All,

I took my first shot at reloading .223 for my AR this weekend. All was smooth and pretty self explanatory as I've reloaded lots of pistol ammunition. Well, at least right up to the point where I used the Lee factory crimp die and put a bulge in the case just below the shoulder on about the first 50 I reloaded. I had the factory crimp die about 1/2 turn in to far and when I backed it out the problem went away. So I figured out what was causing the problem and fixed it, but now I have these loaded cartridges with bulged shoulders. What is the best way to fix these cases so they will feed? Is it possible to remove the decapping pin from the full length resizing die and carefully size them just enough to remove the bulge, or is that a bad idea?

thanks,

Wayne

Any attempt with fully loaded cartridges would scare me to death! Remove die, raise cartridge, use pliers/vice grips to pull bullets. Salvage powder and throw everything else away.


Cost of education!

Bob

Pretty much everything I've learned came the hard way and this isn't an exception. Experience really is the best teacher.

Wayne

Get a kinetic bullet puller and pull them down. Pitch the bullets and throw the power back in the container. Resize the cases without decapping them.

You now have some primed cases that are ready to reload.

Out of curiosity, did you check the length of the brass after you resized it? I've never seen a factory crimp die do this. It makes me wonder if the cases aren't too long...

Anyone else use the Lee factory crimp die? It seems that with this die the difference between no neck crimp and mushroomed cases is only about 1/2 turn. Pretty hard to get adjusted correctly.

Wayne

Did you Full Length size all the brass?
Are all your cases the same length (1.750)?
If not that might be some of the problem.
Are the shoulders set back the same?
The FCD works by the case holder pushing the split bushing up into the tapered sleeve and closing the bushing on the case mouth at the top of stroke. You only want about .030" of crimp length (measured from case mouth towards the base)
Are you using bullets with a cannulure?

All full length sized, all trimmed to 1.750, no cannulure.

I wonder if the collet might be sticky since it's brand new? Possibly hanging and crushing the case instead of sliding smoothly with the case?

Wayne

That is a possibility. There is a step in the split collet on the end that the bullet sticks through. If it, the collet, is stuck closed the case will catch on the step.

The 4 splits in my collet are about .030" wide when relaxed and .000 when compressed with the ram.

Remove the primer punch and run the case again to see if it can be saved . I have do it many times with success. It is worth the try. Make sure there is some lube on the case.

That is what I've found with the .223

LUBE is the RULE.. (don't skimp)

Pull the bullets and start over would also be my suggestion.

Bill