Question about shoulder set too low

[12yak]

I had my first incident where 223 brass got stuck in a Lee Full Length Resizing die. I followed the Lee directions where they said the loosen the pin and then use a pin punch and hammer to drive the brass out of the die. I got the brass out then took the die out of the 550B die holder to check and reassemble everything. Ultimately, I put the die back in and and followed the directions to set it to the correct depth and then ran 100 rounds of once-fired brass thru the resizing die so that I could check the brass and trim it to proper length if needed.

Here's the question. As I was checking all of the brass with a case gauge, I noticed that all of them were too long at the neck and this seemed odd. On closer inspection, I noticed that the bases were all below the Min gauge indicator so I think my problem was that I set the Full Length Sizing die too deep and it pushed the shoulders down below spec. I tried to measure the distance from the bases to the spot where the neck starts to flare out to the body. The Lyman handbook says this length is supposed to be 1.557" and all of my measurements came out at about 1.550". SO... is this shorter length a significant problem (for 'plinking' ammo) or should I just trim the necks to proper OAL and blast away? It seems like the only impact it would have is to move the primer a little further away from the pin. Is there anything else to worry about with this situation?

TIA.

[Divernhunter]

Not a problem.
Trim them to correct OAL
Just load and shoot.
If you want back the die off a tiny bit for future rounds.
You should not have trouble if you leave it as is.

[mark501w]

Make sure you lube your cases,you probably didn't set the shoulder back unless you have a bad die. Size than trim your case max length is 1.760" I trim to 1.745".

[Germz]

What Divernhunter said.

I don't think its possible to push the shoulder back TOO FAR on F/L die..as it will make contact with the appropriate shell holder and only allow it to size so far regardless. The goal is to bump the shoulder back to SAAMI specs if you're loading for auto-loaders.

if you are loading for a rifle with a floating firing pin (actually...that doesn't even matter. If you're loading in general), make sure to seat it correctly, do not adjust primer seating depth to compensate for what you have described (if that is what you are getting at); you do NOT want a slam fire occuring.

[FLIGHT762]

You can set the shoulders back way too far. It can happen in some dies. I've done it. I had some .223 brass that got shoulder bumped about .007" below SAAMI minimum from a Dillon trim die. When I fired them in an AR-15, they fired fine and the shoulders set forward fine. When I fired them in a bolt gun, the primers backed out and the shoulders didn't set forward. I took all of the cases and fired them through the AR. I would take about 10 of the cases you sized, load a mild load and try a couple. Measure the fired cases to see of they fire formed back to normal.

You do have to be sure you set the die to bump the shoulders where they don't go below the lower step in your gauge. Many years ago, I ruined some .222 Remington brass by bumping the shoulders way too far back. When I fired them in a bolt gun they case head separated on the first shot.

[fguffey]

http://www.saami.org/PubResources/CC_Drawings/Rifle/223%20Remington.pdf

[fguffey]

Flight762, get your money back, the forming die comes with instructions, something like foot note #1, After forming the case must be sized with the full length sizer die.

F. Guffey

[BigBronco]

Setting the shoulder back more than necessary will shorten your case life by overworking the brass.

[LRShooter]

If you shoot them, see if a ring develops near the case head. Impending case head separation to follow.