223 head space issues

[J-cat]

I have RCBS AR dies. They size the bases to .374" and the shoulders to .350" and the neck to .245". They are really well made.

[Pauliedad]

Bsumoda nailed it in my opinion. Small base dies, carbine preferred, lube a wee bit more and into the neck like j-cat says and your world will improve. The dings in case can cause issues too but they jump out at you and they show up in .308 more for me. Never noticed my mini 14 causing any differences.

[thenodnarb]

No, I don't trim until after I resize/deprime. The one's in the pix above have not been trimmed

I don't use a case gauge, so maybe their design doesn't factor this in, but if the cases haven't been trimmed, the case mouth will actually prevent the case from going into the chamber(or case gauge) completely. This is why you trim. If you close the bolt on an overly long case, it will actually crimp the bullet with the case mouth so much upon chambering that the pressures will spike and possibly blow up the gun. So trim your cases uniformly and see if the problem persists.

[FLIGHT762]

Brass not seating flush in one of those case gauges might not be a headspace issue. It could also be a deformation in the brass somewhere causing it hang up in the gauge.

You should get one of these, too: http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...h-Body-1-Each/

This^^^^^^^^^^^. A bent rim can cause the case not to drop fully into the drop in case gauge. You could find out quickly by taking a few of the cases that won't drop all the way down and make dummy rounds out of them (no powder or primer, but with a properly seated bullet). If they chamber and eject easily, you have a few deformed rims.

[baih777]

reloading

I have the same set up. I think you just did a few short strokes. I use the Lee and Hornaday dies.

[bsumoba]

From JP's website (the one that made the case gauge):

"This gauge is cut with a .223 Wylde chamber finishing reamer, and will
give a reliable check of ammunition used in rifles chambered for either the
.223 Remington SAAMI specifications or the 5.56 NATO specification.
Oversize ammunition is the biggest cause of failures in self-loading rifles
such as the AR-15, so verifying that your ammunition is properly sized ammunition
is imperative. While oversized cases can be forced into a bolt gun
due to the tremendous leverage potential of the bolt in the action, a cartridge
must fit freely into the chamber of a self-loader for safe, reliable function.
Specifically, the ammunition must be sized well enough to allow extraction of
an unfired round. If your ammunition is just slightly out of spec, it may go into
battery with the forward kinetic energy of the bolt and carrier, but once wedged
in the chamber, it may not allow for extraction of the unfired cartridge when unloading
is necessary. If your ammunition fits flush in this case gauge, it will go
into battery and extract when necessary in any rifle.
Every chamber will be slightly different, so you must familiarize yourself
with the peculiarities of your rifle. This case gauge is intended to give a true
chamber indication on a JP Supermatch™ barrel, so it is possible that ammo
that does not go in flush with the back of the gauge may still go into battery and
extract in your rifle without a problem. If you find a round that will not extract
from your rifle, insert that round and observe how it fits the gauge. For practice
ammo, you can afford to be less particular. For the match ammo that will
be used in actual competition, or for any other critical purpose, the cartridge
should be full flush in the gauge. Also, make sure that your overall length is
such that the lands are not indicated on the projectile. That is a loading technique
best left for bolt guns. There should be no marks from the lands on the
projectile of an extracted round intended for use in a self-loader.
If you have a JP rifle or a rifle equipped with a JP Supermatch™ barrel,
use of this gauge will ensure reliable function because our chambers are the
.223 Wylde variant, not the SAAMI .223 Remington or 5.56 NATO. The .223
Wylde is a hybrid chamber designed to yield the accuracy advantages of the
match .223 Remington commercial chambering but without the pressure problems
when using NATO spec ammunition.
If none of your reloaded ammunition fits in this gauge, it may indicate that
your sizing die is not adequate or that the die/shell holder relationship on your
press needs to be reset. We recommend a Dillon carbide full-length .223 die.
"

[TomReloaded]

Im getting close to 2000 .223 rounds reloaded, and I dont own a head space gauge. They all shot, and shot well. Better than factory.

