Dismantling Reloaded Rounds Question

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Hungry1

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I've been loading a fair amount of 5.56.

At some point, I decided to clean the resize die. I failed to reorient the die correctly and then resized/processed/and loaded approximately 500-700 rounds of ammo that will not chamber.

The die body wasn't wasn't set deep enough. :uhoh:

My first inclination is to pull the rounds with a RCBS collet puller, collect the powder, deprime/save the primers and then resize the brass.

Is there a more efficient way?

Thanks in advance for any input.

...Bonus Points will be awarded for the most clever description of my bone-headedness! :what:
 
THe Dove said:
Did you crimp at all? Do you think you are to long on overall length?
Click to expand...
No Crimp. Definitely not long. I've been using a RCBS X-Die. It calls for the case to be trimmed to .020" less than max case length. My cases are at 1.740"
 
If you do pull the bullets, you can take your decapping pin out and leave the primers in the cases while resizing. It will save you time not having to reprime the brass. Sounds like you didn't set the shoulder back enough, I have done the same thing, so I know how you feel. :banghead: It wasn't as many, but 100 .270win still wasn't fun to pull and reload.:cuss:
 
notaglockfanboy said:
If you do pull the bullets, you can take your decapping pin out and leave the primers in the cases while resizing. It will save you time not having to reprime the brass. Sounds like you didn't set the shoulder back enough, I have done the same thing, so I know how you feel. :banghead: It wasn't as many, but 100 .270win still wasn't fun to pull and reload.:cuss:
Click to expand...
I have thought about this. However, without the use of the expander ball on the depriming rod, wont this have a negative affect on neck tension?
 
I once had a batch of 45/120 cartridges I had loaded. This was some years ago and I cannot remember why I needed to disassemble them. Anyway, I did it by hand. I was taking the primers out with a wooden mallet and a pin. Not concentrating after the first few dozen, I was tapping the primers out, holding the wood in my right hand and the case in my left. The heel of my hand got beneath the case on that one case when the primer went off. Blood ran like a river. I cleaned up the wound, dressed it, and went about my business for a few days. The hole healed over but became very sore. Went to the doc and got an xray. Sure enough, the primer was deep in the heel of my hand. Went to a specialist who said he couldn't get it out without risking nerve damage, so I still have it.

My point is, disassembling is as important as assembling when it comes to safety.
 
No, just put the expander ball back on. The pin on the RCBS Xdies will come out of the expander ball and you can screw it back on the rod.
 
short barrel said:
I once had a batch of 45/120 cartridges I had loaded. This was some years ago and I cannot remember why I needed to disassemble them. Anyway, I did it by hand. I was taking the primers out with a wooden mallet and a pin. Not concentrating after the first few dozen, I was tapping the primers out, holding the wood in my right hand and the case in my left. The heel of my hand got beneath the case on that one case when the primer went off. Blood ran like a river. I cleaned up the wound, dressed it, and went about my business for a few days. The hole healed over but became very sore. Went to the doc and got an xray. Sure enough, the primer was deep in the heel of my hand. Went to a specialist who said he couldn't get it out without risking nerve damage, so I still have it.

My point is, disassembling is as important as assembling when it comes to safety.
Click to expand...
I appreciate the the input, short barrel. If I do, in-fact have to deprime, I'll be using a Lee Universal Decapper and wearing safety glasses. :)
 
Can you remove the de-capping pin on your resizing die? I haven't tried that with my RCBS dies but if you can resize without de-capping that should save a little time.
 
FWIW when I change dies I will try the first 2-3 resized cases in the firearm they are used in to make sure things are set up to resize correctly before punching out a pile of them. I also will make sure the first few completed reloads feed/chamber OK as well. As you can see this saves lots of labor every so often.;)
 
Invest in a reamer and ream your chamber out to match the 500-700 rounds. :)

500-700 is a lot to pull by any method. You'll probably wear out a couple of impact pullers doing that. If you have more than one press, you could set one up with the puller, one with the sizer (sans decapping pin), and one with the seater. Start with one primed and properly resized case and one too-big cartridge. Pull the bullet, dump the powder into the other case, seat the just-pulled bullet in that one, then resize the bad case. It then becomes the new empty. Using two cases keeps you from having to dump the powder in something to hold it temporarily while resizing. If you don't have multiple presses (or a turret press), then you'll have to do things the slow way. ;)

Something else to invest in would be a case gauge. I've only got one for 30-06 (lyman), but need to get them for the rest of the chamberings that I load for.

Just my thoughts.

Matt
 
Buy the Lee 223 size die. Body, only. Cost: $13.00 + $3.00 handling + actual postage. That should come out to $17.50, or thereabouts.

http://leeprecision.com/size-di-body-223.html

Then ream/sand out the neck ???

Or heck, you can buy this complete 7mm TCU die set for only 5.00 more than a Redding 223 body die.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/306484/rcbs-2-die-set-7mm-tcu

I wonder if that would body size a 223 close enough to the neck? Probably not, but it sounds like a fun caliber to talk oneself into.
 
Last edited:
Use the collet puller. Save the bullet and powder. Remove the decap pin, very lightly lube the case and resize. Wipe off lube and try the case in the chamber of the rifle you want to shoot them in. If they fit, load them up and happy shooting.
 
You can't do that.

The sizing die will reduce the neck diameter and squeeze the bullet way undersize.

Thats whey there is an expander ball pulled through the case neck after sizing.

rc
 
Buy a cheap 223 sizing die and open the neck up a few thousandths over the loaded neck diameter. I have done it with RCBS dies which are case hardened. It takes a premium cobalt bit, heavy feed pressure, slow speed and cutting oil. In a lathe or heavy drill press, don't try it with a hand drill.
 
I guess I said the same thing as witchhunter and Muddydogs.
Like rc said it does squeeze the bullet down. Just checked and a .224 bullet was at .220. Not sure if that is enough to change things but smaller none the less. Shooting would be the only way to check it and I haven't done that.
 
Reloaders like tools and gadgets! Buy a body die and a collet type bullet puller. Pull the bullet, size the case and reseat the bullet. A hammer type puller will take forever, and probably won't hold up to that many rounds. If you can't find a body die, take the decapping pin out of your sizing die and use it.

Sorry you had a goof up. Think of it as a learning experience, kick yourself and move on.
 
Lots of good suggestions,Thanks.

If anyone is interested, I started the process tonight. Not as bad as I thought.

  • I have the collet puller mounted in a single stage
  • Pull the bullet
  • dump the powder into the thrower on the LNLAP
  • Place the case on a lube pad
  • repeat 10 times
  • run the cases through the LNLAP using the resize die with the expander ball/without the decapper pin
  • charge the case
  • seat the bullet
  • place re-resized rounds in the ammo can :cool:

Thanks again for all the suggestions. If anyone sees a more efficient way to the method above, I'd be glad to hear it. :)
 
Thats probably about as an efficient way as any. Pulling 500 or more bullets and resizing the cases is going to be slow. Hang in there!
 
IMO, when doing that many rounds, I would recommend doing everything in batches. In other words, pull all of them in one batch, then lube all of them, resize all of them, then charge as many as you have loading tray space for per batch, then seat the bullets per tray batch size.

It's always best to work in batches, less chance of a mistake. When we jump around between steps, it's open the door for mistakes.

GS
 
Maybe check this first

I had new Winchester brass with a cambering problem. I turned out that rem 9.5 primers when seated all the way down in the brass higher than the base of the brass.

In the end I switched to Winchester primers which
sat below the base.

At first I had thought the shoulder was not set
back.

Larry (KB0VSO)
Norther Minnesota USA
 
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