223 ammo sticks in me AR chamber?

[TresMon]

Greetings...

I have shot countless rounds through my AR .223.

Sometimes the rounds are hard to chamber, and if unfired really hard to extract.

What's up? A friend is experiencing the same with his ammo from his dies.

What to do? I'm resizing as much as possible, even bumping the shoulder. Am I going to have to go to SB dies or can I save my pennies by doing something else?

Thanks

 

[warthog97]

If you haven't done so, checkout my thread, "AR-15 Reloading Die Selection, small base or FL?". One respondant, Spotcheck Billy, mentioned that he has some ARs with tight match chambers that benefit from small base dies. Hope that helps, you didn't mention what chamber you have. Just a thought. Good luck! -bnw

 

[Spotcheck_Billy]

Tres,
A simple but often overlooked problem in AR's is a dirty or rough chamber. The AR platform lacks the camming power of a bolt action, especially on extraction.

Just a thought

 

[revenant]

Clean gas tube. Check extractor. Then check headspace with go/no go gauge. Good luck!

 

[mc223]

In case preparation, it is important to adequately chamfer the inside of the case mouth. With some bullets, the seating can push the neck down and cause a binding in the chamber.

 

[harvey13118]

I have been paying a lot of attention to this. I thought I'd agree with the dirty chamber but today I think I came up with my problem. Me thinks I maybe over crimping. I have to do some measuring to check for sure BUT that is what appears to be going on.

 

[Longone]

harvey13118, Why do you crimp 223 rounds for an AR? I have shot many, many thousands of rounds from an AR an never crimp. All bullet weights from 52 to 80 and haven't had any sort of problem. Check that your die is sizing properly by sizing a piece of brass and dropping it in the chamber, give it a push with your finger or ? to ensure it is fully in the chamber, rotate the rifle 180 degrees and the empty case should fall out. If it doesn't you are not pushing the shoulder back enough and the base of the case isn't getting sized fully. You will then need to screw the die in a SMALL amount at a time until you can achieve that. As was mentioned earlier check that case mouth to ensure a slight chamfer on the inside as well as the outside of the case, it does not need to be razor sharp your just looking to break the sharp edge and enable the bullet to be seated without shaving. RCBS makes a gage to measure the shoulder so you will know how much you are moving them.

HTH, Longone

 

[fdshuster]

harvey13118: I absolutely agree with the above post: there is no reason to crimp the 223 for the AR. Of all the advanced loading manuals I've read, not a single one advised crimping, most advised against it. I've fired thousands of rounds in match competition and never had a problem. Prior to the ARs' in 1995, loaded 30-06 for matchs' with my MI, again, no crimp/ no problems. Bullets with crimping cannalures are not known for accuracy. Show me a match bullet with a crimp cannalure

 

[harvey13118]

Thanks Guys I had been rethinking why I was crimping and came up with brain cramp. Very few of my rifle rounds have a crimp ring and most COL's are on the long side. Most of my handgun loads require heavy crimps.

So all that said it's not the crimp that is the problem.

For the AR loads I FL sized a new once fired and the die was tight to the shell holder and case will not drop into chamber. It is .004 larger in front of the extraction ring than never been fired factory or ball. The rest of the dimentions seem to measure the same or smaller.

Feeding a RRA4 20 wilson varmint barrel. I use out of the box RCBS FL die. I think I may need to go to a small base or a different FL die that is a tad tighter.

I have used a chamber brush so I am quite sure the chamber is clean. Top half is upside down on bench I had to pry the bolt open with a empty FL sized case. In the field I can usually use both hands to extract a live round.

 

[Longone]

Harvey, Lets start from square one. Is the case lubed properly? Sufficient lube on the o/s without causing dents around the shoulder area. What lube are you using and how are you applying it? Are you lubing the i/s of the neck with a nylon brush? When you adj. your sizing die is the press "camming" over center? If the press handle,in the down stroke) is just touching the shell holder it might not be enough, it should cam over with the RCBS dies. Can you give me a mic reading of the base of the case and just at the top of the case before the shoulder? Also what brand of brass are you sizing?

My several times fired R-P cases measure .375" at the base and .356" just below the shoulder. That's run thru a Forster FL sizer die and lubed with a pad.

Longone

 

[harvey13118]

Longone Thanks

I do not ever think I have had to F/L size. Always if using surplus LC in 308 I'd just go down to shell holder and back off a little. Then neck size from then on.

I'd forgotten had to cam over. I did think of it a couple of nights ago, it worked, and now I think I am on the correct path.

Was almost ready to heave AR in dumpster and go back to Bolts. Shot it today with some odds and ends stuff to get some more rounds down the barrel.

Will start load developement now that reloads will cycle either by fire or by hand.

 

[sw_fox]

The same problem happened to me, the reason in tight chamber wat TOO LONG BRASS, trim it to exact lenght and try.