Need .223 HELP!!

[GCSOA38]

Well I'm fairly new to reloading and am having a problem with my .233 loads in my AR15s. My loads will chamber and fire without a problem. However if I chamber a round and then drop the magazine and try to pull back the charging handle to unload, it is stuck and takes force to open (small taps from hammer on handle). Then when I finally get the round out, it has some decent scrathes on the bullet. First I thought it could have been my rifle (YHM Spectre Black Diamond XL) but then I pulled out an unfired Sig 516 I got last week and it did the same thing. I'm using hornady full length dies and loading on a hornady lnl. I also load for 9mm, 45acp, 308, and 300blk. Any thoughts on what I'm doing wrong here??

[aa1911]

can you post a pic?

are the scratches from hitting the lands of the rifling (bullet not seated far enough) or do they look like they are from normal feeding?

[GCSOA38]

Yes I can post a picture. Let go take one and figure out how to get it on here

[JLA]

Your barrel has no leade. you are going to have to seat your bullets incredibly short.

[Fast Forward]

Do the scratches look like rifling marks ?,,,,I,m not an expert but could the bullet depth be a little off,, Take an un primered (safety first ) round and paint the bullet with a Magic Marker ,chamber it eject it and look at the Bullet,,if it has rifiling marks on it maybe it needs to be set a little deeper in the cartridge,,,JMTC,,,,

[soundguy]

ditto what the others said. plus.. are you roll crimping or taper crimping.
ny problems going into battery chambering? ie is it chambering full?

what COAL are you using?

uniformed brass trimmed?

[GCSOA38]

Could possibly be rifling marks. I am roll crimping. But I have also tried it with no crimp. All brass is trimmed to 1.750. Using pulled 55fmj bullets and manual recommends 2.200. I've tried putting it as far out as 2.214 and a short as 2.190 and still get the same results. Still working on the pics

[GCSOA38]

[GCSOA38]

[aa1911]

dang, looks like the star chamber is wreaking havoc on your bullets there!

[steve4102]

That is not "rifling" marks. My guess is that is from the feed ramps or whatever they are called. If it were from rifling and a long seated bullet it would not be anywhere near the tip or past the Ogive.

Your chambering problem is a classic sign of an undersiezed case or an over crimped case.

Pull a bullet and see if the empty case chambers with ease. My advice would be to screw your sizing die into the press 1/8-1/4 turn more and try again.
If that's not it, back the seating die out of the press a turn or two to eliminate the taper crimp feature.

If your chamber is correct, there is no way that a bullet seated to fit the Mag will contact the lands. Especially if the chamber is 5.56.

[GCSOA38]

Thank you! I was certain it was a user error on my part. No way I had 2 rifles with messed up chambers. I will try turning the due in some more and see if that helps. Thanks

[312shooter]

I think I see in the pics a bit of rounded off shoulders, the chambering issues you describe sounds to me like your casings are not properly resized and your headspacing is incorrect.

[GCSOA38]

All cases fit nicely in the Wilson case gauge. But I think you guys are right. I'm going to play with the resizing die and see if it gets any better

[aa1911]

and the third bullet down from the top, the one that's sticking out the furthest, you can just see the bullet where it's starting to hit the lands of the rifling looks like. Don't see that on the others that are pushed in so doubtful that's the case. I think Steve hit it, try that and let us know what happens.

[LDBennett]

My guess is a few things:

Are the cases trimmed to the correct Trim-to length listed in your manual? You first size the cases then check for trim length. If any in the lot are longer than the max case length then trim the entire lot to the listed Trim-to length.

Over crimping can bulge the cases at the shoulder. Back the seating die out to not crimp in the seating die. Crimp using the LEE Rifle Factory Crimp Die that squeezes the case horizontally rather than vertically. It uses a collet that pushes the cases in rather than folding the case down. It is too easy to over crimp (it is a taper crimp the seating die does, not a roll crimp) in the seating die.

