Reloading 223.cal
- Thread starter msg.drew
- Start date
you trimmed your cases and deburred the edges?
have you measured to endure that you have not crushed the shoulder of the cases?
I suggest giving your resizing die another 1/2 turn lower.. see if that will help it feed.
if other ammo is feeding.. then its not the gun.
The AR has very tight tolerances... when you load the ammo into a bolt gun.. does the botl close with little effort, or do you have to give it some effort to rotate the bolt to a locked position?
I still think its your cartridge... your bolt gun may not have such tight tolerances as the AR, and this may be why its fitting in the bolt gun and not the AR.
I really would like to help you out on this one... so try adjusting your resizing die, and then get back to us.. OK?
have you measured to endure that you have not crushed the shoulder of the cases?
I suggest giving your resizing die another 1/2 turn lower.. see if that will help it feed.
if other ammo is feeding.. then its not the gun.
The AR has very tight tolerances... when you load the ammo into a bolt gun.. does the botl close with little effort, or do you have to give it some effort to rotate the bolt to a locked position?
I still think its your cartridge... your bolt gun may not have such tight tolerances as the AR, and this may be why its fitting in the bolt gun and not the AR.
I really would like to help you out on this one... so try adjusting your resizing die, and then get back to us.. OK?
- Location
- Calgary, AB
msg.drew said:
If you make your ammo to 223 Rem SAAMI spec it will fit in your 5.56 NATO chamber.
Assuming that you are using a full-length sizing die and that the die is set so it is turned all the way down to touch the shellholder (of the same brand as your dies), then the brass should be sized to specifications and some operation after that point is putting it out of spec again. You've said that you are not using a compressed powder charge so that leaves the seating of the bullet.
What BattleRifle said about roll crimping is very important. Have you tried backing out the body of the seating die to eliminate any crimp? Even if the case lengths and neck thicknesses are identical, a roll crimp that works with one bullet may be excessive on another brand or style of bullet.
Have you measured the diameter of the bullet to see if it is the same diameter as the Winchester bullet?
Have you measured the neck diameter of the round after the bullet is seated and compared that to the neck diameter of the winchester round?
If you do not have enough clearance in the chamber for the neck to expand away from the bullet, you may have a dangerous pressure situation if it does chamber deeply enough to fire.
What BattleRifle said about roll crimping is very important. Have you tried backing out the body of the seating die to eliminate any crimp? Even if the case lengths and neck thicknesses are identical, a roll crimp that works with one bullet may be excessive on another brand or style of bullet.
Have you measured the diameter of the bullet to see if it is the same diameter as the Winchester bullet?
Have you measured the neck diameter of the round after the bullet is seated and compared that to the neck diameter of the winchester round?
If you do not have enough clearance in the chamber for the neck to expand away from the bullet, you may have a dangerous pressure situation if it does chamber deeply enough to fire.
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Try F.L. sizing a case, trim to 1.750". What is the measurement from the base to the shoulder? Will this sized case chamber?
If your die has seen 50000 rounds through it, it owes you nothing. I'd replace it based on the round count alone, regardless if it is still producing decent rounds.
If your die has seen 50000 rounds through it, it owes you nothing. I'd replace it based on the round count alone, regardless if it is still producing decent rounds.
msg.drew said:
YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE FROM YOUR PICTURES THAT THE CASE SHOULDER IS WRONG. IT IS NOT THE SAME AS THE FACTORY ONE.
RE-READ YOUR INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR DIE:
"LOWER THE SHELL HOLDER AND ADJUST THE DIE 1/4 TO 1/8 FURTHER DOWN"
you have "backed off" your die instead of "lowering" it.
you have been trying to "neck size" brass fireformed in another rifle!
do this:
1) unlock your die
2) pull the lever so your shell holder is as high as it goes
3) lower the sizing die down till it just touches the shell holder
4) move the shell holder out of the way
5) lower you die 1/4 turn
6) lock it
7) raise your shellholder up, and you should feel some pressure against the die...
8) make a dummy round and chamber it...
9) if its still a little snug in your gun... lower your resizer die an 1/8 more....
this is you now....
this is you tomorrow....
taken from my reloading software:
Adjustment of the full length die calls for the die body to be screwed down in the press until it contacts the shell holder at the top of the ram’s stroke. If the ammunition is to be reused in the same gun the cases were originally fired in, back the die off 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn and size a lightly lubricated case. Wipe the case dry, and chamber it in the gun. If any resistance is felt, lower the die body another 1/8 of a turn (or less), and repeat the process with another fired case. This is repeated until the action will just close without resistance. When this has been accomplished, set the lock ring to secure the die in place. This method will ensure that the fired cases are resized with a mini- mum amount of headspace. This case has now been “custom fitted” to that particular chamber. This will normally provide the best case life and accuracy, but does require that the ammunition only be used in the gun in which it was originally fired. If the ammunition is to be used in a different gun of the same chambering, of course!, the siz- ing die should be adjusted down until it just con- tacts the shell holder at the top of the ram’s stroke. This results in a slightly greater amount of head- space, but will allow the ammunition to be used in several different guns. Whichever adjustment style is used, full length sizing is generally the best siz- ing method for most shooting situations
glad we got you all straightened out... this one was beginning to stump us!
cheers,
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Guess What ???
Problem Solved, I cant believe you could tell that from the picture... its totally against anything anyone told me but it works... I better toss out all my old books and buy the computer software...
Question what do I do with the 300 I already loaded incorrectly?
Problem Solved, I cant believe you could tell that from the picture... its totally against anything anyone told me but it works... I better toss out all my old books and buy the computer software...
Question what do I do with the 300 I already loaded incorrectly?
i've been monitoring this as it has progressed and the sizing thing had me raising an eyebrow - i've been reloading for about 30+ years and always had the sizing die down tight against the shellholder /plate plus 1/8th more- i've NEVER heard/seen otherwise- it's the SEATING die that has the gap, which i always set with a FACTORY or dummy round- even my old PACIFIC manual- that was back before hornady bought them out says to do it this way- is it possible you've misinterpeted the book- anyway, i sure wouldn't throw them out as there's probably valuable load tables and other information in there- btw, i have the pacific and a speer 11 with a bunch of stuff i got on line and they all say the same thing-
- Location
- The Police State: Ontario
t-star said:
I agree with you. Sizer touches the shellholder, plus 1/8 turn.
The only exception being carbide sizers for pistol calibers...only then is a small gap needed to protect the hard but brittle carbide.
