• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

223 small base circle die advice respectfully requested

Im building a 20 practical and my Criterion barrel is picky as hell, I currently have a set of RCBS AR-15 223 dies, regular RCBS 223 dies and a full length sizer Redding type S die and NOT ONE of these dies will get close enough to the bottom of the brass to reliably feed. I trimmed .010 thous off the shell holder and no difference and trimmed another .010 off the die no go there also....Ive read in a few places where the LEE die sizes even further down than the small base circle RCBS die, Also the Small base RCBS die set is only 4.00 more than the Small base sizer as a single die, is it the same die or a different one because its in a set....I had an AR10 that i HAD to use RCBS small base 308 die and thats the only thing that rifle would eat....If anyone has any advice on this Im all ears Im going broke on this project....


Very Respectfully Submitted

Semper Fidelis
 
I'd think the two different small base dies are one and the same. I would think they would cure your problem.

Another option is to polish out the web portion of your chamber.
 
chesty for president said:
Im building a 20 practical and my Criterion barrel is picky as hell, I currently have a set of RCBS AR-15 223 dies, regular RCBS 223 dies and a full length sizer Redding type S die and NOT ONE of these dies will get close enough to the bottom of the brass to reliably feed. I trimmed .010 thous off the shell holder and no difference and trimmed another .010 off the die no go there also....Ive read in a few places where the LEE die sizes even further down than the small base circle RCBS die, Also the Small base RCBS die set is only 4.00 more than the Small base sizer as a single die, is it the same die or a different one because its in a set....I had an AR10 that i HAD to use RCBS small base 308 die and thats the only thing that rifle would eat....If anyone has any advice on this Im all ears Im going broke on this project....


Very Respectfully Submitted

Semper Fidelis
I just recently went through the same build as you only on a short action. I thought the 20 practical would be great since I already had plenty of brass & .223 brass is very common & cheap. I tried LC brass, PMC, WCC, Fed, Rem, Win, all once fired. None of it would chamber. Same problem as you're having. I took a Lee shell holder to a grinder & took off a small amount at a time & tested untill I could get a round to chamber. I purchased a bag of new Winchester brass, (which I swore I'd never do, long story) and the new brass fit with out a hitch. I use a redding .223 type S neck bushing die & size in 2 steps, .230 first then .225. I tried a .228 & on some brands of brass I was unable to get the proper neck tension so I settled on the .225. A small base die may work, that was going to be my next step but the ground down shell holder work for me so I left it at that. After they've been shot I just use the .225 bushing, neck size, load & shoot. On the 4th loading now & no issues yet.
 
I tried the ground down shell holder with no luck so I ordered the 223 small base die last night. Im looking forward to hopefully shooting this thing this weekend finally. From what everyone says its a fun little round...well see
 
If the problem is needing to size the base of the case, I remember reading a solution. The gentleman was using a .357 magnum carbide sizer to size the base of the .223 cases. I haven't tried it, but if you have access to .357 dies, it might be worth a shot.
 
Rusty has a good point. If your using brass thats been fired in some other rifle you need to start fresh.
Just one firing of brass in a sloppy chamber can render it unoperable in a tight chamber forever.

Remember! If your trimming off your shellholder your increasing bump on the shoulders. .020" is a huge bump/trim.
I can understand the expieriment to hopefully find a cause but its not a cure.
 
I ordered a Redding small base die last night and I will make sure any new brass goes through that die at least once, and once its been fired in my rifle ill make sure to keep it seperate. Ive been kinda a sloppy reloader in the past ok with "good"groups but now im putting what to me is quite a bit of money into this hobby that I love. Am I right in running any new brass through the small base die once and then just use the regular bushing die afterwards, i keep reading where the small base dies overwork the brass
 
Once you fire the brass in your chamber you should be able to just neck size for a few loadings. I'm on my 4th loading w/new Win. brass & have not needed to FL size yet. There'll come a point where it'll no longer chamber & I'll have to FL size.
 
You pay a huge penalty for having a chamber that is too tight. I would think about opening the chamber up to a more std 223 body size.
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
166,281
Messages
2,215,482
Members
79,508
Latest member
Jsm4425
Back
Top