Help Sticky round in the Chamber ?

volks_r_us

volks_r_us

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
16   0   0
Location
Catnada
Like probably know I finished my Ar Build. I never used or fire a AR in my life.
I am getting ready to try it but I have some concerns.

I was gonna use reaload for my first try but there is something wrong.
They get stuck in the chamber.

-Brass are range pick up.
-I re size with FL die and small base die.
-All brass are trim to 1.750
-OAL is 2.250 or 2.200

I did some dummy to try (no powder or primer) before making live one
I put them in the mag pull the handle and let it go slowly , carrier dosent sit like when there is no round in the chamber. Is that normal ?
If I pull the charging handle a little bit I see the round hook in the bolt and moving with the carrier. If I let it go again carrier will sit a bit deeper. Forward assit dont make any difference to make itseat deeper

If I put a empty mag in pull the handle carrier stays open . Drop the mag put one of my Dummy reload in mag , then press the bolt catch , Carrier drop down. I cant pull the round out. took me 10 min of fighting with the charging handle to finally open the carrier and the brass flew away in the room (FL or SB make no difference) still get stuck

This dont seems normal to me, but could be. I have some factory American eagle ammo here but I can't load live round when not at the range, and will not risk to have a live one stuck in there at home.

What should I do ? do you think I did something wrong or this is normal AR business ?

Thanks
 
for one dont ride the charging handle. pull it back and let it go.
it is sort of hard to understand what you actually mean. for reloads, if all your dimensions are to spec, you should have no problems. i have found that sometimes with my reloads, its like the sizing die was not exactly correct, and there was a small bulge ring around the case midway, which caused me fte/ ftl.
 
volks_r_us said:
I am gonna go play with my dies again try to ajust them deeper
Click to expand...

OK, this is definitely abnormal, if that answers one of your questions.

Not sure, but from what you just said, your problem could be that you didn't put the sizing die all the way down. Most die instructions tell you to install the shell holder, run it up as far as it will go, screw down the sizing die until it touches, lower the shell holder and then screw the sizing die down another full turn before locking it in place. Did you do that?

By the way, please confirm that your problems to date have been with dummy ammo only? (If so, very smart of you to try that first before trying hand-loaded live.)
 
OK problem Solve.

It's the hornady Brass.
I dont know why but those hornady brass (found at the range) dont resize right. I have to put them aside, maybe they would work in a bolt action.

I did about 6 different dummy with diffent bullet and OAL but all on hornady brass I prep about 20 of them in advance. My Rifle dont like them I guess

With my small base die I resized and trimed a winchester brass. put a 55gr FMJ BT at 2.250. I was scared to get another stuck one but I drop it in with the bolt catch button. VLAMM ! Pulled the handle ejected Butter smooth.



Atom yeah I only tried dummy yet. I never fired the rifle I just completed it Yesterday
I never put a live round in it
 
I'm happy that you have found something that seems to work but, frankly, I'm not sure you have arrived at anything but a temporary solution.

You say that 1) only one brand of brass is giving you this problem, 2) your brass was all scrounged off the range and 3) they've all been resized. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Brass generally sticks because it is too large for the chamber. There are other reasons, but let's work with the most likely.

From where I sit, if the brass has all been properly full-length resized, it should all fit in your rifle, regardless of brand. That's what the sizing die does, it makes them all the same size. What it sounds like is that the Hornady brass you gleaned from the range had been fired from a rifle with a chamber larger than yours and that it was not properly resized, leaving it still too large for your rifle's chamber.

Your description is consistent with all the other brass (the brands that worked) having been fired from one or more rifles chambered same as yours' or smaller, but the Hornday brass having been fired from rifle with a larger chamber - with all being just partially resized. Consider that people going to the range generally have the same type of brass if they are firing factory ammo - if somebody with a large chamber had brought Hornady, it could explain why only one brand gave you trouble.

If my logic is true - and somebody please step in if you can find holes in it - you haven't really solved the problem. Moreover, you're going to inevitably run into the same problem, but this time with live ammo instead of dummy.

Again, did you follow the factory instructions for the sizing die to the letter? If not, I still think that could be your problem.

If you have access to a micrometer or vernier calipers, I would suggest you carefully measure the two types of brass. If the Hornady is consistantly larger, then you know that the resizing process - which should have reduced all cases of all brands to the same size - didn't work properly.

If that is the case, then either you didn't adjust the dies properly or else the dies are either the wrong ones or else defective. (And we've had somebody on this forum just a few days ago with that kind of problem with brand-new dies.)

Not trying to give you a hard time, but the thought of your being stuck on the range with one up the spout is not pleasant. I think you need to do some more investigation before you wind up with a serious problem.

Bonne chance!
 
Last edited:
Take one of the dummies that didn't work.
Smoke it with some candle soot.
Try again. See where the interference is.
Are you crimping? If you try to crimp too much, there may be a little ridge formed at the end of the neck, which could cause problems.
I have used all sorts of pickup range brass in my ARs, with both factory and chambers I have reamed. Doubt that make of case has much to do with your problem.
 
My bad , I did not update and you guys are missing some informations. but you gave me Great infos there

First the sticky round problem. They were resize with FL lee dies. I ended up f**king up the decaping pin less then 20 rounds later. Its a used die that I got from a gun show.
From the first round I did, I knew something was wrong. but I was not sure since I havent reloaded rifle since last summer and did over 3000 pistol after that. So my memory was a but blurry on this.
Then I got the Small base die RCBS (NEW) and I re pressed the hornady I had done with my FL Lee previously. These didnt chamber right also .

Then I tried winchester with the SB die chambered perfectly. I also tired , Federal, remington and some Hornady the didnt went in the LEE. They All chamber perfectly in.

I am starting to think my lee had the wrong decaping pin in it

Finally I am crimping with a lee factory crimp I dont think you can crimp to much with these and cause ridge , but this wasent the problem anyway.

Now I need to find a store that carry Lee in Quebec so I can order a decaping pin and try the FL die again.

Do you guy get alot of stuck Case while reloading 223 ? I noticed that if it's too hard to push in dont force it or it will get stuck. What about the crimped primer ? do you use a universal die for them ? I got 2 stuck one on crimp primer brass
 
The case has to go into the die. Proper lube is important. Without it, it is easy to pull the rim off a .223 cae.
The primer crimp can be swaged or reamed out.
 
Make certain that you have the sizing die adjusted properly ( have the press "cam over" with a thunk WITHOUT a case in there

Also keep in mind that as your expander ball pulls out of the neck, if there is too much drag it will actually pull the shoulder forward AFTER you just sized it ( smoke a case...see if it is getting stuck at shoulder .case wall junction or shoulder itself )

You can tell from the squeak noise as ball pulls out / increased effort on your press arm as it passes this junction

The best lube for this is the Redding DRY neck lube ( using case lube can cause problems when you drop powder )

Best die is the Redding with a carbide neck button ( they also make this for RCBS )...no lube required on the ID of neck

Brass brand / lot will have nothing to do with case dimension after sizing. It will however have lots to do with neck thickness, which is where the extra drag from the expander ball comes from

I use Redding bushing dies and you would be amazed how much variation in neck thickness there is in cases. The bushing allows you to tailor how much you squeeze the neck down. Best of all, no need for expander for ID of neck

You can also tell this by the change in force needed to seat bullet

I process all my plinker 5.56 / 223 on a progressive w/ standard ( not SB ) dies and no problems in all my ARs. I use all range pick up mixed brass
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom