Sizing loaded ammo?

[SID325]

Question, I have about a thousand 5.56 55gr reloads that I bought sometime ago. I have been buying reloads from this source, off and on, over the years and have never had a problem. Guy retired, can’t find him, whatever. The rounds were loaded on a Dillon 1050. Now to the question, every 4th or 5th round will not chamber in my AR or M96. Would it be possible to run them through a sizing die without the primer decap or a Lee factory crimp die? I really don’t want to try and pull all the rounds.

Sid

[ftierson]

Why won't they chamber?

You must answer this question before looking for solutions.

As far as I know, no one makes a sizing die that sizes the case body and shoulder without touching the neck. That's what you would need if the cases have not been sized 'enough.' (Actually, someone probably does make such an animal, but they're certainly not readily available).

The Lee Factory Crimp Die will only crimp the bullet. If the neck opening in the case is too long and is catching on the end of the chamber because the bullet hasn't been crimped, crimping might allow the rounds to chamber but you're running the risk of greatly increased pressures if the neck can't let go of the bullet because the case is too long.

Forrest

[Sig220]

Originally posted by SID325
Question, I have about a thousand 5.56 55gr reloads that I bought sometime ago. I have been buying reloads from this source, off and on, over the years and have never had a problem. Guy retired, can’t find him, whatever. The rounds were loaded on a Dillon 1050. Now to the question, every 4th or 5th round will not chamber in my AR or M96. Would it be possible to run them through a sizing die without the primer decap or a Lee factory crimp die? I really don’t want to try and pull all the rounds.

Sid

What Ftierson said.............plus!

You might want to check the overall length of the loaded rounds and compare that to the recommended length. Often times, on a "short" stroke of the loader, the projectile is not seated to the correct depth. Being too long will not let them chamber as well.

Of course if this is the problem, you just seat the projectiles a little deeper.

But, you have to find the problem before you can commit to the fix!!!

[SID325]

Great comments, a couple and things I never thought about. The OAL is fine, I think the problem is the military LC cases. Either they weren't sized down far enough or a small base die is needed. The rounds get hung-up toward the base of the case, that is why I think it is a sizing issue. Maybe the guy was short-stroking at the sizing station?

Well, maybe I'll just push them aside and move on to something else?

Thanks guys,

Sid

[newfalguy101]

to answer your initial question, YES you can pull the innards from the sizing dies and resize your loaded cases.

I have a Savage 99 that wouldnt quite chamber some of my reloads ( .308 Win ) and upon purchasing a small-base die, I pulled the innards and resized the loaded rounds, now they work jes like they are sposed to!!

[kycrawler]

pulling the stem from the sizing die and using it on loaded rounds is a bad idea you will have very high neck tension possibly raising pressure

the die sizes the neck of the case to below the required size when you run it up in the die then the stem expands it when it is pulled up through the neck

[shootist87122]

Get a chamber check guage and cull the fat ones.

Your supplier probably bought preprocessed military brass and loaded as-is. without resizing. I did that ...once.

[SID325]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Shootist,

That sounds like a good idea. The bad ones I'll just pull and reload.

Sid

[kennaquhair]

MidwayUSA carries the Frankford Arsenal Quick-Check Max Cartridge Gauge (product number 487-730 $17.29) which is probably the type of beast to which shootist alluded. I haven't got one, and haven't used one, and I've been where you are -- but I didn't have a thousand rounds to check. Post a product review of whatever you end up using.

If there was such a thing as a body die for .223, it might look like a Lee Precision sizing die with the expander assembly pulled and the neck drilled/reamed/polished out to somewhere around .250" (YMMV). The Lee sizing dies have always sized the cartridge body a couple of thousandths small -- it is a design feature. The problem with using a body die on a loaded round is that the sizing operation typically causes an increase in the length of the cartridge case and it all shows up in the neck. You have no way of trimming a loaded cartridge case, so you either know that the resized cartridge case is safe in your rifle's chamber and freebore, or you pull down the round for components. If you just guess that it is okay in your rifle, and in fact the lengthened neck pinches in the freebore or rifling, you will have chambered a grenade.

