Full length sizing question

[MA5177]

This may be a stupid question but here goes...

I have 250 rounds of 223 that I loaded a long time ago for my bolt action 223.

That gun is gone now but I tried shooting it in my new Ar15 and 1 out of 3 will chamber properly.

My question is this... can these be full length sized while fully loaded?

My guess is that we didnt size them properly, but they worked fine in my bolt gun.

Hate to waste ammo

[Dutch Henry]

NO. You shouldn't try it. Better to pull the bullets, dump the powder and begin at square #1.

[FLIGHT762]

I have used a Redding 223 F/L body die to do just that. I had a bunch of 223 ammo I loaded up in the 1980's that I didn't F/L size- shoulder bump enough. You have to be sure you lube the cases properly while doing it. This was before I learned to use a case gauge when setting up the F/L die

Works perfectly, although no one will recommend you do it.

[BigBronco]

Deffinatly not with standard dies.

[J-cat]

I have used a Redding 223 F/L body die to do just that. I had a bunch of 223 ammo I loaded up in the 1980's that I didn't F/L size- shoulder bump enough. You have to be sure you lube the cases properly while doing it. This was before I learned to use a case gauge when setting up the F/L die

Works perfectly, although no one will recommend you do it.

I will.

[JagerDog]

I'm educated guessing you'd be undersizing/swaging the bullets. Should shoot, but may not be impressed.

[FLIGHT762]

Deffinatly not with standard dies.

Correct, a regular F/L die would not work.

I'm educated guessing you'd be undersizing/swaging the bullets. Should shoot, but may not be impressed.

You do not swage or undersize the bullet. Like I stated, a standard / regular F/L sizing die will not work. No way you can squeeze a loaded round into the die even if you remove the decapping stem.

A Redding body die does not touch the neck or the seated bullet and only sizes the case below the neck. It will bump the shoulder and size the case body, but doesn't touch the neck.

I also have a Redding body die in 308 Winchester and I can repair a loaded round that hasn't been resized properly.

I've done it quite a bit and haven't stuck a case yet. You just have to be sure to use a good lubricant. I use Imperial wax or Mobil 1 20-50 Synthetic oil on the case and sometimes, the repair is very subtle and requires little sizing force.

The repaired ammo shoots just fine. It can be done. You just need to know what you're doing. I use gauges and measure what the chambering issue is and can repair the problem with the body die.

I usually repair a case here and there, but I did about 50 loaded 223 Remington rounds that didn't get sized, (actually shoulder bumped) enough during the initial sizing.

[mark501w]

Seems like you would have trouble with neck diameters with the bullet in place. Let alone having the projectile in the way .

[mark501w]

Hey , I've never used that type of die, how do you get the neck sized?

[five.five-six]

I wouldn't want anyone sleeping above your press when you did it

[five.five-six]

Hey , I've never used that type of die, how do you get the neck sized?

It doesn't size the neck, it just moves the shoulder back and re-sizes the body.

[mark501w]

You have to size the neck unless you have some kind of a unusual chamber.

[mark501w]

So, it's not made to load ammo, it's just made to adjust the shoulder?

[FLIGHT762]

Hey , I've never used that type of die, how do you get the neck sized?

You can size the neck of fired cases after sizing in the body die by using a Redding S bushing neck only die, a Lee Collet die or any other neck only sizing die. A lot of people use the body die with the S bushing neck only die or with the Lee Collet die.

The Body die is mostly used by shooters that like to neck only size a number of times and then use the body die to F/L size the cases when they need to.

You have to size the neck unless you have some kind of a unusual chamber.

Yes, if you're using the body die to F/L size the case, you then will have to run the case through a neck only sizing die.

[FLIGHT762]

So, it's not made to load ammo, it's just made to adjust the shoulder?

The body die is used to load ammo, it was designed to do that. It gives the neck only sizing guy a way to F/L size their cases when they need F/L sizing (after several firings) without touching the neck. Redding recommends the body die for the users of the neck only S bushing sizing die since at some point, a neck only sized case will need F/L sizing. You can F/L size the case in the body die and then run the case again through the S bushing neck only sizing die to size the neck with a bushing.

I use a Body Die with a Lee Collet die. It makes very accurate ammo. The Lee Collet die makes ammo with very low runout.

Another use for the Body die is to resize a case (even a loaded round, but Redding of course will not recommend it) if you need to without touching the neck. The resizing of a loaded round with the body die will get a lot of people very nervous. The first time I did it, I was very guarded, but it works. There is no way the round can be fired in the die since nothing is in contact with or touching the primer. The only concern is to be absolutely sure to lube the case properly to avoid a stuck case.

You do need to know what you're doing and you do need to use a good case gauge to measure what you have to resize to to get easy chambering. I wouldn't recommend it for the novice.