R=15/

[hoss6br]

friend of mine baught a r 15 remington 223 and ask if i could help him reload sum ammo, ive never reloaded ammo for a a r type of gun but figured if i followed the book shuld be able to get some fine reloads for him. he had bought sum remington once firied brass so i went threw the normal steps in brass prep that i would do for my br rig. i full length resized them, trim, ect... the problem im having is when the round goes to chamber the bolt does not shut all the way and its stuck, i mean stuck! justa about gota get both feet on something to pull the bolt back to clear the round! it doesnt do it all the time but its a nightmare when it does do it, and a pain in the hand! maybe one of you could help me to solve problem? ive done all i know to do....

 

[15Tango]

You're not full length sizing correctly then or your cartridge overall length is too long. What's the loaded length? Were you using a FLS die and did you have it setup 'bumping' cam over on the shell holder?

Wayne

 

[fivering]

Be sure to trim to length AFTER resizing, and as above, check to see that you are pushing the shoulder back far enough. 2-3 thousands is plenty.
If the rounds are VERY hard to extract, they probably are not sized enough towards the base.
I started to have this problem after using the same die for many, many rounds.
I purchased a small based sizing die, and have had NO problems since.
This can be especially important if you are buying once fired GI brass, some of those GI chambers tend to be near the max on the dimensional sizes!
Get a small base sizing die, make sure you are setting the shoulder back a couple thousandths from rounds fired in YOUR chamber, and you will have no problems.

 

[hoss6br]

i trim after fl sizeing, i have the die hitting the ram on the press i cat fl any more, whats a small based sizing die? im just useing a starded rcbs fl die set, maybe thats the problem, i know its got be a sizing problem either my die is wrong or his chamber is wrong, the ones that do go i do the same process over and they go fine no problem, kinda like fire forming but we shuldnt have to do that? thanks for youre help

 

[jpretle]

Are you applying enough lube equally too all cases. Different amounts of lube, on cases, will leave you with different dimensions after sizing. The same can happen if 2 different lubes are used and not adjusting your size die

 

[bheadboy]

Hoss, possibly another area to look at,
take a sized /primed case, before powder/ bullet, and drop it into the chamber, close the bolt, if the bolt closed easity on a number of your cases , the problem is not the sizing,

it is in the bullet seating, if you run the seating die down too close to the shell holder, when seating the bullet, you can cause a swelling (pressure ring) around the case at the body/shoulder junction.

it only takes 1-2/1000 for this to cause your problem. what happens as the bullet is pushed into the case the case enters to die to the point of " crimping or bottoming out" thus the case has no where to go and buckles at the weakest point as the bullet is finally seated, the body/shoulder junction.

back the seating die out 1/3 turn and reset the bullet punch, the problem goes away.

Bob

 

[jonbearman]

+1 with Bob,I was just thin king the same thing as I read you post.I have crushed cases myself years ago.

 

[hoss6br]

ok guys thanks, i will give that a try ;D

 

[Larryh128]

One thing to consider is that not all AR chambers are the same. My reloads will absolutely not run in my friends AR but they lock up & function perfectly in my RRA. As previously stated small base dies will cure the issue. If you are a BR loader you know how to load ammo. Have him buy a set of SB dies & set them up for his rifle.

 

[hoss6br]

One thing to consider is that not all AR chambers are the same. My reloads will absolutely not run in my friends AR but they lock up & function perfectly in my RRA. As previously stated small base dies will cure the issue. If you are a BR loader you know how to load ammo. Have him buy a set of SB dies & set them up for his rifle.

yea i thought i knew how to... this ordeal kinda making me look bad lol, im getting ready to cut the sizing die so i can get another turn out of it.

 

[Larryh128]

Taking a turn off may or may not cure your problem & could result in setting the shoulder back too far. It really sounds like the brass was shot in a 5.56 chamber OR a full auto. Both are going to grow the side walls compared to a 223 chamber. I have run into this buying bulk brass & now inquire as to what it was shot in first :'( Small base dies will size the brass up to .001 smaller diameter than the reg dies.

 

[bheadboy]

hoss, dont be to quick to turn the size die, until you have tried the sized cases in the chamber empty of powder and bullet,

I that does not work, the cheeper way - not damaging the size die, take the top of the shell holder down, they are a lot cheaper to replace if that still does not work.

bob