Please Help Me With a Resizing or Bullet Seating Problem

[StorminNormin]

I am encountering an issue that I am hoping to get some assistance with. I have a Dillon RL550 and a Redding 2 Die 300 BLK Die set. I am reloading once fired Lake City 5.56 brass that I convert. I first chop of the 5.56 neck, chamfer and debur the case, lube the case, and then re-size it in the sizing die. After that I trim the case to length.

The converted brass has a wall thickness at the neck of .012".

The case neck of the empty brass is .323" and after being loaded it is .332"

The empty case body below the shoulder is .362" and .363" after loading.

On both the empty and loaded brass the case body near the head is .373".

An empty converted brass will drop just fine into the Sheridan Case Gauge and after loading it will ALMOST go all the way in the case gauge but sticks out a little. It seems that when the bullet is being pushed into the neck, it is causing a slight bulge from ,362" to .363" right below the case shoulder and this is what might be causing the case to now not drop into the Sheridan Case Gauge.





One question I have is if the Redding sizing die is a full length or just a neck sizing die? I also am curious if anyone knows of any adjustments I need to or can make to fix the problem I am having?

ALL of my reloaded ammo that does not drop into the case gauge function perfectly in my rifle with no issue.

[Hardrockshot]

According to Dillon the sizing die should almost touch the shell plate. And the dies are full length. I had to set my die about half a turn up from the shell plate.

[StorminNormin]

According to Dillon the sizing die should almost touch the shell plate. And the dies are full length. I had to set my die about half a turn up from the shell plate.

Yes I have my die set up currently with the die touching the shell plate. Dillon also states that to not size the entire neck to turn the die up 1-3 turns but I did not know if that is what would fix my problem. Obviously I will have to try that on the next reloads I do and I will start with a 1/2 turn. Do you use a Sheridan Case Gauge and do they fit?

[FirefighterCT]

If the empty case checks out, the problem is the loaded round. Remember that with the Sheridan you're using an ammuntion gauge, not a case gauge.

Put your calipers on the loaded round to see if it's within spec.

http://www.saami.org/pubresources/cc_dr ... ackout.pdf

I had a similar problem and needed to tweak my sizing die by about an eighth of a turn... That made enough of a change for both the empty case AND the loaded round to slip in and slip out of the Sheridan gauge.

[rjacobs]

Dillon's instructions are for Dillon dies.

How does Redding say to set the die?

All of my Forster sizing dies say screw the die down until contact and then an additional 1/8-1/4 of a turn.

If the rounds work in YOUR gun(the ULTIMATE case/ammo gauge) than who cares if it doesnt slide into a case gauge(which is used for setting head space and trim length)? If you ever load ammo that you just neck size for say a precision bolt gun, the round wont slide into a case gauge because the base is usually quite a bit larger than the min spec, but guess what, that case will slide like butter right into YOUR chamber. So which is right: your chamber or a case gauge? I think as reloaders we put WAY to much thought into case gauges when we have the ultimate case gauge right in front of us.

[moonie]

Back the seating die out. Over crimping can cause a bulge that will cause this.

[StorminNormin]

How does Redding say to set the die?

Redding states to raise the shell plate and then screw the sizing die in until it fully touches the shell plate. It states that if you don't want to size the entire neck, then to back it out 1-3 turns, but I will be more conservative in how much I back it out at first.

If the rounds work in YOUR gun(the ULTIMATE case/ammo gauge) than who cares if it doesnt slide into a case gauge(which is used for setting head space and trim length)?

True.

[StorminNormin]

Back the seating die out. Over crimping can cause a bulge that will cause this.

I have the seating die backed out so it will not crimp; I will double check it is backed out as much as possible. I put a light 1/2 turn crimp with the Lee FCD in position #4 of my press.

[dellet]

If it only does it occasionally it will be difficult. Clean the gauge and rounds well that won't gauge. Use a sharpie to blacken the rounds and check them again, it should clean the brass where it hits the gauge.

You also did not say if you are de-burring the inside of the case mouth or not, the slight chamfer really helps in seating the bullet, really helpful on a flat base bullet. It really does not take that much force in the press to deform the case.

edit: Should of been more clear, are you de-burring Again after final trim?

[StorminNormin]

If it only does it occasionally it will be difficult. Clean the gauge and rounds well that won't gauge. Use a sharpie to blacken the rounds and check them again, it should clean the brass where it hits the gauge.

You also did not say if you are de-burring the inside of the case mouth or not, the slight chamfer really helps in seating the bullet, really helpful on a flat base bullet. It really does not take that much force in the press to deform the case.

edit: Should of been more clear, are you de-burring Again after final trim?

Yes I chamfer and de-bur both after chopping the brass and again after trimming. It does this on every round but brass that I convert will go further into the gauge and the bullet seats easier. Brass that I have bought from an online vendor I probably need to start chamfering the case before loading because on that brass I can feel the bullet is harder to seat.

I will try what you said with the sharpie, but from the measurements I have taken on loaded brass it appears to be .oo1" above SAAMI spec just below the shoulder so that is what makes me think it is the seating of the bullet, but if that has to do with the seating die or the sizing die is what I need to figure out. I have not had time yet to try and make some adjustments from the suggestions made.