Help with .223/.556

[ledroyjr]

Good morning all, new member thanks for having me. I am from Arizona. I have rcbs dies for my reloading. I am usually a 308 or 30/06 guy and do not find much wrong sizing those cases. I have just started with 223/556 have loaded about 150 so far. Most are LC brass some .223 Rem, all are used rounds. I have about a dozen rounds mixed of the above that will not no matter how I adjust my die, size properly to my case guage. Am I doing something wrong for this to happen, any suggestions or is this just odd cases in the bunch. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
ledroyjr

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

What type of firearm are you loading for?

 

[ledroyjr]

I am building an ar15 80%

 

[0.1 Aggregate]

...not no matter how I adjust my die, size properly to my case guage...

I don’t understand you question, what is wrong? Do the sized cases chamber properly? Is case life too short? Accuracy problems? What help do you need?



.

 

[mac86951]

Good morning all, new member thanks for having me. I am from Arizona. I have rcbs dies for my reloading. I am usually a 308 or 30/06 guy and do not find much wrong sizing those cases. I have just started with 223/556 have loaded about 150 so far. Most are LC brass some .223 Rem, all are used rounds. I have about a dozen rounds mixed of the above that will not no matter how I adjust my die, size properly to my case guage. Am I doing something wrong for this to happen, any suggestions or is this just odd cases in the bunch. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
ledroyjr

Small base die. If you're using an LE wilson or similar gauge, the datum to case head may be sizing, but the body taper may not be. Like has been mentioned, it matters most if the brass fits your chamber and if you want to be certain; you may need a small base die.

-Mac

 

[Doom]

Mac has the answer,

The brass in question is probably blown out near the case head from being fired in an automatic (ie machine gun) with a large chamber. A normal die will not always size that portion of the case.

 

[jsn]

Check for rim damage also.

 

[Doom]

By the way, make sure these fit into the gauge. An AR with a stuck round is a nightmare to clear safely.

 

[Uncle Ed]

If the case has a ding in the case rim it will not drop all the way into a case gauge. I keep a small file on my loading bench to remove any dings in the rim. Turn the problem cases around and put them base first into the gauge. If the rim is causing the problem the case will not fit base first.

I buy bulk once fired Lake City brass and size them the first time with a small base die, This sized the case body to minimum SAAMI diameter. I then check the cases with a JP Enterprise case gauge to check the case body diameter. I use a Hornady cartridge case headspace gauge to check fired shoulder location and then set the die up for the proper shoulder bump.

NOTE, chambers and dies vary in size and you "might" get by without a small base die. This depends on the dies body diameter and how much the case springs back after sizing.

Below a Wilson, Dillon and JP Enterprise case gauges, the red JP Enterprise gauge is smaller in diameter and if the case fits in the JP Enterprise gauge the cartridge will chamber in any rifle.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

For my ARs, I have found that using Lee dies with the crimp die, all of the rounds feed perfectly. I also drop each into a gauge to insure they will chamber.
Like Uncle Ed, I keep a file and some scrap sandpaper handy to remove any burrs on the rim.

 

[EOD Rob]

I have had a lot of experience with Lake City brass in both 308 and 556. The brass is awesome however, it can be very finicky when sizing. I dont have to much trouble when sizing to normal chambering (308/556) however, I have ran into problems when resizing to different chambers. AKA. 7mm-08/6x45mm. For some reason the base of the body does not size correctly. For the 7mm-08, the die was touch to the shell holder plus a full turn and still would not fit in the case gauge. I had to take .005" off the bottom of the die to get them to size correctly. This was after trying small base dies. The 6x45mm die is at touch plus one half turn. I did not remove anything from the 6x45mm die, but it works the press harder then Id like.
My recommendation would be to ask around with buddies to see if someone has a small base die you can use to see if that will fix the problem before you spend the $50 on another set of dies. If it fixes the problem, cool! If not, start looking at having your die trimmed down. It does not take much, but makes a world of difference when resizing.

 

[MGYSGT]

Did you trim to length? If it fits in chamber and locks up, I don't see the problem. The AR has a sloppy chamber, unless it's a custom barrel.