#1
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if you hang around reloading long enough
i guess you get to see everything. that said i was shooting some 223 range brass in a bolt rifle and has some what of a strange experience. working up loads from a mild to somewhat wilder load i ran across this problem.
brass is lake city and was fired in multiple ar rifles. when i shot my first beginning load all was fine to about the third round. the bolt came up ok but would not extract. after a couple slaps with the palm of my hand the case ejected. chronograph said it was not a hot load and i continued to shoot the next 3 loads with .5 powder increase. in each load i had 1 or more of the stuck case syndrome. again the chronograph and primers said not hot. today i fired the exact same loads with virgin brass and nary a hiccup. the only thing i can figure is one of the ar's chambers is different and my die isn't sizing it correctly. as always your thoughts.
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#2
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I use a small base sizing die after de-priming and tumbling any brass that may have been shot in an AR.
It's an extra step but ensures proper feeding in my bolt guns. |
#3
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GI brass usually is heaver than commercial, thus a smaller interior-smaller volume. If you used loads developed in commercial brass that load can act differently-increased pressure in the smaller volume volume case.
But, I would go with the small base sizing die as suggested by gundog, for a fix first.
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#4
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My experience was with 7.62/.308 brass for my M1A. Most for sale on line was fired in a machine gun. Beat to death and sold to the next guy to deal with.
One thing that took me a bit to learn when starting out was OAL. If it doesn't get trimmed to speck, you'll beat the crap out of your hand trying to get the Op rod open to eject the round. I did learn how to pull bullets on a round (many) and trim to specs. .223? Most on line is fired in a machine gun. Full length resize needed and "chamber checked for a smooth fit" before being loaded. It IS a learning game, no matter how old you get. Last edited by Nor Cal Mikie; 08-19-2021 at 01:10 PM. |
#5
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For ARs, common chambers are the NATO, Wylde and 223 Rem. They are different sizes slightly, so that may be the issue. Also, if the LC has been reloaded several times, brass hardens, and that brass may need to be annealed.
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#6
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If the brass was fired through a overly-loose chambered rifle, semi-auto (AR15) or machine gun (M16 or SAW) then you probably have expanded cases. The issue is more prominent with Semi-auto and Full-auto as the base of case expands as it is being extracted from chamber while under pressure... case head expansion.
If there is only minimal case head swelling (right at top of webbing), a small base die can help with this. However, if the case head expansion is more significant, usually resulting from full-auto firing, then the case will return to its original expanded shape after firing resulting in it sticking hard to your chamber walls. Most likely this is what you are encountering. I read a study on case head expansion and the basic gist is that you have to significantly undersize the expanded case in order to break/eliminate the case's memory. Simple answer is that whenever you encounter Range Brass that gives you Bolt Click on a mild load then you need to toss it in the recycle bin. |
#7
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Sounds like the cases primed OK, none fell out. Maybe your die won't size the case body enough down close to the web. Time to do a little coloring with a sharpie to see where the cases are binding?
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#8
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Rifle brass has "memory" , if the first firing is in a larger chamber than the rifle you sized the fired brass for the brass may expand more than normal. Results are the click or more effort at the top of the bolt lift. Similar to using Lapua brass (CIP) in a tight SAAMI chamber. Accurate barrels deserve new brass, dedicated for that rifle during reloading cycles.
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#9
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What about brass which is 'roll sized'? Does that bring the base back down?
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#10
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It isn't a matter of just sizing it back in line with factory spec. What is critical is resizing dramatically enough (significantly under-sizing) to break the case memory. As I recall it was in the range of +.005" or more, whihc in most instances would put it below case spec. That is a lot of shrinking to do in the case web area.
Try the small base die, and don't hesitate to immediately discard any cases that continue to have issues. Over past couple of years I have filled almost two 5gal buckets with brass that didn't meet my QC standards or didn't have a home. I don't think of this as wasted, but rather the raw material I will be melting down to form some things out of brass... maybe some nice paper weights. I just need to build a DIY Rocket furnace. Last edited by Oso Polaris; 08-19-2021 at 06:49 PM. |
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