Squished brass when reloading 223

[Rollieftw]

Hi All,

I am pretty new to reloading rifles and I am not to sure what is going on. When I reload once fired Federal or PMC 223 brass- 5 out of 50 rounds end up being squished at the bottom of the shoulder when pressing the bullet in. I have tried lubing the inside of the case neck with Lee resizing lube and chamfering the inside mouth, but nothing seems to help. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to resolve this?

- Lee Turret press
- Lee 223 dies

Thanks!

 

[easysauce]

your die is too low, raise it up

 

[daBear]

Too much crimp before bullet seated forcing shoulder down..Back off the seat/crimp die a bit. If u have a factory round avbl, use it to help you set it up and then fine tune after.
dB

 

[iceman2]

do you want to crimp? If yes, make sure all your cases are the same length and the bullet is seated do the mouth of the case is being crimped into the groove not the bullet. If you don't want to crimp, raise your seating die a turn or so and adjust your COAL using the stem.

 

[kamlooky]

I agree on this excessive crimp on your die setting.
If you wish to go the crimp route, buy yourself a crimp only die
and save yourself some grief.
Lee makes them and are cheap enough.
One of their things that does work amazingly well.
It's great that you caught this little belly.

Edit......that round may not chamber for you.
Not sure if the rest are the same as the one shown,
but they need to be chambered for function.

 

[Cleftwynd]

Or you can back the seating stem off a lot, then back your die out at least a full turn. Then lock the die down, and seat the next bullet to the correct OAL. Then back off your seating stem again, back the die back out as well, place the properly seated round back in the press, run the round to top of press cycle, then run your die down until it touches the brass, turn it in for however much crimp you need (1 turn or whatever), lock it down, then crimp your round. Check for proper crimp. If proper, then run your seating stem in until it touches the bullet. VOILA, it is now set up correctly.


Kamlooky's idea is better, lol. I didn't see his post when I was posting.

 

[HeavyT]

Yup excessive crimp, just went through this myself.

 

[44Bore]

Too much crimp--but did you check the length of the cases after they were re-sized--over crimp might be caused by over length cases.

 

[Bitumen]

The solution is to stop using junk lee equipment.

 

[desporterizer]

The solution is to stop using junk lee equipment.

I have to ask. How is this Lee's fault?

 

[tootall]

The solution is to stop using junk lee equipment.

I'm not a Lee fan either, but setting an RCBS or Redding die too low would do the same.

 

[takman74]

Nothing wrong with lee equipment as long as your die is set correctly. The only thing that I don't like about lee dies is the fact that once you get your setting correct there is no way to lock it with the set screw like on the RCBS stuff. Otherwise for someone on a budget it is ok stuff. Lots of videos on u tube on setting up your dies. good luck!

 

[Rollieftw]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!!!

Excessive crimp was the issue; I back out the die by 1 full turn and everything went smoothly. I reloaded 400 cases with no issues!

 

[Cleftwynd]

Glad you got it sorted out! CGN is great isnt't it!

 

[hometownhero]

The solution is to stop using junk lee equipment.

Has nothing to do with lee equipment. I can do the same think with my hornady and rcbs dies. Its setting them up wrong that is the problem.

 

[Lead Loader]

lee has never moved for me, has an o-ring to lock it it and can get to the thousandth accuracy on them.

 

[greg11]

The solution is to stop using junk lee equipment.

Very stupid post.. Just sayin.