You picked the winner in shootist's advice. I just had a "bright idea" that I needed to head off at the pass.

[mr_e]

I had a similar problem when I first started reloading 223 cartridges. I set up the RCBS sizing die so that it would just touch the base plate, then backed it off about 1/4 turn. When the loaded cartridges got stuck, it took quite a bit of swearing to get them to come loose.

I hoped that reseating the bullet deeper would solve the problem, but no dice. It wasn't the bullet or case neck getting stuck in the lands, it was that the entire case was just a little too large for the chamber.

I wound up pulling the bullets and recovering the powder. It seemed awfully dangerous (although tempting) to put a loaded round in the sizing die. I figured that the results could be catastrophic and not worth the cost of a few rounds of ammo if something went wrong. (I'm thinking shrapnel from a sizing die here.) Fortunately, I had loaded less than 50 rounds because I was working up some new loads.

Now I set the die to contact the base plate, and turn it DOWN another 1/2 to full turn. It makes the press flex, but I don't have to apply an inordinate amount of force to move the lever through its full stroke.

Also, I check every round with a chamber gauge after it's loaded.

[Rich V]

Originally posted by SID325
Question, I have about a thousand 5.56 55gr reloads that I bought sometime ago. I have been buying reloads from this source, off and on, over the years and have never had a problem. Guy retired, can’t find him, whatever. The rounds were loaded on a Dillon 1050. Now to the question, every 4th or 5th round will not chamber in my AR or M96. Would it be possible to run them through a sizing die without the primer decap or a Lee factory crimp die? I really don’t want to try and pull all the rounds.

Sid

Redding makes body dies that resize the case and shoulder but not the neck.
I once had a batch of 308 I loaded that would not chamber in my gun. Turned out that a tight neck caused the shoulder to bulge when seating the bullets. I resized them in the body die with no problems. See here:

http://www.redding-reloading.com/pages/bodydies.html

Rich V

[gordo63]

Dittos to purchasing a case size gauge that you drop the round in and check to see that the case head is flush with the mouth of the gauge. They aren't that expensive and can readily determine if the cases haven't been sized far enough. If they haven't been, you are pretty much limited to pulling the bullets and resizing them yourself.

Another thing to consider is perhaps you have some carbon buildup in your chamber throat. If you haven't done this already, try using your chamber brush and brush out the chamber along with some solvent. Mop of patch out the debris and try it again. I've never had this buildup so bad that a round wouldn't chamber but it has been bad enough to cause the round to stick in the chamber.

[owlcreekok]

preprocessed military brass and loaded as-is. without resizing. I did that ...once.

As I read the first post, I sez to myself, "Self,,,, you reckon that cat bought summa that ready to go milsurp brass and stuffed them without running them thru a sizing die ?"

I did that too. Once. Trouble was, I got all excited and loaded about 300 rounds of it. Ran myself slap outta bullets in the doing. My 03-A3 would not even TRY to close on it. Broke hell outta TWO of them hammer bullet pullers gettin all that stuff apart.

[shootist87122]

Originally posted by owlcreekok


As I read the first post, I sez to myself, "Self,,,, you reckon that cat bought summa that ready to go milsurp brass and stuffed them without running them thru a sizing die ?"

I did that too. Once. Trouble was, I got all excited and loaded about 300 rounds of it. Ran myself slap outta bullets in the doing. My 03-A3 would not even TRY to close on it. Broke hell outta TWO of them hammer bullet pullers gettin all that stuff apart.

Ya, dat's me. Except I did a smooth 1,000 in what was a proven match load. Mine chambered fine, but a bunch had weak neck tension in which case I was driving some of the bullets back into the case. Lucky as hell I did not have Kaboom before I figured out what was causing the butt-ugly flyers.

[ftierson]

Originally posted by shootist87122
Ya, dat's me. Except I did a smooth 1,000 in what was a proven match load. Mine chambered fine, but a bunch had weak neck tension in which case I was driving some of the bullets back into the case. Lucky as hell I did not have Kaboom before I figured out what was causing the butt-ugly flyers.

That's why God invented the Lee Factory Crimp Die...



Forrest