Looking for advice on 300 blk crimps.

[tayous1]

I have a Lee 300 blk crimp but have been having problems when I to go crimp my 150 gr FMJ. When I go to load the round the bullet unseats from the brass and gets stuck in the barrel.

I do a very heavy crimp or try two but the last two times I loaded these rounds a bullet has pulled out and got stuck in the barrel. It only has done it with these 150gr bullets the 130gr factory and Boolite crimp just fine and I don't have this problem.

I'm I doing something wrong ? Do I need to buy a different or new crimp? Thanks for the advice!

[dannyd]

if you using 223 or 5.55 brass you may need to turn the neck because it's to thick.

[tayous1]

if you using 223 or 5.55 brass you may need to turn the neck because it's to thick.

Just looked that up and saw that there is some brass that you should not use for 300 blk I'll keep an eye out for that. Thanks for the advice!

[iflyskyhigh]

If you can just use LC brass to make 300 BO. Just google “best brass to form 300 BO” and it will take you yo the 300 Blackout Forums with a whole post good brass bad brass

http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88599

[BK7saum]

Also, if you are crimping too hard with a seater die crimp, you may be bulging the necks slightly, thereby loosing your neck tension. I assume you are feeding an AR15. I personally do not crimp my 300 BLK rounds for my AR, I remove any flare, but do not crimp them in place. I have had no issues with bullets unseating from the cases.

I re-read your post that you have a Lee factory crimp die. That should not impact you crimp negatively as it only applies force inward on the case mouth and bullet.

Perhaps the brass you are using has poor elasticity and doesn't have any springback. Any chance the brass was annealed. Over-annealed brass does not hold a bullet very well at all.

I will second using Lake City "LC" 5.56 NATO brass. I have had no issues with it at all. The other brand I run in 300 blackout is Remington "R-P" 223 brass

[tayous1]

I'll check out the brass and see what they are. I know most are LC and Rem as I have had to swag a lot of the primers on the LC brass.

Guess maybe just been unlucky with the 150 gr because they are what I have loaded the most so far?

[tayous1]

I'm not sure if they have been over-annealed or not. I bought most of this brass back in 2014-2015 when I started looking into loading 300 blk. That was placed on a back burner until this year.

[badguybuster]

Are you using a full length sizing die? It makes a difference

[tayous1]

Are you using a full length sizing die? It makes a difference

Tell you the truth the brass I bought way back when 2014-2015 not sure what company I bought it from but it was all de-primed when I bought it.

Maybe I should just run it all through the sizing die just in case?

[zymguy]

Maybe I should just run it all through the sizing die just in case?

cheap insurance

[tayous1]

cheap insurance

True!

[Buck Butcher]

I’m going against the grain and suggesting your crimp is fine. The pill is too fat for the lands/rifling at that particular seating depth. Dummy up a round and seat it deeper. I don’t know if all the hype about brass turning is all that necessary either. Wouldn’t it be like crimping it again by chambering it? I didn’t read all the replies, feel free to flame.

Mark

[BK7saum]

One question that hasnt been asked and answered, Is your bullet engaging the leade/rifling when chambering? If so, this may not be a crimp issue at all, but that your bullet is seated out too far/too long and it jams into the rifling and gets pulled when you extract the cartridge.

There are a couple of ways to measure cartidge overall length to the ogive and I suggest we address that measurement before going further.

[tayous1]

One question that hasnt been asked and answered, Is your bullet engaging the leade/rifling when chambering? If so, this may not be a crimp issue at all, but that your bullet is seated out too far/too long and it jams into the rifling and gets pulled when you extract the cartridge.

There are a couple of ways to measure cartidge overall length to the ogive and I suggest we address that measurement before going further.


That is a thought I have tried to load them at 2.250 but I have had a few that where close to 2.300. I maybe just need to lead them to 2.200 or less and see if I still have the problem.

It is the longest bullet I have been loading and the only one that has the problem. Thanks!

