Had a Reload Issue at the Range today

hylander

hylander

Active member
So this is the first time I have ever encountered an issue.
I am shooting my reloads: Been reloading for about 20 years.
Hornady 55sp on top of 24.8 of H-335, New Winchester brass and seated 2.250, No Crimp, I never crimp.
Any who, I load 3 rounds and fire 2, then the range master calls clear. I stop and proceed to manually eject the last live round, however the BCG is stuck closed, I tug alittle harder and it comes open and ejects only the case.
The Powder dumps into the action and the bullet is stuck about .020 into the Lands. I clean it up and prepair to fire again, BCG goes home, but something didn't sound quite right so I don't fire the round. I manually eject the round, takes a little bit of a tug and same thing, just the case ejects and the bullet is in the barrel.
I just checked and I can push the bullet back into the case by hand. I'm thinking I need to FL size all my New brass from now on and Think I may start adding a slight Crimp.
What say you ?
 
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That's what I do.I think it helps prevent the problem you describe.I normally don't crimp bolt or single shots.It makes a mess when that happens don't it.
 
I doubt that full length sizing will solve your problem. Full length sizing will not result in a more neck tension than neck sizing will. Sounds like your bullet is actually jamming into the rifling and is being extracted from the neck of the case when you remove the round from chamber.

Look at the bullets that were pulled from case and you will most likely find rifling marks on them. If so, seat a bit deeper and see what happens when loaded round is extracted.

One other possibility is if your expander plug is a bit oversized resulting in insufficient neck tension which could allow bullet to jump into the rifling when carrier slams home and leaves bullet stuck in throat when case ejected. If this is the case reducing size of expander plug will solve your problem.

Regards,
hm
 
If I'm understanding you correctly, your saying this is new unfired brass straight from the factory bag that has not been sized. It's obvious to me that you have a neck tension problem.

First of all I would recommend FL sizing and chamfering all new brass just to be able to start with a known condition for the brass. This will eliminate variations and inconsistency that may have been introduced in manufacturing. You will also get a feel for how tight your expander ball is during the sizing operation. If you feel little or no resistance as the expander is pushed into the neck or when it is withdrawn from the case neck, you should be wondering why. Cases that seem very hard to withdraw form the die could indicate an oversize expander. If your using a die that has not had this problem previously the problem is more likely the brass. If you happen to get a case lot that has thin neck wall thickness or the necks are unusually hard you may find it difficult to get enough neck tension to hold the bullet.

FL resize a few of the problem cases, seat a few bullets in these unprimed cases, and check neck tension by pushing the bullet nose firmly against a wooden block. You can further test them by seating them in chamber stripped from the magazine to see if they move. Check the OAL before and after chambering to see if they got longer.

Measure the neck wall thickness compared to others of a different headstamp to see if they are much thinner. If this is the case, call the manufacturer and see if you can get them replaced. I have run across 2 bags of Winchester .223 Rem brass that was defective in this way and it was replaced. Annealing could solve the problem if it's just too brittle but I would not put up with having to do that to new brass.

Crimping is not a good alternative to proper neck tension.

The OAL you quoted for that bullet is not too long so I can't see that as the problem. It is far more likely the bullet is sliding forward during chambering and sticking in the lands. (After further research, the 55 grain Hornady SP might engage the lands with a COL of 2.250. The Wylde chamber is supposed to be slightly longer in the throat so you'll have to check to be sure.)
 
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Quote:It is far more likely the bullet is sliding forward during chambering and sticking in the lands....+100
You really need to measure one of your cases across the neck before seating the bullet and then again after seating it to see how much neck tension you are actually getting...It should be at least .003",,,.002" can be a little 'iffy'..

I FL size all brass to get better consistency for my ARs, since the possibility of several things can go wrong during the cycling and firing process... I don't generally crimp any of my rounds, unless I'm intending to use them in a 'money' competition...
 
Say what you will, I full length resize, neck resize and then crimp any ammmo that goes into my AR's. I have two Armalite barrels that won't tolerate ammo that the neck and shoulders is too "fat" and will stick a round if I don't do my part. I also run a bore snake through the barrel every 30 or so rounds just to make sure the chamber is carbon free. kwg
 
I'm also thinking along the lines of SJ.
I read where it was new Winchester brass, but I didn't read anywhere where it was sized, FL or neck.
I always FL size and then trim all new brass.
I'd follow Jim's recommendations and get back to us.
 
Have you checked to see exactly what OAL the bullet touches the lands at? It maybe as simple as the bullets are seated just into the lands and preventing the chamber from closing everytime. That particular bullet has to be seated slightly shorter in some AR's I have found.
 
The Lee Factory Crimp die is cheap insurance for $12. Have you been using the Hornady bullet for a while or is it a recent addition?
 
Originally Posted By: kwg020 I also run a bore snake through the barrel every 30 or so rounds just to make sure the chamber is carbon free. kwg

How does a bore snake clean the carbon out of the chamber?
 
Originally Posted By: sharkathmiI'm also thinking along the lines of SJ.
I read where it was new Winchester brass, but I didn't read anywhere where it was sized, FL or neck.
I always FL size and then trim all new brass.
I'd follow Jim's recommendations and get back to us.

+1 on this post
 
Originally Posted By: hylanderI'm thinking I need to FL size all my New brass from now on

Originally Posted By: SodakJimIf I'm understanding you correctly, your saying this is new unfired brass straight from the factory bag that has not been sized.

Good catch, Jim. I missed the part about "new brass".

Regards,
hm
 
I've run into the same problem years back. I FL size ALL new brass now and have never had another issue.

Edit to add: I always run a slight crimp now. Not so much an issue with, say, ballistic tips or FMJ, but when I load a soft point, I want a crimp. I load 70 gr. SP and have found that upon ejecting an unfired round, the bullet has been pushed into the casing by the ramps, without a crimp. Recipe for trouble IMO.
 
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I have been reloading for only a few years, but I thought that FL sizing new brass was prety much mandatory (a given..unless you bought Lapua).
I dont believe a crimp is necessary, however I crimp mine, and even find that it improves accuracy (I know Mr. Roberts...you don`t have to say it
grin.gif
).
I recently started to read Modern Reloading (2nd edition) by Richard Lee and just got to the part about neck tension...interesting his view in the book about reducing the diameter of the expander is not recommended, yet I think right in the instructions inc. with the die it states you can reduce the dia. of the expander by .001" to increase tension.
I reduced the dia. of my expander by .001", but I`m going to start tinkering with a new expander.
Interesting what Venatic mentions about OAL when loading that bullet..I would definately be checking that out.
 
I have heard that when you buy new brass to ALWAYS treat it as fired brass. Not sure if this is necessary or not. I have never bought new brass.
 
Problem was two fold.

1: As stated, I need to FL size all new Brass, The new Win Brass I used had loose neck tension. Did the tension check on a few unfired rounds and I could push them into the case fairly easy.
Lesson learn.

2: The Hornady 55sp bullets were seated out way to far by .060
shocked.gif
I had them seated at 2.250
OCL for that bullet for my AR's is 2.190, Hence the reason for the BCG needing a Tug to open on an unfired round and the bullet stuck into the Lands.
Again lesson learned.
I measured OCL for all bullets I have and the 55sp is the only one that I can not load to Mag length.
Expander Ball measured .223, I polished it down to .2225
This makes the ID of the Necks of the Cases .2215 after sizing, which should be plenty of neck tension and no crimp needed.

Thanks for the input guys
Anything I missed ?
 
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