Sizing question on once shot .223 brass ?

[JWFilips]

Hi Folks,
Not sure this is the right area of the forum to post this but here goes.

I picked up about 100 pieces of once shot .223 brass ( saw the guy shooting it in his black ar type rifle & asked if I can have his empties ..factory PMC not primer crimps) Brass looked great no bulges so I cleaned it up and tried about 30 pieces in my bolt gun without doing any resizing. Bolt closes clean & smooth with no hesitation. I did fl resize a few to see if I felt any difference: they resized very easy and I feel no difference in chambering. So I'm thinking of just neck sizing them and shooting them with modest cast boolit loads ( about 1700 fps)

Does anyone see a problem with that train of thought?

Normally I would have to FL resize any found range brass to get it to chamber on the first loading in my bolt action but once I fire it I just neck size from then on. Annealing the neck every 6th firing

Apparently these PMC factory loads must have been very mild not to have expanded the cases much.

[GRUMPA]

If it were me I would make sure ALL the brass was first run through my chamber, not just spot checking a few here and there. It could be the other guys chamber was smaller than average not allowing the brass to expand a whole lot.

[Hannibal]

Not sure what the reasoning is behind not full-length sizing it? It was shot in a different rifle than yours and a semi-auto to boot . . . .? What are you trying to get outta this?

[Stonecrusher]

It takes no longer to full length resize than to neck size so I would do it for consistencies sake on any brass that didn't come from my rifle.

[JWFilips]

Not sure what the reasoning is behind not full-length sizing it? It was shot in a different rifle than yours and a semi-auto to boot . . . .? What are you trying to get outta this?
The reasoning: Why work it more then I have to. If it fits as well as it were FL re-sizes shoot it as it is!

[beex215]

it would probably be faster to just fl size all the brass, then neck size once they are shot.

[JWFilips]

It takes no longer to full length resize than to neck size so I would do it for consistencies sake on any brass that didn't come from my rifle.
I don't need to lube to Neck size........ takes less time.......... especially on a case that fits as well as if it were FL resized
I'm not going to get accuracy out of these cases until they fit my chamber anyway.

[Mk42gunner]

As long as the brass fits your chamber, I don't see a problem in neck sizing vs. full length sizing.

I would do as Grumpa suggests and make sure all of it fits your rifle; it is only 100 rounds, not like you have to spend all afternoon checking it.

Robert

[Bayou52]

I would treat it the same as brass with an unknown history - fl size, measure for trim length, trim, etc, etc...

[Hannibal]

I don't need to lube to Neck size........ takes less time.......... especially on a case that fits as well as if it were FL resized
I'm not going to get accuracy out of these cases until they fit my chamber anyway.

OK! Evidently you have already made-up your mind.

[JWFilips]

Yes....was just was looking for any real red flags ;)

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

If you are just loading these for plinking fun, I don't see any 'red flags'.

If I were gonna load them for hunting...even just casual hunting or varmint dispatching, I'd FL size them.

[Cmm_3940]

I check trim length on any unknown brass. I would be especially diligent if you suspect the brass to be cheap and soft. I probably don't need to say it here, but overlength brass can cause blowed-up guns.

[Tackleberry41]

I get alot of once fired from a friend who works at a range. 223 varies alot. I get some that goes thru a small base die like its nothing and others that are considerably tighter. Its once fired, I size it all. After I use it in my bolt gun, well now I neck size. I have also had issues with some of the military stuff. Where the neck will come off being sized, if you didnt size it, it would separate during use. I also find alot of military with split necks, sometimes not noticeable until you run it thru a die.

So it came out of someone elses gun, it goes thru the press, just so I know its right. I even do it with my own stuff, I find a bag of brass in a box somewhere, dont know when it was used, if it was used or in which rifle, goes thru the press for peace of mind.

[JWFilips]

Hi Guys.... well........ I'm FL resizing it all this weekend ;-)
Just as easy to start from scratch
Thanks

[nicholst55]

OK! Evidently you have already made-up your mind.

I agree; seems like you've already decided what you intend to do, so just do it. Let us know how it works out.

NOT tying to be a smarta**, BTW. :bigsmyl2:

[W.R.Buchanan]

Good to hear you are F/L sizing. Removing the lube is not a big deal with a tumbler.

Also the fact that the brass fit in your chamber when the gun is cold doesn't mean it will when the gun gets hot.

My personal opinion on .223/5.56 reloading is that all of it should be done with reliability in semi auto firearms as the first and most important consideration.

