223 Resized Brass wants to Stick in AR**UPDATE***
Need some help please.... A buddy gave me about 200 rounds of his once fired 223 Remington brass cosisting of PMC, Remington, and Federal. I took 100 pieces and being new back into reloading I followed the directions to the "T" included in my RCBS die kit.
1> I cleaned the brass
2> I lubed the brass
3> I took the charging hand unit with the shell holder in place and extended it to its highest level on my RCBS Rock Chucker with NO case in the unit.
4> I screwed the die down until it touched the shell holder.
5> I lowered the charging handle and then turned my die 1/8 to 1/4 turn further down and locked the lock ring.
6> I then slowly ran the charging unit up again and upon contact with the die base I carefully bottomed out the charging handle and it made its little thump confirming it had bottomed out.
7> I insured that the decapping pin was 3/16" below the base of the die insuring decapping and proper resizing.
After I full case resized the pieces I decided to take 3 or 4 and drop into the chamber of two different AR's to insure they did not stick in the chamber. In my Colt they stuck just a little, in the Bushmaster I had to get a cleaning rod and go down the barrel while holding the bolt in it unlocked position and carefully drive the shell out of the chamber. Keep in mind these cases DO NOT HAVE primers in them.
What have I done wrong or in the final step of seating and crimping a bullet into these cases the case is resized again. Thanks for any and all feedback.... I have hand loaded pistol ammo for many years but just started back and this is my first pass at Rifle ammo.
Thansk Mark
1> I cleaned the brass
2> I lubed the brass
3> I took the charging hand unit with the shell holder in place and extended it to its highest level on my RCBS Rock Chucker with NO case in the unit.
4> I screwed the die down until it touched the shell holder.
5> I lowered the charging handle and then turned my die 1/8 to 1/4 turn further down and locked the lock ring.
6> I then slowly ran the charging unit up again and upon contact with the die base I carefully bottomed out the charging handle and it made its little thump confirming it had bottomed out.
7> I insured that the decapping pin was 3/16" below the base of the die insuring decapping and proper resizing.
After I full case resized the pieces I decided to take 3 or 4 and drop into the chamber of two different AR's to insure they did not stick in the chamber. In my Colt they stuck just a little, in the Bushmaster I had to get a cleaning rod and go down the barrel while holding the bolt in it unlocked position and carefully drive the shell out of the chamber. Keep in mind these cases DO NOT HAVE primers in them.
What have I done wrong or in the final step of seating and crimping a bullet into these cases the case is resized again. Thanks for any and all feedback.... I have hand loaded pistol ammo for many years but just started back and this is my first pass at Rifle ammo.
Thansk Mark
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Is the length OK? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by bpost1958
Is the length OK?
Yes Sir - I have a case trimmer for the 223 Remington made by Lee that you do by hand with a drill and the 5 I tried were all checked and only one required a very small amount of trimming..... Mark0 -
Are you using full length sizing dies [?] If you are, you might need a small base sizing die. 0 -
Yes I am resizing full size -
Well here I go showing my lack of knowledge - What s a small base sizing die and is that a complete new die set or something I can add to my RCBS 223 Remington die set I have?0 -
Well - I just read up on and know I have learned that a Small Base Die set is used when reloading for a semi like a AR.... So I will order a set next week.... Thanks DCS and Bpost for your help....Mark 0 -
The small base die sizes the brass moer than a full length die, for tighter chambers. You can just buy it to add to your set. 0 -
Sounds like you need a small base die...it will solve your problem. 0 -
I don't think I would go with the small base dies. I would try a different standard full length die first. There should be no reason for a regular full length die not doing the job. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by shoff14
I don't think I would go with the small base dies. I would try a different standard full length die first. There should be no reason for a regular full length die not doing the job.
Shoff - Thanks for your comment. I have a buddy that has a set of Lee 223 dies. I will try his before buying a small base sizing die... Thanks DCS and 5mmgunguy also for your input.....Mark0 -
sigarmssp226...not a problem. I hope the Lee die solves the problem. I have a friend that reloads for his full auto AR15. He could not get 100% reliability with his reloads until he went to the small base sizing die. He tried everything. Lee, Redding, RCBS, Hornady and Forster. Two on them were almost perfect, but it took the small base to solve the problem. Like to hear how it all sorts out. 0 -
Well I borrowed my buddies Lee 223 dies today and unfortunally it did not fix my problem. I am going to go ahead and order a set of small base dies this weekend and my hope is that this time next weekend I will be able to provide a update on this issue. Thanks again for your help.... Update in about a week.....Mark 0 -
This is just another reason why small base dies were invented not just to reload machine gun brass with hot barrels. 0 -
My 223 Small Base Die set is here and I will be able to provide a update tomorrow night. Plan on cycling 10 rounds on once fired brass as well as 10 rounds from the group that are already resized from my earlier post to see if resizing 10 pieces from the same batch where I had sticking problems still occurs after resizing with the small base die set. Sorry for my delay in providing this update..... Mark 0 -
You need small base dies... 0 -
Guys - As promised I took 10 rounds of clean previously Full Length Sized, non primed brass from the batch of 20 rounds that after two rounds in my Bushmaster Carbon 15 pistol and 2 rounds in my Colt AR-15 STUCK and it took some doing to get the bolt open (had to get my son to help while I carefully took a cleaning rod with a plastic tip and insert into the barrel end to help force open the chamber while my son held the bolt release handle)I re-lubed and re-sized these 10 pieces with my small base dies. I then took 10 once fired brass from a batch a buddy gave me from where he picked up at the range where he and another guy was shooting a AR-15 and a Mini-14 and I lubed and resized those 10 pieces. I then took 5 pieces from each group and loaded them one at a time into the AR and the Carbon 15 and not a single piece stuck, or even hesitated to cycle. All of the lube was removed from these rounds before conducting this test so I will have to say for my application I will plan on utilizing the small base dies for ammo loaded for my AR type weapons and I will use the Full Length Dies for loading my 223 ammo for my Remington Bolt Action. Thanks to everyone for your comments and feedback. I did also purchase a container of the Imperial Case Lube and I used it on a Q-tip to lube the inside of the necks and I used Hornady One Shot for the outside of these cases.....Mark 0 -
More general info about sizing dies, etc!
SMDies as you found are recommended for the non-bolt camming guns such as Auto's, lever actions and some single shots! You will find the SMD sized hulls cannot be reload as many times as normal die sized hulls, because of overworking the brass, ie, expansion and contraction of the brass is somewhat greater!
RCBS claims that they will make you a die just for your chamber if you will send them a couple of fired hulls from the gun in question chamber and this reduces the overworking of the brass!
For MY own bolt action rifles I use neck sizing dies and therefore I get longer life from the brass if I'm not shooting real hot loads and stretching the brass! After neck sizing the cases and before loading them I take the gun and chamber each hull for fit! (sometimes a tight one will just appear for the same batch of matched brass and I have to go to the full length sizing die, and usually the full length sizing die can be backed off about 1 round and just size the neck and shoulder area of the hull instead of full length!
(I also chamber check the final loaded shells (in a safe area) before going to the field, just to make sure all chamber ok when hunting, etc!0 -
You should get yourself a case gauge. It will tell you if the sized cases are back close to SAAMI specs of not. 0 -
I and my friend used FL cases in our AR...results stuck cases...moved to SB FL cases...problem solved...no more stuck cases in our ARs. 0
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