Hello everyone and thanks again in advance for all of your help. The members here you have all been incredible, thank you.

I am using the Lee pacesetter dies and I have been reloading for a couple of weeks, mostly doing case prep.

I just received my Lyman .223 headspace gauge and started putting some cases in to see and have a lot of inconsistent results.

Some cases drop right in and the base is flush with the lower groove.
Some cases have the base sticking out ever so slightly.
And a few have enough space between the base and the gauge to slip a fingernail through.

I’m curious what could be causing this, since they’ve all been run through the same FL sizing die?

I’m only plinking and not doing precision reloads yet. Is this dangerous to load?

Is inconsistent lube possibly the reason for inconsistent resizing?

Thanks again for your help. I hope I don’t have to pull the 200 rounds I’ve made and waste the primers.

AR_Pro_Noob

You need to trim bottle neck rifle brass.

Was this brass range pick up?

Have you measured the brass length?

Do you have a trimmer, calipers, etc...?

Have you read your reloading manual?

You can pull the bullets and still use your primed brass.

Does the bolt go into battery with a " round that failed " in the chamber ?

I have trimmed all brass that was longer than 1.75

Some of it is range pick up brass, some once-fired and some remanufactured.
(This was before I learned the need to keep brass separate which I do now.)

Yes I have calipers and I have read the reloading manual. The headspace topic is obviously one I’m still fuzzy on.

I had a few rounds failing, I presumed because of the oal at 2.25, a length I tried after having success with rounds at 2.20.

It pushed the bullet into the case and spewed powder everywhere in the chamber when it failed to load.

I can grab those cases and try to chamber them and see if the bolt will go into battery, as you say.

there are a lot of details missing

are all of the cases the same manufacturer?
are you trimming the brass after re-sizing and before you're checking headspace in a gauge?

there are a few factors that could cause inconsistent resizing, case manufacture would be the first that comes to mind.  
Not all cases are going to have consistent material thickness throughout

headspcae gauges are going to primarily check diameter and distance-to-neck.  

case length will need to be checked for whether trimming is required, and then checked again after trimming

I apologize for my ignorance in the lacking details. Thanks for your input.

The cases in question are assorted. Their lengths are also assorted.

I have trimmed anything over 1.75 oal.

As I get better with trimming, the cases will become more uniform in length.

I had an experiance years ago ...late 70s .
I bought a Mosin Nagant,  I scarfed 40 pieces of Norma brass and reloaded them with a Lee Loader , the kind you hammer the cases into the resizing die .

So I hammered them into the resize die just so  .
But twenty just would not chamber no matter what .

No clue now or then ?

no need to apologize, you're asking questions

assorted brass types are going to behave differently while being fired

when fired, brass is under intense heat and pressure.  it will expand to fill the size of the chamber.

some brass types will expand more and others not as much, mostly due to case wall thickness

assorted cases will produce assorted expansion results.  they'll be different

if you're just plinking it's not critical, as long as they chamber you should be fine

as far as overall length goes, it's going to depend on your projectile.  each bullet type will hit the lands in the bore at different points

that curved part of the bullet, which is called the ogive (not kidding) is what you're actually trying to measure.  

you're not really trying to measure the distance from the case head to the tip of the bullet, you're trying to measure the length of the total round from the case head to the ogive

that point where the bullet actually first comes into contact with the bore, that's the part that matters for seating

overall length is simply measured to make sure your bullet fits into a magazine (for a magazine-fed weapon)

I know I've muddied the water for you even more

but when you start asking questions (and get answers) about how and why these subjects matter in reloading... you're going to start producing ammunition with more accuracy potential

I don't feel confused by anything you said and I'm somewhat familiar with the concept of the ogive and where it touch the lands being an important thing to measure.

I do have the Hornady OAL gauge and the comparator kit but have not used it yet because I lack real understanding of the dynamics and the intention.

The oal makes sense about simply fitting into a mag. Is it possible certain chambers will not like an oal even though it is within sammi spec?

Understood. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't putting myself in danger if I shoot the rounds. I am not expecting any exceptional accuracy, my gun still outshoots me.

Shame about the gauge. Gosh, there's so many intricate details to understand. I was hoping the gauge would help me but it seems it has caused more harm than good.