The sizing die should be a full length sizer for use in any AR, not a neck sizer. It should be set up exactly as per the instructions. Most FL sizers are suppose to be low enough in the press such that you can barely feel the press go over center as you operate the handle. Read the sizer die instructions. A sized case should drop into the chamber and extract easily if it is trimmed correctly. If not then you need a small base sizing die that makes the case dimensions fractionally smaller for easier loading.

I had a similar problem years ago with a Browning BAR in 7mm Mag. The barrel had missed a reaming operation that made the taper from the chamber to the rifling. The bullet would jam into the sharp end of the rifling and stick requiring great effort to get the bolt open. An inspection of the chamber might reveal such a situation in your chamber (??).


LDBennett

[GCSOA38]

Thanks for the info. All cases are trimmed to 1.750 (+/- .002). The sizing die is a full length size for the ar. I screwed the sizing die in the press another 1/4 turn and it chambered and extracted easier. So I put another 1/4 turn on it and now it chambers and extracts nicely. But now it seems like the die is limiting my press from rising to its full height (dont know correct terminology there). Does this sound normal? I will also try seating and crimping in 2 steps. I have a lee FCD die in the basement still in the box so I'll get it out and give it a try.

[312shooter]

Originally Posted by GCSOA38

Thanks for the info. All cases are trimmed to 1.750 (+/- .002). The sizing die is a full length size for the ar. I screwed the sizing die in the press another 1/4 turn and it chambered and extracted easier. So I put another 1/4 turn on it and now it chambers and extracts nicely. But now it seems like the die is limiting my press from rising to its full height (dont know correct terminology there). Does this sound normal? I will also try seating and crimping in 2 steps. I have a lee FCD die in the basement still in the box so I'll get it out and give it a try.

I'm not a big fan of progressive loading bottle neck cartriges for this reason. I would recommend removing all but the sizing die, get the brass sized correctly and then add the PM, seating and crimp stations back in to assemble the cartriges in progressive manner.

[LDBennett]

GCSOA38:

The press should cam over the top, not stop before it gets there. Test it without a case. Follow the instruction set that came with the die set and/or the one that came with the press.

I reload on my Dillon for all sorts of semi-auto cartridges including 223 used in my AR. Progressive loading is no different that single stage if you only do one station at a time. Even when progressive reloading is used, progressive presses make ammo as good as a single stage press, at least my Dillon does and I suspect so does the Hornady LNL.

Did you trim AFTER you sized? Sizing makes the cartridge cases longer and you MUST trim after you size.

Are you testing the fit to the chamber without the bullet? If so the case should easily drop in and extract easily.

Did you inspect the chamber to see if the taper from the chamber to the rifling is there? If you can not tell visually you'll have to do a chamber cast to be sure.

How does the gun do with factory ammo? If it feeds and extracts factory ammo correctly then compare one of your finished rounds to the factory round and see where the differences are.

The problem you are having is normally from over crimping or insufficient sizing or cases trimmed too long. If all else appears correct then you may need a small base sizing die. I have never had to resort to that but every gun is different. At a minimum I would recommend the LEE Rifle Factory Crimp Die and re-reading the instruction set that came with the sizing die.

This is not a problem induced by progressive reloading in my 20+ years of progressive loading experience!

LDBennett

[JLA]

Originally Posted by GCSOA38

Thanks for the info. All cases are trimmed to 1.750 (+/- .002). The sizing die is a full length size for the ar. I screwed the sizing die in the press another 1/4 turn and it chambered and extracted easier. So I put another 1/4 turn on it and now it chambers and extracts nicely. But now it seems like the die is limiting my press from rising to its full height (dont know correct terminology there). Does this sound normal? I will also try seating and crimping in 2 steps. I have a lee FCD die in the basement still in the box so I'll get it out and give it a try.

Screw the die in until it touches the shell holder and then add 1/8 turn and set the lock ring. As LD stated it should slightly cam over. that extra 1/8 turn will give you the cam over.