[Unclenick]

.223 chamber reamers are about .004" shorter in headspace than the 5.56 mm NATO chambers, and have 0.025" freebore to the rifling, while the NATO reamer has 0.050" freebore (at least, Clymer's reamers have these dimensional differences). The .223's will shoot fine in the NATO chamber, but NATO rounds may be unsafe in .223 chambers because some of the NATO bullets are long enough to jam into the rifling of the .223 chambers. .223 in a NATO chamber will have shorter case life, due to the extra stretching, so you will want to set up the .223 dies to only push the should back a couple of thousandth on sizing to compensate. That way you will have converted the .223 cases to near NATO dimensions.

The Dillon dies are good. I have a case stuck in one now that missed its lube step somehow. Have to freeze it and knock it out. You don't need these expensive dies unless you shoot a lot. Their main virtue is their resistance to scoring by dirt and grit, which is especially important in progressive loaders running high volumes.

The Lee hand tool is very good and will resize and load the little .223 cases just fine. Use a good lube, like Imperial Sizing Wax. The Lee lube doesn't slick it up as well. You will find the hand tool has a permanent home in your range box when you get a larger press. It is great at the range for load development, even if all you do with it is seat bullets into pre-prepped cases.

If you are getting an electronic scale, I recommend the CED pocket scale. Very accurate and repeatable. It costs a little more than the plastic load cell scales, but works better and has less hysteresis than most. The 500 grain weight limit is a drawback if you want to weigh cast .458 bullets, but for most reloaders, that limit is fine. The whole thing packs up into a little pouch for going to the range, and includes a collapsing wind screen and a check weight.

Nick