What am I doing wrong with my .223?

[Conqueror]

Hi all,

I'm not new to reloading, having done pistol for some time, but I am new to rifle reloading. I'm trying to cook up something for my AR with 75gr A-Max bullets over 23gr of Varget.

I have my seating die (RCBS) set for 2.4" with no crimp. After resizing, the cases are normal. But after seating the bullet, they come out with a bulge in the shoulder area. I'm guessing the seating process is crushing the case mouth down toward the case head, causing the walls to bulge. But how do I get rid of the problem? And am I even right about the source?

Here's a (VERY LARGE) picture of what I'm talking about. The bulge is subtle but can be felt with the fingers.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd224/paintballplayer700/IMGP0350.jpg

Thanks for the help!

 

[Idano]

I may be wrong but in the picture it does look like you are crimping the round, I say that because if you look at the top of the neck it looks beveled over. My guess is you have the bullet seating die screwed in too far. My suggestion is back the seating die out and run an empty cartridge all the way up and then screw the seating die down until it just touches the brass. Then reset you bullet depth so your overall length is 2.260”. Like l said I could be mistaken but I do think that is what is causing your problem.

 

[Conqueror]

I have the seat die pretty far up, but I'll try cranking it even further.

FYI 75gr A-Max cannot be seated to mag length for an AR, you have to single-load them. 2.39-2.40" is the standard.

 

[Conqueror]

PS, I have about 10 rounds with this bulge. Do you think they are safe to shoot, or do I have to scrap them? I don't care if they'll be super-accurate since I'm just starting to develop a load, but I do care if they're likely to KB my rifle.

 

[Conqueror]

OK, found the problem, that was easier than I expected. The setscrew in the lock ring had come loose and the whole seating die had migrated down just enough to start putting crimp on the cases. Thanks for the help, any idea on the safety issue?

 

[627PCFan]

if you can fireform normal cases into AI cases, I think you should probably be ok??

 

[rcmodel]

They are safe to shoot, if you can get the bolt too shut on them.

Pounding them in with the FA might do it.
But if it doesn't, you got a hell of a job on your hands trying to get that AR bolt back open again!

Might be best to just pull the bullets, take the de-priming pin out of the expander, and resize them.

rcmodel

 

[Idano]

Glad to hear you found the problem. Regarding the bulged cases if they all look like the one in the picture I suspect they will chamber just fine unless you have a tight chamber. If the won't just drop in then I would do was RC said and pull the bullets, remove the decapping pin from your resizing die, lightly lube the out side of each shell and resize them again. You can then just wipe of the lube and reload them again.

 

[jenrob]

I did the same thing on 270wtby mag brass only 1 of them we could not get the bolt on a Browning Safari Bar
and we had to try several times to get the bolt back open.

They will fire form if you can get them to load or you can find some one with a bolt action to fire them.

Or since 223 brass is pretty easy to come by pull the bullets and recycle.

 

[Sunray]

"...lock ring had come loose..." That'd do it. However, if the loaded ammo will chamber as is, it'll fix itself upon firing. If it won't chamber, pull 'em, take out the depriming pin and resize. If they don't go into the die, pitch 'em. Have a few .30-06 cases around here with much bigger bulges. Excrement happens.

 

[strat81]

I had a bunch of cases that looked like that and would jam my Stag-15 which has a 5.56 chamber. Try dropping them into the chamber and see if they'll go. If they won't, disassemble them and start over. Do not feed them from a magazine or try closing the bolt on them unless you enjoy live rounds jammed into your chamber.

 

[rcmodel]

I know for a fact they wouldn't chamber in a Colt AR15.
BTDT!

I got one stuck in an SP-1 years ago that looked just about like that, but probably not as bad.

The SP1 doesn't have a Foreword Assist, and it wouldn't go in and it wouldn't come back out either.

rcmodel