Resizing 5.56 brass to fix 223 rifle help.

D

deadlydelta

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
5   0   0
Hey,

I purchased 200 rounds if imi 5.56 brass to reload them in my 223 bolt action rifle.
When I deprime them and resize these brass they will not fix in my rifle.
First the set the dies up to want the manual says 1 1/4 turn after it touchs the ram.
They wouldn't fix my rifle so, I have screwed the lee 233 die as far as it can go but they still wont let me close the bolt on these rounds.
Ive check the oal of the brass and they all under the over all lenght.

Does anyone know how I can fix this problem and get them to work?
 
Not familiar with the Lee Sizing die, I used Dillon Die which is a Small base die, or you check other brands which are SB, maybe your brass was fired in a semi auto with a generous chamber.
 
Maybe need to find where it is hanging up? I have coloured up a brass case with black jiffy marker, then try to chamber - the places that stop the case show up as the marker is rubbed off.

Is reasonable to guess that your milsurp 5.56 was fired in a semi auto or even full auto rifle - so that chamber might have been slightly larger than your sporter rifle - so diameter of the fired case is larger. And, some dies do NOT size down the body enough for all chambers, especially the rear where the solid case head is. That part is in your shell holder - does not enter your die - but have to find out where the hang-up is occurring in your rifle.

I never did it, but had read there is a handgun cartridge die - possibly for .38 Special, but not certain of that - you press the entire 5.56 case right through to squish down that head area on the fired case - someone else who has done it might be able to ID the correct die.

EDIT: I hope that you have figured out the "crimped in primer" thing on the milsurp brass - you will have to deal with that crimp in one of several ways, in order to insert a new commercial primer - but no point to that until you can get those re-sized brass chambering into your rifle

FURTHER EDIT: you can find the SAAMI drawings on-line. From Z299-4 SAAMI, for the .223 Remington, the MAXIMUM cartridge size - so, from case rim face measure .2008" (5.08mm) forward on the case. At that point the case has a MAXIMUM dimension of .3759" (9.548 mm). If you look there, do not get confused with the chamber drawing on the same page - the MINIMUM chamber dimensions are different.
 
Last edited:
the crimp on the milsurp brass can be easily removed with a primer pocket swager. only takes a second and its a one time procedure. i would do what "potashminer" suggest and color a case with black marker and try to chamber it. wherever the problem is will appear on the case.

only times ive had trouble is when the shoulder isnt set back far enough. but who knows whats going on here. try moving this to the reloading forum. lots of guys in their with tons of knowledge. im sure your not the only one who has encountered this issue
 
Did you try miking the IMI case dimensions & comparing them to cases that do fit your rifle? That should tell you where they are oversized and causing their chambering problem. If it's at the base then you may need a small base die or possibly the Lee die is cut oversized and is not fully sizing the brass. I'm assuming the IMI brass is new or once fired.
When you say "...the manual says 1 1/4 turn after it touchs the ram..." I assume you mean one 1/4 turn as 1 1/4 would be excessive.

Here's what Lee says about die adjustment:
"When using our full length sizing dies for rifle cartridges, the die should be turned in to touch the shell holder and then enough more that there is no daylight between the top of the shell holder and the bottom of the die during the sizing process. This is the preferred method because the act of sizing sometimes results in flex that prevents the shell holder from touching the bottom of the die.

Lee dies are designed so that the shoulder of the case is not sized until the very top of the die has been reached. This is done for two reasons; first, we do not want the die to overwork your brass and second and more importantly, we do not want to invite headspace problems. Pushing the shoulder back too soon can create a situation that can eventually cause case separation and a dangerous situation.

If you notice that your Lee Die does not appear to push the shoulder of your case back, ensure that you are adjusting the die so that there is no daylight between the top of the shell holder and the bottom of the die during the sizing process. If you see daylight at the top of the stroke, readjust the die downward and repeat sizing until it disappears. If your case is still difficult to chamber, you can send the die back to us with a sized case and we can modify the die to minimum SAAMI specifications."
 
The instructions on my Lee dies say that once the die touches the shell plate to give the die an extra 1/8 to 1/4 turn so maybe try that and see if it works
 
Deathrawt said:
The instructions on my Lee dies say that once the die touches the shell plate to give the die an extra 1/8 to 1/4 turn so maybe try that and see if it works
Click to expand...

You didn't read his post before commenting..?

Anyway as mentioned you likely need small base dies. I use them for all my processing of random brass to avoid issues like you are describing.
 
You said 1 blank 1/4 turn not one and a quarter sorry,only thing i can think of is your dies are faulty or your brass,i know that doesn't help.but you got a strange phenomenon happen there.
 
B said:
You didn't read his post before commenting..?

Anyway as mentioned you likely need small base dies. I use them for all my processing of random brass to avoid issues like you are describing.
Click to expand...

He said 1/1/4 turns after it touches the ram
Maybe YOU should read his post again...
 
Bad news; I believe you may need to get RCBS SMALL base resizing die. Then fit a chamfer tool to a drill to buzz out the crimp in the primer pocket, then chamfer the case mouth and run a brush into the case to decarbon the neck, and you did polish the case first. Do check the case length.
Yes its a pain in the ass and takes more time then it is worth.
Get commercial stuff or deal with the issues, your choice.
 
Buy a Redding body die and run the brass or loaded rounds through it. Chances are the brass you bought was fired in a sloppy chamber. The brass likely came out of a max spec chamber while the chamber in your rifle is min spec.
You might also try resizing your brass a couple times and holding the the ram down for 5 seconds, rotate the brass half a turn and resizing again. Also note that all shell holders are not the same, maybe a different brand shell holder will solve your problem.
 
- Have you tried a few pieces of other .223 brass? (from factory ammo, range pickups or whatever?)
- Are you brushing and lubing the inside neck of the brass? Sometimes the expander-ball can get stuck and lengthen the shoulder again with the pull on the downward stroke of the ram after sizing.

Other than that, if you've confirmed you are actually using a full length or "FL" sizing die, and not a neck sizing die, then there is something wrong with the brass. .223/5.56 brass is so plentiful it is practically free. If it is oversized LMG-fired brass it's better to cut your losses and just get other brass rather than waste money on more dies just to make brass that has been abused work.
 
Has been lots of good suggestions to fix various issues - have you done the jiffy marker thing (Post #3) to find out which of many possible issues that you might have going on?? Where is your re-sized cartridge "hanging up" in your chamber?
 
I buy bulk once fired military brass and the first time I load it, I size it twice, once in a regular die and a second time in a small base die.

Some of the ammo is fired in such over size chambers that it cannot be sized small enough in a single resize.

When I tried to go straight to a small base die, it got stuck, but if I size it first with a regular die, everything works fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom