Problem with my AR

[h.charlie]

I'd first clean the gun, check the bolt lugs, chamber ect. then check headspacing, what barrel are you using, you might have a tight chamber causing the problem measure the base of the fired case and compare it to what is known to work

[gsc3zny]

I'd first clean the gun, check the bolt lugs, chamber ect. then check headspacing, what barrel are you using, you might have a tight chamber causing the problem measure the base of the fired case and compare it to what is known to work

same problem with different bolts. I will thouroughly clean it, it really hasnt been used mutch, maybe couple hundred rounds. Off to buy a boresnake, I guess

[hntnnut]

Same issue here so I had a machinist friend turn .020 off the top of my shell holder and the problem went away.


Richard

[3006mv]

Try factory loaded ammo and see what happens, compare that brass to yours, reset your die and you should be gtg unless your chamber is out of spec

[bender152]

I have a case length guage where you drop the round in to check length. Is that what you mean?

Yes, that's what I meant.

You say factory ammo runs fine in your gun, so drop a factory round in your gauge, then drop one of your reloads in the gauge. Compare them and see if there's any difference between the two.

[Metal God]

First : if the BCG is sticking out , the bolt is not closing and not going into battery .

If the issue is the case not being sized down enough even though you screw the die down till it makes contact with the shell holder .

Couple thoughts come to mind

1) Press deflection . Even though your die made contact with the shell holder when first setting up the die . If it did not make hard contact with cam over of the press . The press it self could have enough defection ( give in the linkage ) that when sizing a case . It no longer is making contact with the shell holder when the ram is full in the up position . Now if your die and shell holder are in deed making hard contact when sizing the case . You should be sizing the case to at least SAAMI minimum . In fact when using a standard shell holder and making hard contact . It's often the case you will size a case below SAAMI minimum . Conclusion : would be either you are not sizing the case down as far as you think or your chamber is at or below spec . I don't think that's your issue though . Reason why below .

2) When you use the case gage . Make sure the results are like a plunk test . The case must freely drop into the gage and stop when the shoulder of the case hits the shoulder of the gage . If the case drags or makes contact with the sides of the gage and does not ( for lack of a better term ) rattle around while in the case gage . The measurement you get well not likely be from the shoulder because the case is sticking to the sides of the gage . This could mean your die is not sizing the diameter of case body down enough . A small base die will help with this issue . This IMO is your likely problem and here is why I think so . I don't see why the case is getting stuck to the point of have to break down the rifle and pry the bolt open or back . To me this mean the case body/wall is being jammed in and up against the chamber wall causing the case to get stuck . either because the case body was not sized down enough or the chamber as very tight tolerances or both . This would also explain why the BCG is sticking out an 1/8 " . I believe If the BCG is sticking out that far . The bolt lugs have not started to lock up . If the issue was just a case sized a few thousandths long . The inertia and force of the bolt would chamber the round anyway and if not you should be able to extract the round by just pulling the charging handle back . This is why I think the body of the case is whats binding up in the chamber .

[bigedp51]

gsc3zny

Buy a Hornady cartridge case headspace gauge and you will get far more accurate case readings.

Below a fired case before full length resizing



Below the same case after full length resizing and .003 shoulder bump.



The main advantage of the Hornady gauge is you only need to buy "ONE" gauge for all your cartridges and not buy a Wilson type gauge for each caliber.

I'm 64 and have chronologically gifted eyesight and this gauge with a set of digital vernier calipers gives no doubt the length of the case.

Another plus is the Hornady gauge can be adjusted to read true headspace.

Below a Colt 5.56 Field gauge, 1.4736



Below the Colt gauge in the Hornady case gauge.



Below on the left is a Redding competition shell holder that reads +.004 meaning it pushes the case shoulder back .004 "LESS" than the standard RCBS shell holder on the right. This is the same shell holder used to size the case above. With these competition shell holder sets you get five shell holders and they come in .002 increments. This allows you to have the die make hard contact with the shell holder (press cam over) and remove any slop in the press. If I had used the standard RCBS shell holder with the press reaching cam over the case shoulder would have been pushed back .007 and been shorter than a factory loaded round.

[gsc3zny]

Thanks for all the advice, some equipment to purchase and some re sizing, trimming to do

[gsc3zny]

BTW, .223 is a PITA to load!

[Metal God]

lBTW, .223 is a PITA to load!

It's not that bad , the thing about having problems when reloading is don't do more then one thing different at a time to solve the problem . If you change three different things and it fixes the problem . You don't know which one worked . So double check all the measurements you had then check and or change one thing at a time until you find the problem

[shoebox56]

Ironic how this thread started yesterday, had similar issues. My bolt action wouldn't close on a 308. Realized I wasn't using my LE Wilson Case Gauge correctly. Case head had to be absolutely flush on the case gauge (depressed surface area). But also realized I left a gap between the die and shell plate with my Rockchucker. Still a newbie to rifle reload, although ironically I got a away with this sloppiness on .223.

[wxl]

Are you crimping when seating the bullet. If you over crimp, the shoulder will bulge enough to keep the round from going into battery. I completely stopped crimping 223 due to this problem. Take a look at the rounds that won't fire and see if there is a shiny area at the shoulder.

[slopoke]

Just to confirm that when you are checking your sized cases, that you are looking to see if the head of the case is between the upper and lower steps of the case gauge? If you are just dropping them in to see if they fit, you are using it incorrectly. I only do the plunk test on straight walled pistol rounds to see if they will chamber, your 223 brass needs to see if the shoulder is bumped back enough. If the head us above the upper step, you need to screw the die down more. If the head is below the lower step, you need to unscrew the die some.

For me, instead of eyeballing it, I use a thick 6" metal scale (ruler) and lay it's edge across the head, if the scale does not touch the flats on the upper step, you need to screw the die in more. Now lay the scale on the head parallel to the valley so it won't touch the upper steps and check to see if the scale touches the head and not the lower step of the case gauge, if it does not, you are good to go. If the head does not touch the head of the case with the scale touching the lower step, you need to unscrew the die. I like to see if the scale will rock from side to side, if it rocks, meaning that the scale will touch one step not both, the head of the case is above that step.

[gsc3zny]

Are you crimping when seating the bullet. If you over crimp, the shoulder will bulge enough to keep the round from going into battery. I completely stopped crimping 223 due to this problem. Take a look at the rounds that won't fire and see if there is a shiny area at the shoulder.

I just use the seating die, no crimping die

[gsc3zny]

Just to confirm that when you are checking your sized cases, that you are looking to see if the head of the case is between the upper and lower steps of the case gauge? If you are just dropping them in to see if they fit, you are using it incorrectly. I only do the plunk test on straight walled pistol rounds to see if they will chamber, your 223 brass needs to see if the shoulder is bumped back enough. If the head us above the upper step, you need to screw the die down more. If the head is below the lower step, you need to unscrew the die some.

For me, instead of eyeballing it, I use a thick 6" metal scale (ruler) and lay it's edge across the head, if the scale does not touch the flats on the upper step, you need to screw the die in more. Now lay the scale on the head parallel to the valley so it won't touch the upper steps and check to see if the scale touches the head and not the lower step of the case gauge, if it does not, you are good to go. If the head does not touch the head of the case with the scale touching the lower step, you need to unscrew the die. I like to see if the scale will rock from side to side, if it rocks, meaning that the scale will touch one step not both, the head of the case is above that step.

Here are some pics of my measurements, if they help. so you are saying the head of the case should be below where my picture shows it, even though it is spec length?