bushmaster wont cycle reloads

[hard head]

i own a bushmaster .223 that shoots well and is very accurate, but it will not cycle my reloads. it does cycle factory shells. my reloads are loaded with new winchester brass, 55gr bthp bullets, 20.3 grains of imr 4198. the shell shoot and are accurate, but i have to use the charge bar to load every round. im thinking the shells are loaded to light. any suggestions??

[TRAP55]

I ran into the same problem once when I changed powders. I was getting 200fps more, but the rifle wouldn't cycle. Went back and checked the chamber pressures in the load data, and the new powder wasn't producing the pressure needed to cycle the action.
Another culprit I've ran into on two different rifles, was the fit of the gas tube end into the bolt carrier key. That one will drive you nuts trying to find the problem if you're not looking for it. One was to short (Bubba installed gas tube) and the other had a worn out key. The hole in the key was a good millimeter larger than the gas tube OD.

[ostrick]

Did you full length size the new brass?

[Helix_FR]

pressure spike is outside of the barrel. You may need to convert to a faster burning powder.

[American Leader]

+1 Helix

[cycloneman]

Do you have a chrony? If so what kind of velocity are you getting. This may give us some insite.

I have never used imr 4198. Looks like max load is also 21gr so your close to it allready. I also suggest trying another powder. I have used all of the powders listed below with no problems in the 223. Good luck.

Good powders for the 223 are

IMR family 4064

Accurate: 2230, 2460 Alltho i would opp for the 2460, alittle more versatel.

Ramshot: Tac

WInchester: 748

[muddober]

i own a bushmaster .223 that shoots well and is very accurate, but it will not cycle my reloads. it does cycle factory shells. my reloads are loaded with new winchester brass, 55gr bthp bullets, 20.3 grains of imr 4198. the shell shoot and are accurate, but i have to use the charge bar to load every round. im thinking the shells are loaded to light. any suggestions?? You are not telling us enough. When you fire the gun does it throw the empty out or are you having to manually cycle the empty as well. Then the next question have you tried shooting four or five factory loads to make sure it is not your reloads.

So many times guys take their gun apart to clean it then shoot different ammo and the gun doesn't function and they automatically think it must be the ammo. 20.3 grains of 4198 should make your gun function just fine, so my guess is it is something else.


Ron

[TRAP55]

Just an after thought, the three bolt rings should have the end gaps staggered in thirds. If they are all lined up, that will cause the bolt carrier to half cycle too.

muddober
i own a bushmaster .223 that shoots well and is very accurate, but it will not cycle my reloads. it does cycle factory shells.

[jlloyd73]

I agree with muddober though, more info is needed. Did this fella use factory loads in between the reloads and they were fine. If so its the reloads......if not it could be the gas system of the gun.

[trex1310]

You might check the o.d. of your reloads versus a factory round.