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Posted: 4/25/2018 7:51:09 PM EDT
[#1]
Sounds like you have the taper crimp set too low, and it is ever so slightly crushing the case, therefore flaring out the shoulder...
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Posted: 4/25/2018 7:52:17 PM EDT
[#2]
Even the ones with no crimp won't chamber.
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Posted: 4/25/2018 7:55:57 PM EDT
[#3]
Tried to reform 223 brass recently and wouldn't chamber.
Research suggested that the lee dies I am using will not take fresh cut 223 brass down far enough because of spring back of the brass. The suggestion was to use small base dies that take the brass to the small end of the spec. Havnt had had a chance to order RCBS small base dies yet. |
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Posted: 4/25/2018 7:59:16 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Tried to reform 223 brass recently and wouldn't chamber. Research suggested that the lee dies I am using will not take fresh cut 223 brass down far enough because of spring back of the brass. The suggestion was to use small base dies that take the brass to the small end of the spec. Havnt had had a chance to order RCBS small base dies yet. |
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Posted: 4/25/2018 7:59:34 PM EDT
[#5]
Also I have read that once the new reformed brass has been fired once the spring back isn't an issue and regular dies will work for future reloading. The problem is only during the reforming stage...
just what I have read I have not had a chance to try it. I only know factory rounds will chamber and my reformed brass will not. |
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Posted: 4/25/2018 8:02:31 PM EDT
[#6]
I will pull the decapping pin and wear safety glasses.
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Posted: 4/25/2018 8:12:47 PM EDT
[#7]
Odd,
I have been cutting and forming .300 with my Lee 3 die set for over 2 years now and have never had a problem getting it to chamber. |
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Posted: 4/25/2018 9:54:21 PM EDT
[#8]
I don't use drop in gauges. I prefer to just measure how much shoulders are pushed back. Hornady's Headspace Gauge Set works great to adjust sizing dies. I've had no problems with both Hornady and RCBS 300 BLK dies. Both will size shoulders back far enough or even past minimum. Loaded neck diameters should be no greater than .334" measured around the seated bullet. I've never seen the need for small based sizing dies in AR's or Blackout. Your seater or taper crimp may be deforming shoulders? Is your bullets compressing the powder when seated. No experience with your bullets but your oal sounds short. Might try seating a bullet in a case with no powder?
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Posted: 4/25/2018 10:35:55 PM EDT
[#9]
Quoted:
Just getting into 300 blackout and have started reloading it in an attempt to make it affordable. First attempt has been to load 220 gr subs over accurate 1680 and CFE blk. I am using reformed LC brass that was acquired on Etsy and 220 gr Berry SPs. The brass all fits in a lyman headspace gauge and the case neck thickness is good according to the micrometer. However, none of the rounds will chamber in the gun or in a sheridan slotted case gauge. It looks like once loaded the neck bulges out and that is what is preventing the rounds from chambering. I am loading them to an OAL of 2.11. Any idea what might be going on here? I've tried to take pictures of the round in the sheridan gauge but the iphone camera has a hard time focusing in a way that allows what I am seeing with my eyes to come across clearly. Any help is greatly appreciated. Also the seater die is an AR series RCBS seater/taper crimp die if that helps. All levels of crimps form super crimp to barely and no crimp have been tried. None of them chamber. If it doesn't, the cases were not sized correctly. Not long ago there was another thread about Esty brass that would not chamber. What is Esty? Website or? Sounds like the shoulder was not set back far enough. Get a sized case to chamber before going any farther in the loading cycle. |
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Posted: 4/26/2018 6:12:05 AM EDT
[#10]
Does the brass fit in the Sheridan gauge before a bullet has been seated?
Have you measured the diameter of the bullets yet, or the case mouth diameter before and after a bullet is seated? Is your seating die adjusted properly, or is there a chance that it's crimping while seating? If crimping while seating, that could account for smashing the shoulders out a bit. You might also check to make sure you don't have an undersized expander ball. I'd definitely start at square one, and try to figure this out step by step. You should easily be able to narrow down which step of the process is causing the problems, which will help you identify the problems themselves. Best of luck! |
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Posted: 4/26/2018 12:10:43 PM EDT
[#11]
When I cut 223 or 5.56 brass I check wall thickness with a dial caliper. Must be LESS than 0.014 inch and prefer less than 0.013 inch. I use cast bullets that measure 0.309 at loading. Some cases have thicker walls and will prevent chambering. There was a brass selection chart on 300blktalk.com that gives guidance on head stamps and wall thickness.
Found it. <removed it> so much bad info. I know from personal experience that list is not correct. Please do not post that in this forum. dryflash3 |
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Posted: 4/26/2018 11:17:14 PM EDT
[#12]
The above post does provide some useful information. I converted some random 223 into 300 BO. The very first round would not fit into a chamber- I set it aside and checked some others which worked fine.
