.223 brass problem.

[canebreaker]

I bought a bucket of .223/5.56 cases from a retired policeman that could pick up at the city's range. They were picked up in the rain. I washed first to remove mud from some of them. I tumbled a few batches with Zilla Desert Blend, still stained, looked like zebras. I sized, decapped, trimmed and swaged 1,200 cases while building a wet tumbler. After wet tumble some of the cases won't fit a shell holder, I have 11 Lee #4 shell holders. The shell holders for a die set are tighter than a priming shell holder. On a 5 hole shell plate some of the cases will fit one of the holders, but not all. I have a coffee can full of cases that won't fit any shell holder. 2 coffee cans full of primed cases that won't fit a die set holder. 1 coffee can full of cases that are primed that will fit the die set holder. When these are placed in the press they stop solid before going into the die, some 1/2" and some 1/4" before bottoming out.
Before saying they might have been shot from an auto, would they have not fit in 3 shell holders before the wet tumble?
One person said he runs his cases through a 38spl/357 sizing die with pin removed as a bulge buster. Use the punch from a cast sizing set. I measured both new cases, they both measure .375. Well, the first case went through with a little extra force. I replaced the punch with a longer bolt. The second one needed more force, had to set the die in the vise and use a punch and hammer on it. The third is stuck in the die after lots of strikes.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Some pictures might help but there is obviously something wrong.

Are you using case lube to size them?

Can't tell anything from your description. Too many things make no sense.

Randy

[canebreaker]

Yes, lube was used when sizing. Not the first stuck case when sized.
The bottom half of the 3 cases were lubed when trying to debulge them.
I don't post pictures, to old to learn how.

I'll get my caliper out and measure some of the cases at different points.

One person on another site said he had to place the case in a drill. Use a file, sandpaper and steel wool to get the heads and grooves back in shape. I tried that too. They will fit the shell holders after, but won't go into the die.

[runfiverun]

a case that's that bulged is suspect to being weakened enough [by high pressure] that I wouldn't want to put it in any of my rifles.

[GabbyM]

Often rifle cases that won't fit into a shell holder have brass flow nub on the case head. Where the brass flowed into the extractor notch in the bolt face.

Have also had foreign head stamped brass just be so over spec wide that it's rim diameter didn't fit the holder.

[nicholst55]

Look at the case heads and see if the problem ones are burred up. I sometimes find this with range brass, and have had to file off very small burrs to make them work. The cases get burred when they hit gravel or concrete when they are ejected.

[454PB]

^^^^^^^^
what R5R said. .223 brass is too easy to come by to risk damaging you or you rifle.

[GoodOlBoy]

yeah toss that in the recyc bucket and be done with it

I had this problem with some brass from a police range. The ARs they used all had grossly oversized chambers and about 2 in 5 had to be chunked.

GoodOlBoy

[W.R.Buchanan]

Sounds like scrap to me. You also have to consider your time if you are thinking about filing on brass to make it work.

Too much good stuff laying around to waste time with a bad batch.

I'd also tell my Police buddy that you had big problems. If he is at all cool he will give you your money back. If he says no then you probably will know for sure the stuff was scrap.

By the same token scrap brass is going for about $1.80 a LB. so you might be better off just taking it to the recycler yourself.

Randy

[ioon44]

I like to check rifle and pistol brass with a RCBS shell holder, if they don't fit they get pitched into the recycle bucket.

[GabbyM]

Other day I saw used brass at Graf & Sons that was advertised 90% Remington commercial. $87 for 500 pieces. Right next to it is military surplus for half the price.

Something I'll pass along. I learned the hard way to anneal all my mil surplus brass. I anneal after I size it without an expander button for neck. Then use a neck expander in station one. Here is why. I recently brock out a ammo can full of 5.56mm I'd loaded up in 1984. LC cases that had been reloaded a few times with no annealing. Many of the necks had split just sitting there. Phenomenon known as age hardening. Sorted it out by checking which bullets I could pull out by hand. Then tried shooting. about 2 of three would split necks and velocity was very erratic. fail to cycle the AR-15 most times. so I just stopped. Will have to knock them down to salvage what I can. True it wasn't once fired but it was also near 100% failure rate. Was 1970's era surplus. So it's a full forty years old. That NATO brass gets worked really hard coming back down to 223 size. I just roll them in my fingers for three turns then drop in a coffee can with water. Pretty simple and effective. I'm near positive my accuracy is way better with the annealed necks also.

[country gent]

Look for bent or distorted rims on this brass. With a straigh flat surface see if it rocks or a straigt edge will show light under edges. Some rifles are very hard on the rims. If it dosnt fit the shell holders the issue is more than likely the rim itself. What manufacturer made this brass? What rifles was it fired in?