Not enough room in my case...

[Kappy]

So this is going to sound odd...

I'm excited that I reloaded 20 rounds in the living room tonight. With the wife's permission. THE DREAM IS REAL!

First, I was a bit surprised that RCBS markets special "AR Dies." I'm not sure what the difference is... maybe crimping? Are these dies just cute because they're in a black box or are they actually necessary?

Second, I had a bit of a problem. I'm loading a 40gr VMAX bullet with Varget (don't ask why!). I found a load of 25.6-28gr. I figured it would be easier just to start at 26gr. So I throw my first charge, trickle it down to exactly 26gr... and the case is completely full all the way to the neck.

So... is there something wrong here? I've never had to tamp a case to get the powder to settle enough to put the bullet in.

The bullet did actually seat properly for an OAL of 2.214".

[damndave]

Did you hear the Varget "crunch"? It's just a compressed load and pretty common with Varget. Different brass also has different capacity.

According to my book, your numbers are the same as mine.

[morrow]

The RCBS AR series rifle dies include a small base sizing/depriming die and a taper crimp seater die. I love the taper crimp seater die, works the brass less than a roll crimp and is more forgiving if the cases aren't the exact same length.
I rarely crimp rifle brass tho...

Compressing Varget in 223 is normal. I switched to Benchmark as it's a much shorter extruded powder so it flows into 223 cases easier. I still use Varget for 30-06 and 308.

[Kappy]

Thanks for the replies.

So I don't need to worry about some kind of pressure issue? That's a relief. I rolled 20 of these things last night and was hoping to smoke them tomorrow.

[Bill Steele]

Thanks for the replies.

So I don't need to worry about some kind of pressure issue? That's a relief. I rolled 20 of these things last night and was hoping to smoke them tomorrow.

No problem with compressed loads, just make sure the bullet doesn't start creeping up, you can run into chambering problems, bullet stuck in the lands, powder all over the place when you yank the bolt to see what is wrong...

[Kappy]

No problem with compressed loads, just make sure the bullet doesn't start creeping up, you can run into chambering problems, bullet stuck in the lands, powder all over the place when you yank the bolt to see what is wrong...

This is my first semi-auto center-fire rifle, so I can only imagine how bad that would be... I've had it happen with my bolt action rifle and cast boolits, and that was bad enough.

[Cheap Shot]

compressed loads.

A drop tube (like a straw) helps 'align' the grains to fit better.