My first 223 load results

[awgrizzly]

The weather allowed me to go to the range the first time this year and try out some of the first loads I've made for the AR. I shot the low end of the test loads and checked the cases. They looked OK except there was a flat spot on the neck near the throat of most cases, and a shiny spot right on the throat indicating they had scraped up against something.

At first I thought it might be from the case landing on the concrete, but it happened to almost all of them. All I can think of is the cases are striking something when they eject.

Is there any problem with the reloads that could cause this?

Is this common?

Should I use a neck only resizing die first to straighten them out before I trim and resize them full length?

I had one double feed (my fault) and many feed failures when the bolt didn't pick up the cartridge. Like a dummy I had forgotten to bring magazines and had to borrow one from my son. :banghead: No doubt his mag sucks.

 

[TexasRifleman]

I shot the low end of the test loads and checked the cases.

May be your problem right there, may simply be too weak to get thrown clear during ejection and they are hitting the rifle in a spot they normally wouldn't. I have had this with some M14 loads in the past and as I worked the loads up in power the problem went away.

 

[cfullgraf]

A full length die should be fine but...

In either die, it will be the expander button that will do most of the fixing. So, depending how much they are dented, the button may or may not fit in the case mouth.

If the expander button won't fit without crushing the case neck, you may need to use something to open up the dent so the the expander will fit. Then full length size as normal. On larger than 22 caliber cases, I use a needle nose pliers to act as an expander. Maybe a small hobby pair might work or something similar with a taper that fits in the mouth. You do not have to be perfect, just good enough so that the mouth fits over the expander. The die will fix the problem.

Sometimes, you could remove the expander and the resizing of the neck will return the neck to round. Hazard here is if the dent is too deep, you will crush crease the neck instead of rounding it.

Look at your rifle. You may see some brass marks showing where the cases are hitting. The case deflector frequently causes this problem. Changing the load, as TexasRifleman said, might alter the ejection pattern to minimize the case striking the rifle on ejection.

"Add on" brass deflectors frequently damage case mouth.

Hope this helps.

Hope this helps.

 

[GLShooter]

The case neck is getting flattened on ejection by the port. This is no big deal. You more often see dents in the case but further down. You can correct this by GENTLY rounding the ejector on the inside 9 Toward the middle of the bolt) and this will change the ejection angle. Also as you bump the charge up this problem may cure itself.

The shiny area on the neck can well be occurring as the case loads. Try chambering a round and not firing it. Extract and look at the neck. I had a 6 PPC that was EATING cases and I had to go in and smooth the edge of the feed ramp area where the cases slid by them.

You are GTG on your loads. What were the groups like?

Greg

 

[cfullgraf]

I had one double feed (my fault) and many feed failures when the bolt didn't pick up the cartridge. Like a dummy I had forgotten to bring magazines and had to borrow one from my son. :banghead: No doubt his mag sucks.

Failure to pick up the next round can indicate rounds that are too light. Did the bolt lock open on an empty magazine?

The ammunition may not be cycling the bolt enough.

 

[awgrizzly]

Lots of good advice and stuff I never would have thought of, thank you all. I tried chambering some rounds to see if they got marked going in and they didn't. The shiny marks coincided with the flat spots so they have a common cause. As far as I remember the bolt locked open each time the magazine ran dry. It's possible the loads were too light... we'll see next time out (if it ever warms up again... brrrr).

I was shooting a new rifle and zeroing a scope so I didn't get good groups nor expected much, but they were about 2" at 100 yards (probably about as good as I can shoot anyway =o). It's probably hard to test load accuracy while the gun is breaking in, so I'll have to fine tune that later. Right now I'm just checking for safe loads.

 

[788Ham]

I believe its your mtys hitting on the way out of the breech, my Mini Ranch 14 cases did the same thing. Its no big deal, the mty case will slide right into the resizing die and after its pulled out, you'll never notice the dent! Good luck sighting it in. Like a post stated, when you start loading with a little more "Ommph" in your cases, you won't see this anymore either.