Im not actually sure if you have a problem with your loads. Shoot some factory loads and measure some brass. Shoot some reloads and measure too.

Some factory stuff is wildly out of spec, but its big name and it shoots, and many people use it. Its safe ammo.

This might not apply if you're loading up stuff to win matches. The tolerances to load .223 is kinda slack though.

[pacrat]

As others said...........likely need small base dies. Not necessarily for the rifle but for the gage.

The cases that have been sized and don't bottom in the gage. Smear some good old tried and true "po-boy dykem" aka [black marking pen] on them just above the base and on the shoulder.

Drop them in the gage and give a firm push with thumb and a twist or two. If you leave marks in the dykem at the web you need small base dies. To satisfy the gage. {not necessarily the rifle}. If the shoulder now has shiny spots where the dykem is smeared off. You have a die problem.


SAAMI specs for .223 chambers and ammo leave a whopping .014" headspace variation for tolerance stacking between the two.


Either way, does it really matter? If they chamber and shoot reliably and accurately. Show no excessive pressure signs. Shoot them and enjoy. Gage becomes an expensive pencil holder.

Most fishing tackle, is designed to catch fishermen's wallets not fish.

JM2c

[gemini1]

I'm going with bigedp51 on this one. When I first use the Wilson case gauge, I got several brass that wont sit well in the gauge. After posting about it, I also got several suggestions to get a small base die. But I discovered it was a deformed rim base and burrs on some, when I turn the case upside down and inserted it base first. It wont go in, while the good ones will go in almost 1/4 or 3/4s in. I just used a sandpaper, rub the brass in a circular motion a few times, and the bad ones went right in like butter.

[bigedp51]

If you buy a Hornady cartridge case headspace gauge you have a gauge that can measure all your cases and you will not need to buy a gauge for each caliber.

The advantage of the Hornady gauge is you can measure your fired cases and use this reading to adjust the die for the correct shoulder bump. On top of this you can grasp the case and spin it to make sure the base is flush and centered in the vernier calipers for a correct reading.

The Hornady gauge can also be adjusted to get actual headspace readings with a feeler gauge.

Below is a Colt 5.56 Field headspace gauge. (1.4736)



Below the Colt Field gauge in the adjusted Hornady gauge reading true headspace.



Below a fired case in the gauge



Below a full length resized case with .003 shoulder bump.



I'm retired and have chronologically gifted eyesight, the big digital numbers are much easier to see than using Wilson type case gauges and guessing at the braille reading between the steps in the gauge.

Another thing to remember is military chambers are larger in diameter and have longer headspace settings. Meaning these Wilson type gauges can give you false readings becaues your comertial SAAMI chamber is shorter than your military chamber.

[cpatbay]

No, I don't trim until after I resize/deprime. The one's in the pix above have not been trimmed

Since you haven't trimmed the cases, the cases may be protruding out of the other end of the gauge. So when you sit the gauge down on the table and put the cases in, some would be pushed higher by the table. Hold the gauge by hand, put the case in and recheck. Most gauges are used to check max case length as well.

[jdubrr]

OK, so I finally have the dies properly adjusted so that I get .003-.005 bump of the shoulder on my brass. I am now using the Hornady headspace gauge to do the measuring and the brass now even will fit into my JP headspace gauge as well. I loaded up a few dummy rounds (no powder or primer) to make sure that they fit the mag and the bolt goes fully into battery and it does, but there are a couple rounds that do not eject easily by hand. I have to put my charging handle on the top of my bench and push down on the buttstock of the rifle to help eject the rounds. Does anyone know what this means? Am I missing something?

[jdubrr]

Someone has mentioned here burr on the rim of the brass. Seem to be the problem.

The burr is causing the hard to eject?

[ireload]

The burr is causing the hard to eject?

It can. It happened to me once. I keep a jewelers file on hand just in case. I do find nicks and burrs on the rim from time to time.

[ireload]

I searched my archived pics of brass that has different conditions and I thought I had one with a burr on the rim but alas I don't have one.