Can the bullet be seated deeper in .223 reloads?

beaverislander

beaverislander

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Awhile back I found a .223 load that my Remington 700 liked and put up 1000 rounds. I still have over 600 rounds but sold the Remington.
Now I have an AR15 but the OAL seems to be to long as when I eject a live round the bullet sticks in the chamber. I gave all my reloading equipment to my son in another state. What are my options so that I can use this ammo in the AR15? If I can find someone locally with a press, can I seat the bullet a little deeper?
 
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What weight? 55, 62, go for it,77, maybe, 80, nope. What power charge and bullet combo are you talking about? OAL? What chamber do you have? Need more info for this call.
 
Sure, as long as you don’t over compress the load for your bullet/powder combination. The SAAMI OAL spec for an AR mag, which is 2.26”.
 
Most of them are Sierra MatchKing 52gr HPBT @ 2.22" and some Midway 55gr FMJ BT, 2.23" & 2.24". I shot both that day so I need to check if I can get it to happen again, I'm not sure which one it was. Maybe it was just a freak and one worked it's way loose, but I'll get the calipers out and go through them again as it doesn't sound like they should be set any deeper.
Thanks for the replies.
 
beaverislander said:
Most of them are Sierra MatchKing 52gr HPBT @ 2.22" and some Midway 55gr FMJ BT, 2.23" & 2.24". I shot both that day so I need to check if I can get it to happen again, I'm not sure which one it was. Maybe it was just a freak and one worked it's way loose, but I'll get the calipers out and go through them again as it doesn't sound like they should be set any deeper.
Thanks for the replies.
Click to expand...

I am currently loading Sierra MK 53gr and OAL 2.22" for my Sport-II 5.56 AR, and do NOT have that issue. However at 2.25" I did have that issue.
 
If the rounds are loaded shorter than magazine length, they shouldn't stick in the chamber. You can load longer in a bolt gun than you can in an AR, you're limited to magazine length in that rifle. You can definitely move the bullet back in the case, but I would back down the powder load a few tenths of a grain and work your loads back up from there, because backing up the bullet decreases space in the case, increasing pressure.
 
OK, plan is to continue firing them but if I have to manually extract one, examine it to be certain the bullet came out with the cartridge.
 
Many rifle powder loads are compressed, a not-uncommon condition, so some reseating should be okay. You may need only a few .001s reseating. At the COLs you provided, those short bullets should not be engaging the lands. If the problem is with the .223 dia bullets, I suspect insufficient neck tension allowing the bullet to jump upon chambering and hit the lands.

You can try hand chambering the rounds (Ease the bolt closed) to see if they seat properly without the bolt slamming them in. If they don't stick, it is not a COL issue.

As far as crimping .223 rounds, I've never found it necessary in any of my .223/5.56 rifles, bolters or ARs.
 
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.224 is the longest I have. I hand fed one, closed the bolt and even pushed the forward assist and it fell right out when I tipped it up so I'm going to assume I had a bad round, bad day. Thanks for your replies, they are reassuring and I needed that. I don't do mag dumps and generally still shoot in groups of three so I'll just keep an eye on them. I'm hoping this 600 will get me by until the store shelves are overflowing once again.
 
Use case gauges frequently

I also want to add that when I started using a case-length/head-space gauge, my issues went away. Using this gauge, it showed that I needed to do "full-sizing" on each of my fired cases. FWIW, I had bulging at the very base of many x-fired brass. :eek:
 
Dude, .224 is not a length, step away from the press and order some
reloading videos and manuals. Ask someone who reloads to help you.
It's not hard, but you need to know what your doing. Just want to keep
you safe.
 
Damol said:
Dude, .224 is not a length, step away from the press and order some
reloading videos and manuals. Ask someone who reloads to help you.
It's not hard, but you need to know what your doing. Just want to keep
you safe.
Click to expand...
DUDE! relax and re-read the whole thread. :D
He just mistyped the decimal point ahead of the first 2 instead of between the two 2's.
In his earlier post #4 above he says that the longest loads he has are 2.24" - and that IS a length.
 
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BC38 said:
DUDE! relax and re-read the whole thread. :D
He just mistyped the decimal point ahead of the first 2 instead of between the two 2's.
In his earlier post #4 above he says that the longest loads he has are 2.24" - and that IS a length.
Click to expand...

Thanks for trying to break it down for him/her BC38.
 
I believe PRI makes modified mags to allow much longer OALs to be used in semi platforms. I have them for my 6.8mm and they work great. I cant recall the allowable length but it's out there. Might check them out.
 
Magpuls are the worst for limited COLs. I use ASC SS mags in my AR. Allows for a COL out to 2.300, although I use 2.295 as my max to ensure clearance. The leade may require a shorter COL for some make/style/weights.
 
so if I am reading this right when you are chambering a round you are jamming it into the lands hard enough to pull the bullet out of the case when ejecting it.
If this is the case do not fire these rounds in this gun, when the bullet is jammed into the lands the pressure spikes and it can spike a lot if the bullet doesn't have a jump start before hitting the lands. we have know way of helping you with the little info you have shared, how hot are the loads, crimped, what powder?
we are all just try to make sure you are safe..
Be careful
 
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