OK .223 experts - newbie ,223 shooter needs some advise on problems with reloading

[Lloyd Smale]

ding ding ding. The right answer!!!!! I load ALL my 223 and 556 with a small base die. I want them to run in any gun I happen to grab that day.

Sounds like you need the RCBS small base die.

[DocSavage]

I've never had a problem with 5.56 brass,I use standard Redding dies with a carbide expander ball. I do use a case gauge but I got that when I had problems similar to the OP's but I use a 650 to reload my 223/5.56 so there is a slightly different learning curve in setting up the full length die.
Oddly enough I picked up about 150 LC 2019 cases the other day they've been deprived,pockets swayed and cleaned with SS pins I'm going to resize and trim them in the next day or two. Want to try the drill press I just bought using a Possum Hollow trimmer see if it speeds up the process a bit.

[Tripplebeards]

With my Dillion 600 super swager I learned if I didn’t want random tight primer pockets and the occasional primer not to go in on 5.56 brass. So to fix the tight primer pocket issue I will swage my brass in the Dillion, rotate it, and swage a second time. After having fun and experimenting with over 2000 pieces of brass my swagger now sits in my reloading bench for emergencies only. I’d rather buy new, virgin, lake city brass so I don’t have to mess around swaging. Imo the uneven primer pockets pressure are going to affect accuracy so with 5.56 range brass pick ups I size, trim, and swage...and then sell the brass to fund consistent, numbers matching,virgin lake city brass.

After all the screwing around imo it’s cheaper to buy new, virgin, never crimped brass. I bought a 1000 cases through mid south fir $119 last year before they ran out. If you want to stock up the price of this brass it was going for 5 times what they were selling it for three years ago before lake city released a run of it again. At $16 per hundred it’s a no brainer. Buy two bags for $32 and never look back. Two hundred rounds for a bolt gun will last me a long time...to a life time...and its way cheaper than any other virgin brass out there and better quality imo. My avatar is my first three shot group at 100 yards out of my 14.5”POF P415 with a 60 grain vmax and 25 grains of benchmark. The second three shot group measured .3” at 200 yards. The weather that day was twelve below zero with a 15 mph wind! I was leaving the next week for some AZ coyote calling adventures and that was the only day off I had before hand. That combo dumped 9 yotes DRT where they stood the following week. Longest shot was 250 yards. I could not see the entrance holes on any of them and when I got an exit it was normally quarter size.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/77610


The casing your having trouble with if you want to save them and don’t throw them out it’ll cost you $39 for a small bass day and will take care of the issue...


https://www.amazon.com/RCBS-Remingto.../dp/B000N8LIOQ

If you decide to buy them I would tell you to run all your brass through them so they’re all the same dimension to keep consistency.

[tomme boy]

You need to check if there is ANY space between the shell holder and the bottom of the die while you are sizing the brass. If there is ANY space (light) between the two then the die needs to be turned in more.

This is what happens to a tapered case. As the die is pushed down onto the case, it is swaging the case. As the die moves down, the shoulder of the case is pushed up making the case even longer. So the die needs to be adjusted so the shoulder is pushed back as the die seats against the shell holder. When this happens all the brass that was pushed back now flows up to the top and that is why your brass grows in length.

I worked in a extrusion forming factory. We made all kinds of automotive and industrial machine gears, bolts and nuts. I learned the principles of how metals move doing my job there before I ever started to reload. And it has helped a lot in the reloading world to know how you can control what the metal does.

[Walks]

I was taught how to cut out primer pocket crimps by My Dad 60yrs ago. Hate the swager, you get over size primer pockets.
These days I use a Primer Pocket Reamer, either a hand tool or a one in My Lyman Case Express. Never have to worry about primers falling out of PP because of overswaging.

As far as Sizing Dies go. I'm still using the same RCBS die set marked 1976 that I bought with my Colt AR. Same with Garand, Lyman dies from late 1960's. M1A my RCBS std dies are marked 1980.

Unless you have a tight match bbl, Small Base dies are a waste. They were originally made for the Pump-Action and Semi-Auto Hunting Rifles introduced in the 1950's-1960's. Such as REM 760 & 742, Savage 170 & Brng BAR.

The SB dies are just another way to get more $$$$$ for the reloading companies. Just like the collet neck sizers, how many of us will that really help ?

Never had a failure to chamber or extract yet.

[44magLeo]

I've never had a case where I needed a small base die. I don't shoot semi-auto rifles except in 22FR.
From what I understand military chambers can be cut a bit on the large side of the specs. This is done to help any cartridge made any where to chamber and fire. Even if a bit dirty or slightly damaged.
Some commercial chambers can be on the large side of the specs also. When a reamer is first made it is made on the large side, then as it wears the chambers it reams get tighter. This is done so they can get more useful life out of the reamer.
If you find range brass or buy once fired brass it may have been fired in one of these large chambers. Most of the time a standard die works fine.
If your chamber is on the tight side of the specs, maybe not so much. In this case you may need a small based die. Or do as some do and sell the range brass and buy new.
On the collet type neck dies. I think these are a good investment. By sizing just the neck against a mandrel to hold the bullet without over working the brass can extend the life of the brass more than enough to pay for the die.
On the collet type die I have read that you can adjust it to work without the mandrel for what ever neck size you need.
The bushing type neck dies do work well. These how ever need an assortment of bushings to adjust neck size.
So I can't say which would be more cost effective.
I do agree that some tooling appears to be an answer looking for a question. That doesn't mean someone doesn't have the right question. It just might not be me.
Claiming something is useless is a nonproductive response to someone looking for help. The tool you think is a waste, just might be the tool they need to fix their problem.
Leo

[Texas by God]

I've loaded .223 for a bolt action Savage and 5 different ARs just using Lee standard fl dies with no problems. Mixed LC and commercial brass. I don't use the FCD but it's there if I ever need it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[buckshotshoey]

I noticed you use the universal decapper. RCBS I assume?
Then you use a Lee FL sizer. What brands are your shellholders?

If you used the RCBS shellholder while uncapping, did you replace it with the Lee shellholder when you FL sized?

Of that's what you did, you shouldn't mix shellholder of one brand with the die of another brand. Use the Lee shellholder when using Lee dies.

[buckshotshoey]

I just got home and measured my shellholders. Measuring from the top of shellholder where die contacts, to the floor of shellholder where case head rests.

My RCBS is .0025 thicker then the Lee (both for 30.06). This means If you use a Lee die with an Rcbs shellholder, the brass will be longer.... because the brass wont go into the die as deeply. The Lee die will "bottom out" before it is supposed to.

Think of it this way.... if you want to adjust headspace, you can remove metal from the bottom of the die, OR, remove a little from the top of the shellholder. I've come to realize that just using a different brand name shellholder can do the same. But the effects might be minimal depending on the measurements.

Think about if you could go the other way and add metal to the top of the shellholder. The brass couldn't be inserted as far into the die, so the brass would be longer at the shoulder. Same as using a thicker one, in my case, the RCBS shellholder.

In a case where you are dealing with a minimum or maximum headspace in your rifle, it could cause a problem.

I do not have a headspace gauge (RCBS precision mic) for 30.06 to verify it would make a difference. 30.06 is the only caliber where I have Lee and RCBS shellholders. Maybe someone here can do it. Especially the possible difference between 5.56 and commercial .223.