Can I resize a loaded round?

[ty423]

alright about 2-3 years ago I bought 1000rds of 223 from a forum member. He sold a bunch of these and I happened to buy the last of it. He says they are reloads bought at a gun show. last year I took these out to the desert. In my AR every few rounds it would get stuck in the chamber and would have to slam the butt of the rifle onto the ground while pulling on the charging handle. I stopped shooting and was puzzled. I went home and tried some factory ammo and cycled it through the rifle and it went through without a hitch. Then I tried the reloaded ammo and behold it wouldn't cycle smoothly at all. Anyways so this ammo sat around and finally I've now gotten into reloading. I also bought a headspace/length gauge and found it wasn't sized correctly however the OAL is good to go. Now my question is do I have to pull all of these 900 or so bullets or can I resize in a resizing/decap die with the decap portion taken out? I have a Hornady New Dimensions die.

[polygunner]

In my experience you can not resize a loaded rifle round.
Pull the bullets, save the powder, deprime CAREFULLY, resize the brass.
Then use the components to work up a load that works well in YOUR rifle.
Good luck
Be careful
Have fun.
pg

[Low-Pressure]

You will have to pull all the bullets and powder off.
You might want to deprime also because you will need to lube to size them. If the lube gets to the primer it will contaminate it. If you can size and be sure that the lube will not get to the primer, maybe you could take off the decapping pin.
Good luck.

[joelogic]

Even if you could, would it be worth the risk of banging the primer and igniting the round in the die? Kabooom.

I am pretty sure the OAL of a loaded round is too long for a sizing die.

Just sell them to someone who is willing to pull them and resize them.

[heliopolissolutions]

Hah, lazy pants.
I know, I wouldn't want to either.
Look at it this way, if he was too shoddy to size them properly, theres at least some chance that he didn't seat the primers correctly, added low or high powder charges or maybe even double primed!
Do not want...

[ty423]

Can I reuse everything? bullet/primer/powder? This is completely for plinking and target shooting... not looking to do anything accurate with these..

[383green]

Can I reuse everything? bullet/primer/powder? This is completely for plinking and target shooting... not looking to do anything accurate with these..

I would not reuse the primer. I think the primer should be out of the case while resizing, and the only safe way I'm aware of to remove live primers is to fire them in a gun after removing the bullet and powder, and then deprime normally.

[Homebrew2]

Just some thoughts for conversation (I do not reload/shoot 223/5.56):

1. If my understanding is correct, 5.56 guns have a slightly larger (diameter) chamber than 223 Rem. Is that correct? Does the op have a 223 gun and 5.56 carts?

2. Can one FL resize 5.56 carts for a 223? I "think" the answer is, yes.

3. Under normal reloading procedures, there is no risk that I can think of, in resizing a primered case and, I have so done in the past. (?)

4. Under normal reloading procedures, I cannot think of any way that proper case lubing could contaminate a primer. I am of the belief that a drop of oil needs to be applied directly to the open end of a "modern" primer to eventually disable it (?)

5. If I could get ahold of a cheap spare FL sizing die, I would remove the insert and machine/grind out the neck resizing portion to allow the loaded cart to pass thru the neck size area to just resize the lower case portion only ... and resize all those carts as they are.

[CSACANNONEER]

I would not reuse the primer. I think the primer should be out of the case while resizing, and the only safe way I'm aware of to remove live primers is to fire them in a gun after removing the bullet and powder, and then deprime normally.

I would remove your decapping pin, resize with the primers in place and then reload the brass.

[Jicko]

alright about 2-3 years ago I bought 1000rds of 223 from a forum member. He sold a bunch of these and I happened to buy the last of it. He says they are reloads bought at a gun show. last year I took these out to the desert. In my AR every few rounds it would get stuck in the chamber and would have to slam the butt of the rifle onto the ground while pulling on the charging handle. I stopped shooting and was puzzled. I went home and tried some factory ammo and cycled it through the rifle and it went through without a hitch. Then I tried the reloaded ammo and behold it wouldn't cycle smoothly at all. Anyways so this ammo sat around and finally I've now gotten into reloading. I also bought a headspace/length gauge and found it wasn't sized correctly however the OAL is good to go. Now my question is do I have to pull all of these 900 or so bullets or can I resize in a resizing/decap die with the decap portion taken out? I have a Hornady New Dimensions die.

