Got a new Ruger American Ranch with 1-8 Nato Chamber. After firing new brass, Neck sized brass will not work at all, can't close the bolt. Full length sizing the brass is to say at least difficult. Already have had two stuck cases. Sizes fine till you get to the base of the brass, and then it's a big push. Cases are lubed well. After firing I get these odd linear powder burns down the neck. All my brass was new Winchester, and none of the loads were remotely Max. loads.
Is this common with Nato chambers? First time I've ever reloaded with a Nato chamber.

Cases should be fire-formed for your Ruger. After sizing will the brass drop into an ammo checker?

Based on the increased effort sizing the base of the cartridge case, it may be that the rifle chamber is oversized. Talk to Ruger.

Be certain you are setting the case shoulder back about 0.003" with either the full length or neck sizing die. This normally facilitates easy chambering.

Whose dies are you using? I have had some neck dies that were really out of spec!

Also, did you trim to length your fired brass? Over length brass can cause a tiny or bigger bulge in the shoulder. If your crimp is set to one length and your brass is just a few .001 longer this happens.

Which type of crimp?

Lastly, Bolt actions most often have tighter chambers than autos.

Ivan

If factory ammunition chambers and fires accurately, I suspect an issue with your dies and or setting. Measure factory unfired cases, fired cases and the cases after resizing. Measure the throat, for overall bullet seating length.

If full length resized case measure the same as factory cases and you’re not seating the bullet into the throat, then I would look to Ruger on this. As mentioned, the chamber could be oversized. It could also have rough spots or be our of round. Good luck.

.223 & 5.56 ammunition is dimensionally the same. More leade in 5.56 chamber allows higher pressures.

If the brass was fired in that rifle it should rechamber with little effort after neck sizing. I agree with checking your brass length. With new brass I begin by FL sizing and uniforming length @ .010” - .015” under max.

I check the case length after each sizing.

Fire a factory round and see if it can be removed and then chambered again after firing.

Burn marks down the neck can be a sign of poor seal/blow by. Short and or hardened brass? Low pressure load?

Case length keeps coming back to mind. Any way, make sure the dies are set to manufacturer’s instructions and try a wax based lubricant.

I’ve had new .308/7.62 Lake City milspec brass that was near impossible to FL size after only one firing using any other type of case lube. The easy to find Lee lube works as well as the more premium wax based lubes.

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GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

OP,

Initially, I read your post as having difficulty chambering resized brass, not the actual sizing process. This changes the approach.

With the 223, you have 3 basic chamber sizes: traditional (most common for 223s), the Wylde chamber (slightly larger), and NATO chamber (somewhat oversized to ensure feeding of all cartridges).

Chances are very good that brass fired in a NATO chamber has expanded too much to be handled by traditional or small base dies (commonly used for brass fired in semi-autos).

You may need a sizing die appropriate for sizing brass fired in a NATO chamber, which may not exist. In over 45 years of reloading, I've never seen dies made for NATO chambers, but then, I've never needed them.

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Judge control not gun control!

You need to check the factory ammo..........
and then the fired case in a ...................... Case Gauge, for starters.

Then check out what your dies are doing with the correct case length.

It is either the chamber or the die that is causing the problem.
Good luck.

Get the micrometers out and compare fired brass to factory loads. Something is amiss with your dies or chamber.

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Front sight and squeeze

Let me toss this in for thought-

An F-Class shooter I follow on YT questioned a dozen or so national-/world-class 1000-yard shooters on how they resize their brass. Every one of them said they full-size shoulder bump about .002. None neck size anymore. That says something. These guys shoot tiny 1000-yard groups.

I shoot primarily once-fired .223/5.56 cases acquired from government agency/military sources. Most are fired from full-auto weapons. They are all resized with a standard RCBS .223 die and never have a problem chambering. After the first firing in my rifle, I resize with a .002 or .004 shoulder bump--depending on if the case is for my bolt action or my AR action. Again--never a chambering problem. I have never owned nor used a case gauge.

Every case (all .223/5.56s) I've ever stuck was stuck on the base of the body, not the neck or shoulder end. Lack of sufficient lube on the base was always the culprit.

The most valuable reloading tool I ever purchased was a Hornady headspace gauge. I wholeheartedly endorse using one to measure cases fired in your rifle and resize accordingly.

"....After firing new brass, Neck sized brass will not work at all,
can't close the bolt.
Full length sizing the brass is to say at least difficult...."

I would look at the possibility of an out of round chamber as Mike in Reedley mentioned
Out of Round at the base would leave fired brass that was Neck Sized only with a shape that would only fit back easily into the chamber if the off-center shape was matched up perfectly,,, brass w/ chamber.

If you were to FL Size that out of round at the base brass, the the extra effort needed to resize the heavier walls at the base where the problem is would deffinetly be felt on the press handle.

It's not out the realm of possibility that a chamber gets cut poorly in a factory setting.

Use a micrometer and check around the base of a fired but unsized case and see if it shows different OD measurements as you go around the case at the same level. Looking for out of round.

Out of round chamber is what I was thinking, too. It doesn't make sense that a piece of fireformed brass suddenly won't chamber. I wonder if a fired case would re-chamber before any resizing.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

This 223Rem cartridge sizing problem is very
interesting and all suggestions to figure it out.

My High Standard HS15 (an AR15) has the
NATO 1-9” twist 16” Bbl.

I reload Remington, Winchester, Federal,
PMC, and IMI brass and even Steel cases.

