Need Reloading Help in Midland

[palmettomoon]

I believe they are just standard LEE .223 dies.

I'd try RCBS "SB" (small base) dies instead if loading for autoloaders. They're all I use for .308 and .223 REM. There are even better dies out there, but the RCBS SB dies have been fine for me. If you were closer I'd definitely try to help you diagnose the issue.

 

[Freshly Minted Georgian!]

I'll second RCBS SB, they've worked great for me. Not fond of their decapping pin system but the dies work great and I also have Lee and Dillon dies to compare.

 

[Cartman]

The Plunk test is the best way to check your reloads. I would pull those 300 rounds and get some small base dies and run them thru again.

 

[1006]

Check and make sure your seating die is not bottoming out against the case mouth when seating a bullet. Some seating dies have a crimp ring that can cause a bulge in the case neck and shoulder. The solution — if you have this issue — is to raise the seating die and then reset the seating stem for the desired bullet seating depth.

 

[medium187mph]

OP and I will connect here shortly and get the situation resolved once and for all. I’m pretty sure I can diagnose it pretty quickly and get up and running before the sweat appears on a glass of ice water

 

[BigBen66]

Looks like medium187mph found the problem. Looks to be some small adjustments on the sizing die and the seating die. Started from scratch and some trial and error, we worked our way up doing little adjustments along the way, on both dies, until we found the sweet spot. Now on to pulling 300 bullets and starting over.

Thanks again medium187mph .

 

[medium187mph]

It was a pleasure BigBen66 , now the fun begins!

Load up a few 10 round group ladder loads to see which powder charge cycles your tools efficiently and reliably.

Then when you find the right powder charge that works best, write it down like scripture, keep it close to the bench, and clone the heck out of it!

 

[Remmy]

And buy a Small Base Fl sizing die

 

[moosensquirrel]

I must be missing something and can't figure it out. I loaded about 300 rds. of .223 on my Dillon 1050 (my first reloads), (I know, should have checked a few of the first ones, ROOKIE MISTAKE) and they won't chamber in any of my AR's, actually get stuck in the chamber. I checked everything I know to check, even compared them to factory loads, that work fine and they are identical. They check out on the case gauge, O.A.L., Checked every measurement with my calipers. I've must have missed something. If you're near Midland and wouldn't mind stopping by for some pointers, I would appreciate it.

See a psychologist: there is no economic reason to reload .223 at this time, especially if you factor in the cost of the machine. Learn to take off and land before you try barrel rolls......

 

[Mk319]

If you have kids that shoot, the return on investment happens pretty quick. Or at least it did before the current **** show. Plus it’s a good stress reliever as well as a teaching tool for those kids that shoot.