[Baltimoreed]

If the bullets are engaging into the rifling enough to pull them out of your case then they are seated out too far. It’s not just the oal you have to worry about, its also the shape of the bullet. Seat them a little deeper or get a pointier bullet with an ogive that is farther back. I had an awful time with thick neck brass and had to invest in a hornady case neck trimmer tool to thin the necks to get reliable chambering. As I don’t shoot subsonic I have rechambered one of my blkouts to 300Hamr. If this works the other might also get rechambered. The Ham’r is a bit longer so hopefully no neck issues and more room for powder which is what I needed for my unusual build.

[iflyskyhigh]

That is a thought I have tried to load them at 2.250 but I have had a few that where close to 2.300. I maybe just need to lead them to 2.200 or less and see if I still have the problem.

It is the longest bullet I have been loading and the only one that has the problem. Thanks!

Way too long. I’ve loaded thousands from a couple different manufacturers of FMJ bullets in the 148-150gr range. COAL is 2.115 to 2.220 depending on profile. Really like to be around 1900 FPS. Slower or faster and the accuracy goes to ****e. I shoot them in my 18” Wilson and 9.5” BA barreled guns. IMR 4227, AA1680, and AA#9 all work for supersonic loads.

[tayous1]

Way too long. I’ve loaded thousands from a couple different manufacturers of FMJ bullets in the 148-150gr range. COAL is 2.115 to 2.220 depending on profile. Really like to be around 1900 FPS. Slower or faster and the accuracy goes to ****e. I shoot them in my 18” Wilson and 9.5” BA barreled guns. IMR 4227, AA1680, and AA#9 all work for supersonic loads.

Think your right I might have switched a little with my 230gr? My load data says C.O.L 2.2350 from Hodgdon reloading. So I think Is be safer with the 2.200 range like you said! Thanks for the help when I get a chance I'll load a few and see what happens.

[tayous1]

Way too long. I’ve loaded thousands from a couple different manufacturers of FMJ bullets in the 148-150gr range. COAL is 2.115 to 2.220 depending on profile. Really like to be around 1900 FPS. Slower or faster and the accuracy goes to ****e. I shoot them in my 18” Wilson and 9.5” BA barreled guns. IMR 4227, AA1680, and AA#9 all work for supersonic loads.

So from your experience I should not even look at Lil gun to get more velocity? I'm only using these FMJ for plinking.

If I might pick your brain any good cast out there for the 300 blk that are under 160 gr that I should look at?

[jmorris]

Does it have enough neck tension, without any crimp, to load, chamber and eject a round from the magazine and measure the same OAL as it did before you put it in the magazine?

If so, your “very heavy crimp” is likely swaging the bullet smaller. Lead, not being very “springy” will stay at the smaller dimension, while the case springs back some, making for a looser bullet/case fit than if you didn’t crimp at all.

Many of the bullets I use in 300 blk either do not have a cannelure or it is in the wrong place, I use zero crimp on them and they run just fine.

[iflyskyhigh]

So from your experience I should not even look at Lil gun to get more velocity? I'm only using these FMJ for plinking.

If I might pick your brain any good cast out there for the 300 blk that are under 160 gr that I should look at?

Lil Gun will probably work. You might go over pressure before you get the desired velocity. I use H110 (very similar to Lil Gun) for my supersonic 110/125 hunting/SD loads.

The only lead bullets I have used are the Gallant 225 for subs. With 4227 they will cycle my SBR unsuppressed, and obviously work great suppressed too, but I’m not crazy about running thousands of lead bullets (even coated ones) through my can. I have thousands of them, so I just started using them for tacticool training. You can run courses and shoot steel close range and not damage the steel.

In my applications I found across various platforms that coated lead rifle bullets at subsonic velocities provide less than stellar accuracy.

For subs I now use Nosler CC 190 HPBT’s (was able to score several thousand for less than $.20/each at a place going out of business)Pretty easy to keep them subsonic with 1680 or Shooters world Blackout powder and the accuracy is good out to 75-100 yards. Close range it’s pinpoint.

[SSG_Reloader]

I'll concur that your OAL is way too long. The m80's I load for plinking at 2.20 run great.

[popper]

too fat for the lands/rifling - seat deeper.