Thank you for the input.

absolutely.

one of the reasons your Hornady gauge exists is to help you determine where projectiles should (could) be seated in relation to accuracy potential.

p.s. - I've never had any problems with Wilson or Dillon gauges

This makes sense. I have a feeling my auro upper/Rosco 14.5 don't love oal's much over 2.20...that only issues I've ever had was trying to load rounds I made at 2.225 and it wasn't a fan.

But I digress. Thanks for the help. I'm going to save up for some Dillon equipment and continue reading fresh material.

Spring back, it may be what you are experiencing.

When brass is resized it always wants to slightly spring back to its fire formed size, different brands vary with how much it wants to spring back, this will cause different headspace dimensions on the resized brass.

oh shit, we're getting into annealing territory now

he's saving for Dillon stuff, let's not set his wallet on fire with annealing equipment

I despise drop in gages. Not only are they crude, they don't give you any information besides pass or fail.

Different brands of brass will usually need a different die setting unless you are willing to size everything more than needed.

The number of times any particular case has been fired will change how it resists resizing.

I try to size one brand at a time. I use micrometer headspace gages to bump the shoulder at least -.003" to around -.004" from it's fired dimensions.

I find that a large run of brass (5,000+) made by the same company will resize +/- .001" of my target headspace. Most will be spot on, 5% will be under or over my goal. Sometimes you can feel a case react differently when going through the die. Heavier resistance usually bumps the shoulder more.

My wallet's been on fire for 6 months now but, I'm making up for lost time. (NJ transplant in TN)

I have been eye'ing the annealing machine but I have months before my brass makes it through just 3 or 4 uses.

I should spend some money on books, too. It seems. lol Thanks for the help.

That makes a lot of sense about pass/fail, not very insightful, is it?

Also makes sense about different brass having different tendencies.
I wasn't separating brass until recently but I see the importance.

Thinking about having different die settings for different brass makes my head want to explode. lol

Going to put more focus into these concepts. Thank you.

I shoot my ammo in batches. Brass will take a "set" to whatever dimension it is in over time. I try to knock my primers out after a shooting session, tumble clean then resize. I can trim then or later, it doesn't matter.

Brass stored resized for a period of time and and ready to load will retain more neck tension than brass that was just resized recently and loaded immediately. Because the case was literally changed just seconds earlier (on a progressive press) the brass is more malleable and doesn't resist the bullet being seated as much.

The opposite exists for fired brass that has been in storage for years. It may need the die turned down a little more to achieve the shoulder bump needed.

Having good gages (Mo DeFina's or RCBS's micrometer headspace gages or Hornady's Lock-N-Load system) will give you measurements in .001" increments for your shoulder bump. If you want to make sure your ammo shoots in anyone's gun buy a go-gage, measure it with any of these gage systems and then bump the shoulder -001" shorter than the go-gage reading.

As a reloader you have total say in your production methods. It's important (to me) that my ammo works in any family member's or trusted friend's firearm in case of emergency. -.003" to -.004" clearance for a semi-auto is a guarantee that you won't get jammed up because your ammo is too tall.

https://www.rcbs.com/case-prep/measure/precision-mic/564.html

You can also just use your trusty calipers, a hornaday gage kit and the SAAMI prints for your cartridge and measure your cases and set them inside SAAMI specs...That is my go to method for every chamber starting out..I figure out where that chamber is compared to SAAMI specs and record that data, then I know what is acceptable headspace, shoulder diameter, casehead  diameter and such...I do use a few of the rcbs mic's as well for a quick check, but rarely need them....

ETA: Annealing really helps with consistent head spacing as well..properly annealed brass will hold the bump better and not be so springy where you have to crank the die down and over bump to get enough movement, plus an added bonus is neck tensions are normally a lot more consistent case to case as well.....

RCBS Precision Mic for measuring headspace length, as-fired and after resizing.
Check your cases "as-fired" from your rifle. Resize to at least .003-.005 under that measurement. I use a full length RCBS resizer die with the expander ball removed in a single stage RCBS Rockchucker press. I then expand the necks in a separate operation with a Sinclair? expanding mandrel. This keeps the headspace measurements very uniform. Use enough lube but wipe off the shoulder and neck area to prevent lube dents. Lube build up on the shoulders can cause variation in the headspace length too.

I don't use the bullet length tool that comes in the box. Tried it once and it stuck in the lands. There are better methods/tools for finding the measurement that puts the bullet close to or touching the lands. Right now just make sure your rounds will fit in the magazine and not so long as to have the bullet jammed into the lands.