the info for Lapua brass.

 

[artbosco]

I'm looking for bushing advise for a .223 with Lapua brass. What are y'all's loaded neck diameters running? I will probably be skim turning the necks for 75% cleanup.

After you've cleaned up the brass and seated a bullet [in a dummy round], measure the OD [outside diameter] of the neck, at the bullet's pressure ring, if your bullet has one. Then purchase bushings .001", .002", and .003" under that OD. Once the load is discovered [for that barrel], fine tune with seating depth and neck tension.

 

[jsthntn247]

Thanks fellas, I'm trying to figure out what most outside diameters are running with Lapua brass so I can order 2 bushings instead of 4. Loaded rounds on my hunting .223 measures .247 with Remington brass so I was figuring I'd be in the .249 range for Lapua. I've just been using fl dies for short range plinking but this one will be set up for F/TR and 90VLD's.

 

[SS427]

I have a .249 and .248 bushing for my Lapua 223 brass. I do not turn anything off that brass. I'm using the .248 bushing right now. Started using the .249 but after a while I wasn't getting much resistance seating bullets so I dropped to the .248 bushing. I use N133 powder in my 223s now, so if I had a .247 bushing I would probably be using that for the addition neck tension.

With all the 223 Winchester brass I use a .245 bushing. The case necks are that much thinner than the Lapua.

 

[jsthntn247]

Thanks, looks like I'm going to get a .248 and .249 bushing. I have another question though. Measuring the base to ogive I am at 2.009 to a hard jam with the 90vld's which puts me about .040 below the neck shoulder junction. The rifle was supposed to be throated to 2.067 to be .020 above the donut area. Should I take it back and have it throated out or just shoot it? Not sure how much the reduced capacity will make a difference, all i've read say's seating depth is critical to get the 90's to shoot however.

 

[gilream]

to the OP…I use a flat based 52 grain Watson match bullet which measures .2246 at the pressure ring. My unturned Lapua Match Brass yields a loaded case neck diameter of .2508 Hope this helps.

 

[amamnn]

With respect---You may be the exception that proves the rule--but the chances are slim----

Whenever I see the words "cleanup" or "clean up" used in reference to neck turning it makes me cringe since it seems that 99.99999999999% of people who use the terms have no idea of what the neck wall thickness of their cases are and no tools or knowledge with which to measure same---AND---no idea of what their rifle's chamber dimensions are especially in the neck.

Neck turning is a process that can result in improved accuracy when used with reference to the above. Simply shaving off some brass from a case does not do the same job, and may actually result in degraded accuracy if overdone (overshaved?) since case neck walls may be too thin--resulting in a poor seal between the case and chamber upon firing. In extreme cases (pun intended) the necks can split when not overpressured or fired too many times.

How do you know when you have shaved off brass to the point that you are now the embarrassed owner of an extreme case? Many neck wall thickness gages now are sold online for affordable prices. Do you need one? That all depends upon your dedication to accuracy. If you have dedicated yourself to the point where you have bought a custom rifle or barrel and know the dimesnsions of same you can benefit by using a neck (or tubular) mic to measure your cases and turn them to give you the optimimum clearance between case and chamber without going too thin on the brass of the neck. If you are loading for an off the shelf factory barrel (and chamber) the chances are 99.9999999% that turning necks is a waste of time--even if "cleanup" makes a tiny improvement, the fact that the boltface and chamber are almost without exception not trued axially.

Using premium brass like Lapua and a FEW others can help a factory barrels shoot a tiny bit better, but blindly shaving brass of the necks will not improve anything as far as I can see. I use Lapua brass and find that my neck mic shows a very good consistiency for my AR and hardly any need to turn the necks for use in my varmint rifle--a .0248 chamber.

All that being said, I was using that brass during the great Lapua outsourcing debacle and suffered the results along with a lot of others who had blind faith in the brand. That's one of the things that prompted me to buy a tool that could measure neck wall thickness. Again, this was only in reference to custom chambers that would benefit by the shooter/loader being so anal as to measure and trim to close tolerances as used om match or long range varmint shooting. To retun to the first part of the original Q:

The bushing that best suits your purpose is the one that best forms your case to work with your chamber and will depend upon your chamber diameter in the neck area --your bullet diameter (pressure ring or not?) and the tune of your barrel--some folks do not believe that neck tension affects tune, but I do and a lot of others do as well. Some folks still think the earth is flat..............