Can I resize a loaded round? <- NO!! It is dangerous.


What chamber do YOU have? 223REM or 556NATO? Those rounds maybe OK in another guy. If you have another rifle, it would be better if it is a 5.56, try them out.

Or else, it would be a LOT of work....

[toby]

What a FKN hassle sell the rounds to someone who has a gun they will chamber in and get some new ones or use that $$ for new commponents.

[Triple R Munitions]

i have 10,000 loaded rounds that came from the processor sized incorrectly...wana trade?

i still dont know what to do with them....i was hoping they made a "big" cheambered barrel so that i could shoot them up!

R

[7x57]

Now my question is do I have to pull all of these 900 or so bullets or can I resize in a resizing/decap die with the decap portion taken out?

Great Ghu no, but let's think about this. If you set off a cartridge that isn't confined, the burn rate, being pressure-dependent, drops rapidly enough that the flying case (which usually gets more velocity because the bullet is heavier than the case) doesn't have enough velocity to do much (I've been told that by people who have actually been hit by accidentally ignited rounds). But if the case is in the die, it's a lot like being in a chamber with the ram taking the place of the boltface, isn't it? So we can expect the head to get some support, and the powder to be confined and therefore the powder to develop pressure like it was chambered in a firearm. Is your die as strong as your rifle chamber? Would you like to launch the bullet and bits of the die into your ceiling at pistol velocities? How about back into your face?

Safety isn't about doing stuff unless you *know* it is dangerous, it is about *not* doing stuff unless you *know* it is safe. You're very unlikely to actually set off the primer, since the ram shouldn't be pushing on the primer and nothing should be able to dent the cup and push it against the anvil, but you still couldn't pay me to try it.

I have a Hornady New Dimensions die.

Oh, if that's the model with the internal adamantium coating, no problem then.

I would not reuse the primer. I think the primer should be out of the case while resizing, and the only safe way I'm aware of to remove live primers is to fire them in a gun after removing the bullet and powder, and then deprime normally.

I've set off a primer with a Lee Classic reloader, and the hammer was blown back into my forehead and gave me a concussion that required two days in the hospital. The decapping rod went through the ceiling and into the thigh of my upstairs neighbor, missing the femoral artery by less than a millimeter.






















OK, the truth is primers ain't all that if (and only if) only one goes off. I actually did set one off with a Lee Classic, and basically nothing happened other than my ears rang a bit (albeit this was a CCI primer, and they may be a little less hot than others). I suspect that other than getting burning bits of something in your eye (magnum primers can intentionally include little bits of AL dust, for example, so they may be worse than standard primers for eye safety), it would be very tough to hurt yourself that way--so wear good wrap-around safety glasses, please.

I'd be more concerned with breathing a bit of lead or getting it on surfaces for my toddler to chew on than anything else.

As for removing primers, I have done it by just getting out the Lee classic decapping rod. I expected to set it off because I was tapping on the anvil, but to my surprise it didn't. I think I still have the primer because I didn't expect anyone to believe me. It isn't the recommended procedure, but I did get away with it.

I would remove your decapping pin, resize with the primers in place and then reload the brass.

I would do this too, if it were me. But you're responsible for your safety, not me.

No way in the world would I do it with powder in the case though. That's just asking for a Darwin Award, and Zeus makes the breaks all go the wrong way for people who tempt the gods.

7x57

[Mr. Casull]

I think toby's response is correct. I had a similair problem with some 223's that I had reloaded and they worked just fine in my Contender, Kel-Tec SU16 and MAK90 (223), but had problems in my Colt AR15. So I just shot them in the guns they worked in and corrected the problem for all new reloads.

[CSACANNONEER]

i have 10,000 loaded rounds that came from the processor sized incorrectly...wana trade?

i still dont know what to do with them....i was hoping they made a "big" cheambered barrel so that i could shoot them up!

R

That's almost worth getting a custom chamber reamer made and having a custom barrel made for them. If they were match grade 50BMGs, I'd go the custom chamber route for sure!