I have used only the Lee 223 Full Length Die Set
and crimp separately with Lee 223 Factory Crimp Die.

I have never had a problem sizing or chambering a
round. I do mic, check, and trim cases each time.
I reload Hornady 55gr SP and Sierra 65gr bullets.
C.O.A.L is just to the AR15 magazine.

Please update finding when problem is figured out.
Thank you.

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SD social distanc'n since 1889

Thanks for all the information. All my brass was new W-W .223 trimmed to spec before reloading. My Dies are RCBS FL dies. Had a Lee 4 die set. Stuck brass in the FL die so bad I couldn't get it out. It's been really hard to find an acceptable load. Linear burns down the brass. I'm leaning towards an out of spec chamber. I've been reloading since I was 15 and am now 53. I've never encountered this problem. This Ruger is a magazine fed bolt gun so COL is determined by what fits in the magazine

No. I've tried, can't close the bolt

Ask if anyone in your area has a Case Master Gauging Tool. You can use it to measure case concentricity and bullet run out. I bought one years ago and quickly learned why every .25-06 I ever bought shoot poorly, the dies were way out of round.

I bet one spin on the dial indicator on a fired case will reveal your problem.

Will a factory round chamber in your rifle?

Rounds will fit and fire. Can't rechamber a spent round though, bolt won't close. Same with my reloads. After forcibly resizing them they will chamber and fire. Again, with odd linear burn marks down the neck and shoulder

The linear lines sound like the HK (?) chamber, or whoever made that pressure-relief chamber. Look in the chamber with a bright ligh and see if it's smooth or has ridges.

I give up. I’d need to see it in person.

Exactly what it looks like

Your chamber is too big !!

Send it back to the company to get fixed or sell it.

When a fired case will not go back in the chamber, the chamber is oval or bolt face is not square to the chamber.
TEST- put an index mark on the case head. Fire. Try putting back in chamber the same way it came out.
Next turn it 90 degrees, try to put back in chamber.

Try different ammo. If the problem still exists, small base dies may fix it.

Other wise ,contact factory.

Can't sell it and make it somebody else's issue, that's not right. I've contacted Ruger. This is a brand-new rifle. Seems like quality control is lacking everywhere. Most defiantly a bad chamber. Just a huge PITA. Seems like it's hard to get something right anymore. You read about people getting Lemons from S&W, Ruger, Savage. Last year I bought my son a new savage 110 .243 with all the bells and whistles and it was the biggest ***! I'm about ready to give up on Buying New guns anymore. Or buying guns in general. Just keep what Ive got that I now shoot right

Ruger has an excellent service department. One phone call with the serial number at hand and they'll will want to see it. I've always had quick turnaround time from Ruger. I'd recommend waiting until after the new year to send it.

QC ain't what it should be today. It's how the manufacturer takes care of those of us buying the lemons that matters most.

__________________
GOA
USA Shooting Supporter

Never let poor quality control win.... especially if their warranty department has a great reputation.
Stuff happens.

S&W took care of our 460/3.5" when the cylinder stop and trigger broke after firing two rounds of Hornady's 200gr FTXs and got it back expeditiously.

A broken trigger spring in our Blackhawk 45 convertible, back around '81, and the Smith I spoke with said he'd send a bunch out as it's an easy fix.
We had a long conversation about his smithing job, our guitar/gunstock work, fishing the Keys and I said it might be shaving a bit of lead as well.

When I told him I was fibbing about the lead, he said he'd make it shoot great but no trigger job.
I dropped some 1911 slabs into the box and off it went.
Came back right quick with his 50yd offhand target.
Impressive to say the least.

Good that you'd never sell a problematic firearm to anyone.
Didn't sit well with me when I received one not long ago.
Stuff happens.

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Have Fun/Stay Safe

Can't really disagree with anything after the 1st sentence as it is your feeling right now...

Can most heartily agree with your 1st sentence! Good for you! Once the issue is resolved to your satisfaction, other ethical avenues may evolve?

Cheers!

Oh, forgot to mention the crown on the barrel is deplorable. After shooting factory ammo and my reloads (about 150 test loads) 62gr and 75gr bullets with IMR 4895, BLC-2 even tried IMR4064. I couldn't get better than 1" groups at 50 yards. Most loads and factory hoovered around the 2.5 3-inch groups at 50 What a huge waste of precious primers and powder a Lee FL die and my time and fuel to drive out to the upper desert to shoot. Just can't waste primers and powder.

The crown is important.

It sounds more and more that it should go back to the factory.

Contacted Ruger. Explained what we were discussing here, and they said to most defiantly to send gun back for evaluation. Sending it out after Christmas.

I hope you didn’t tell them you were shooting reloaded ammo. I’ve been told that many companies use that as an out for not doing warranty work.

I think I read once that Ruger was putting out something like a million guns a year. If that is so, you know a mistake is going to get out the door sooner or later.

Good luck!

Just a update on this Ruger. Sent it back and they replaced the barrel. Said the chamber was way out of spec. Great customer service.

Ok, so you are "neck sizing" by using your full-length sizing die turned way out - right? If so, then you are likely FL-sizing more than you think. Remember, when you squeeze the brass down during sizing it causes the case length to grow - which necessitates trimming. Brass that is too long is the most common cause of stiff bolt closure.

The streak on the neck is a red herring.

By the way, if you use a real collet-style neck size die, it will not set the shoulder back.

It is very common to have to trim new brass after one firing and full-length resizing..