Your neck sized cases would probably just fine for plinking and general farting around however if you got into a pinch and needed that ammo for self defense, and it failed when the gun got hot, you'd immediately see my logic.

Also it is doubtful that you will be able to retrieve all of your fired cases unless you are shooting them in a non automatic gun. But there are plenty more where they came from. I find more once fired good quality brass at my Range than I can shoot myself, and it amazes me that any one would leave this resource behind, but Whatever.

If you look at reloading .223 brass from the self defense viewpoint it becomes easy to see that all of it needs to be done right.

A malfunction at the wrong time could conceivably cost you your life.

Randy

[BruceB]

Virtually all the cartridges I reload in large-ish numbers are represented by more than one firearm in my ownership, and also by multiple firearms in the ownership of my shooting pals.

This means there's at least SOME chance that my ammunition could end up in any of the various rifles or handguns we own.

Ergo, I load "generic" ammo in my most-used calibers, which positively will fit whatever chamber it encounters. This includes the NATO rifle rounds and common handgun stuff such as 9mm and .45ACP.

EVERY SINGLE CARTRIDGE that 'might' end up in a semi-auto firearm is run through a cartridge gauge as the last step in loading, before being boxed-up for storage.

Randy's note on possible self-defense use is critical in my estimation, too. It may not be INTENDED for such use, but it just might be pushed into such service.... and I want to know that it will respond correctly. The way I do it now, any ammo on my shelves WILL function in any of my irons of that particular caliber.

Hunting-specific loads are a different topic, and I do load designated rounds for each of the hunting rifles.

[M-Tecs]

I'm not going to get accuracy out of these cases until they fit my chamber anyway.


I shoot a lot of 223 in different rifles. Normally 2,000 to 6,000 rounds a year for prairie dogs and a couple more thousand for my match rifles.

I FL everything for the tightest chamber. I set the shoulder back .002” for the tightest chamber. With my match rifles and a Tikka 595 factory barrel I can hold 3/8” to ½” MOA (5 shot groups) with FL sized mixed headstamp brass.

The only thing that I still neck size and chamber fit brass for is F-class, BPCR, Palma and 1,000 yard. I have found FL verse fitted to make surprisingly little difference. Neck tension and neck annealing seems to give me the most benefits for increased accuracy.

I do neck size my Hornets to increase case life.

[JWFilips]

Guys,
I'm loading strictly for Bolt action; target shooting (I own one gun in .223) I'm punching paper with cast boolits If I go hunting varmints I usually use my proven jacketed varmint loads.
As ofnow all the PMC found brass has been FL resized , Cleaned, and I will blow it out to my chamber over a few weeks going to the range. Then neck size from there.
Thanks

[MaryB]

Al brass I get gets FL sized first time out. Loads for the bolt gun then get neck sized. Loads for the AR I will probably FL size each time unless someone thinks I could get away with doing it just once...

[GoodOlBoy]

I am of two minds about it.

Side 1 if it fits the chamber, neck size it and shoot it. Next time it will already be fireformed to your chamber. If it doesn't FL size it and be done with it.

Side 2 is that it probably IS faster to just go ahead and FL size all of it the first time and then not have to worry about it.

I see you went with the FL size on all of it. nothing wrong at all at all with doing that. Congrats on finding somebody who would actually let you have their old brass! Good find IMHO.

GoodOlBoy

[pathdoc]

Yep. FLR all range recovery or unknown history. Neck size thereafter. Good choice. The guy who did most to get me into reloading Flr'd everything always and I think sometimes I see why even if I do not agree.

[MaryB]

After having the headspace on the AR barrel checked I will be full length sizing every time, very tight tolerance.

[SSGOldfart]

OK! Evidently you have already made-up your mind.KINDA sounds like it so why did you ask?????

[Bayou52]

I FL size all brass everytime. Even brand new brass gets treated like brass with an unknown history - FL size, trim, if necessary, etc., etc

[W.R.Buchanan]

For Auto Rifles FL resizing kind of insures that every round chambers. Some people even use small base sizing dies to make sure their ammo chambers.

The problem with neck sizing is that you are not moving the shoulder back at all and thus the case is sized to perfectly fit you chamber. This is fine for a bolt gun that has a mechanical advantage when seating the round in the chamber but an Autoloader is simply relying on spring pressure and momentum to close the bolt.

Thus if the round is the same size as the inside of the chamber there are a variety of reasons why it won't go back it where it came out.

I Full Length size everything since usually .223 brass only sees one trip thru my possession and I probably won't see the same case again, or even if I do reload the same case again it will get the same treatment.

Point being,, I'm doing the same thing every time.

Randy