.223 brass sizing issues

L

Luke Duke

Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2013
Messages
488
Reaction score
336
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.
 
Register to hide this ad
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.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
"....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.
 
2152hq said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Size does matter

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.
 
Last edited:
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
 
AlHunt said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
gregintenn said:
Will a factory round chamber in your rifle?
Click to expand...

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.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

7
M1 Garand 30-06 reloading results
2
Replies
28
Views
1K
AJ
AJ
S
DAG plastic practice ammo- a dumb question
Replies
5
Views
819
scoobysnacker
S
E
Bodyguard 2.0 magazines damaging brass???
2
Replies
23
Views
977
GnarlsR2
GnarlsR2
NCBeagle
432UC Ti (Titanium) - A Cautionary Tale re: Ammo Pressure
2
Replies
36
Views
4K
wrangler5
W
T
Managing Reloading Inventory
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
NFrameFred
NFrameFred

Latest posts

Back
Top