I then checked the neck diameter of the loaded rounds, and the one that I had problems with had a neck that was a little thicker- indicated by a larger neck diameter of the loaded round which was about .337. A 300 blackout chamber drawing I have indicates .335 as the neck diameter in a rifle chamber- So a .308 bullet loaded into brass with a neck wall thickness of .14 (as the above post indicated) gives a total neck diameter of .336, a No Go. When I researched this, the brass I had problems with was on 'The List'. Does not mean all types listed are bad. The best advice is to sort brass by type and make dummy rounds to check before going into production. |
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Posted: 4/26/2018 11:23:44 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This may be the problem. The seller said that the brass had been full length sized. So I may have to small base size it. If so, what is the best way to go about resizing brass that is primed? Remove the de-priming pin from the resizing die? |
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Posted: 4/27/2018 1:03:55 PM EDT
[#14]
Definitely check the sizing, me and a buddy bought some a long time ago, what we found with the converted brass we bought was that it wouldnt load chamber or trim right,
the conclusion we came to was that while it had been sized it had all been done without the expander in the sizing die and that didnt set the neck tension, once we resised all the brass it worked without a single issue. We since stopped buying, started converting ourselves, like 100k or so. Based on my converting experiances my theory was that the person was converting on a progressive with a size/trim die and didnt rerun the brass thru a regular size die |
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Posted: 4/27/2018 3:02:00 PM EDT
[#15]
Good suggestions above especially checking to see if the empty casings will chamber.
I suggest that you also measure the neck wall thickness and post your results. You can also, if not already mentioned, use a magic marker to paint one up then attempt to chamber then remove and look for where the marker has been rubbed off. This can show you where the interference is which will make it easier to fix. Motor |
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Posted: 4/27/2018 4:09:20 PM EDT
[#16]
Case length gauge helps big time! My brother had problems forming brass and I got him one. He used a lee die and trimmer. The cases that didn't work were the ones he was taking hunting, bad time to find out. I cut my brass then form them on my dillon and use a hornady die before i resize and trim in a Dillon 300 blk trim die. I havent had a problem yet. My brother is using a RCBS small base die currently for new brass. Like mentioned, if your brass gauge before you load and don't after, check the crimp. I only use LC and WCC brass.
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Posted: 4/27/2018 4:27:57 PM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I suggest that you also measure the neck wall thickness and post your results. Some .223 cases are a touch thicker and formed brass must be reamed to thin the neck to spec. |
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Posted: 4/27/2018 6:42:30 PM EDT
[#18]
I recently started loading 300BO and went through this. I ended up having to size the brass with my 223 small base die to get it to chamber and extract easily. .001" on the body made all the difference.
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Posted: 4/27/2018 7:50:56 PM EDT
[#19]
Sometimes you just need a forming die. They push the shoulder back more than a FL die.
Its even in Lees FAQ section. |
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Posted: 4/27/2018 11:59:52 PM EDT
[#20]
I'm using Hornady dies (with a RCBS shell holder) lightly camming over on my Rockchucker II press. With the upper off of the lower I can hand chamber an empty case, slide the bolt forward until it stops against the back of the casing then pretty effortlessly use my thumb on the back of the BCG and push it closed.
Extraction is equally effortless. This is with several different .223 headstamps. Motor |
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Posted: 4/28/2018 11:10:08 AM EDT
[#21]
@dryflash3 I didn't see what you edited out in a response above regarding a list of brass that's good for converting. If it's the one I am thinking of, I'm genuinely curious what info in it is bad. Do you have a better list that we could refer to? Thanks!
mud |
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Posted: 4/28/2018 11:55:06 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
@dryflash3 I didn't see what you edited out in a response above regarding a list of brass that's good for converting. If it's the one I am thinking of, I'm genuinely curious what info in it is bad. Do you have a better list that we could refer to? Thanks! mud If you don't form/size the case correctly the cases won't chamber. A list won't help that. 300 blk was designed to use the thick part of the 223 case as the neck. Do some research on AAC's site, the folks that developed/got 300 blk SAMMI approved. |
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Posted: 5/13/2018 11:59:04 AM EDT
[#23]
I have problems also with my 300 blackout loads. I guess I will have to measure the case necks since my Lee die is set correctly and most cases fit in the chamber checker and others resized do not. I tried some of my old reloads and some of them chamber fine and others stick. Never had this problem with 223 reloads. I have been reloading them for over twenty years.
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Posted: 5/15/2018 8:09:26 PM EDT
[#24]
I learned to size my 223 brass in a 223 fl sizer first, then cut some out for 223 & convert some to 300 BLK & 277 WLV.
My life has been much less stressful. Sheridan gauge is awesome also, Danny |
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Posted: 5/15/2018 10:49:07 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I learned to size my 223 brass in a 223 fl sizer first, then cut some out for 223 & convert some to 300 BLK & 277 WLV. My life has been much less stressful. Sheridan gauge is awesome also, Danny |
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