need some ideas..I am stumped

[gunnerbmg]

I have been reloading for my AR and Iam having a problem that has me befuddled. I have used 3 different dies, the last being a Dillon Carbide small base and I still have rounds (very few so far) that do not seat into the chamber. They seem to hang up right near the base,these same rounds will fall into and out of a Wilson case gauge without any friction, that is what really has me wondering what is up. Anyone have any thoughts???

I use cleaned brass, so there is no dirt or grit.

[Pinnacle]

Are you trimming the brass? If it fits into the gauge the body will be fine. You need to check the OAL - that would be the first place that I would look. This is an idea. The problem is that you dont really know where the loaded round is hanging up or what it is hanging up on.

You could take a troublesome round and mark it with a sharpie and run it in the chamber and look for winess marks. Be sure that your chamber is really clean as a general rule.

Just some thoughts.

[DeanC]

Are you trimming the brass? If it fits into the gauge the body will be fine. You need to check the OAL - that would be the first place that I would look.

That's the first thing I would check, too. It can't be longer than 1.760".

[gunnerbmg]

Thanks for the reply P. I did trim the brass to specs, the last round to do this was misplaced , but I am going to shoot a few tonight and see if I get a repeat and I will mark it and really go over it. I will also give the weapon a really good cleaning and then if I have a round that will not seat ,try it again. When it happens, the round is in tight enough that I cannot get it out with just the chargeing handle ,( a couple of taps with a rubber mallet does it), so that makes it all the worse. The forward assist will not seat the round....

[1911fan]

I have a suspicion that you are seating the bullet with some crimp, and that is deforming the shoulder of the case out a tiny bit. When the shoulder is formed, its very thin there, Seating the crimp just a tiny bit too hard can cause the case to deflect out the smallest little bit and you end up with a little ring of over sized case right at the shoulder. This WILL jam the case into the chamber as you describe and make extraction very difficult.

[gunnerbmg]

I am going to load a few more rounds tonight and I will let up on the crimp some, that is a real maybe. I shot 10 rounds tonight and they all worked fine, I did mess with the crimp die last night, (Lee Factory Crimp) to get a bit less and these rounds were from that bunch. Should the crimp really show? or should it be hard to see? Thanks for the advice.

[1911fan]

For most rifle cartridges, there should be almost no crimp, Lee likes to argue this, but my rifles shoot much better with little to no crimp, in the Cooper or the Dakota, I get by far the best accuracy with just neck tension.

[gunnerbmg]

I agree with the neck only tension, this is what I have done in the past. I even loaded my AR ammo this way. I did some testing with it by allowing the bolt to close with full release 5 o 6 times and then checking OAL on the round each time. I did not find any movement of the bullet. However, as I am sure you know, it is GOSPEL, that a crimp is needed in semi auto weapons. Maybe I am barking up the wrong tree, but I do want to make good rounds that work everytime. What do you guys do?

I still just use neck tension on my bolt gun ammo.

[Pinnacle]

I DO NOT AGREE WITH NECK TENSION ONLY WITH AN AR

You are thumping and bumping that round all over the place on its way into the chamber and a crimp prevents that bullet from being driven into the case. I have seen this a thousand or mroe times.

The LEE FCD will not buckle the shoulder.

[gunnerbmg]

I have sure heard that many times. That is why I am crimping the rounds. The ammo I shot last night all worked fine, so I guess for now I just have to wait for the next one to turn up and not seat and then really do some looking. It was cold last night out there and windy, the hot barrel did warm my heart though .

[DeanC]

I wonder if maybe you just need to make sure you are getting that chamber scrubbed out?

[Einthoven's Triangle]

The key to crimping is consistent case length being used.....I only crimp blasting ammo for autoloaders........with Redding Taper crimp die.

I have loaded thousands of 308, 06, and 223 and never crimped with no problems...for auto loaders......

But, I suspect many of the noob reloaders out there are not into doing things right from the get go......reloading is not rocket science....but you do have to have your head in the game......

[goalie]

The key to crimping is consistent case length being used.....I only crimp blasting ammo for autoloaders........with Redding Taper crimp die.

I have loaded thousands of 308, 06, and 223 and never crimped with no problems...for auto loaders......

But, I suspect many of the noob reloaders out there are not into doing things right from the get go......reloading is not rocket science....but you do have to have your head in the game......

So true. You need to know whether or not you die taper crimps, roll crimps, and/or why you are crimping in the first place.

I've shot a butt-load of .223 reloads through an AR without crimping.

On the flip side, I crimp my .375 H&H ammo when I load full-power hunting rounds.

[gunnerbmg]

Yes, over the years I have loaded and shot a lot of rounds without a crimp. Why I have had 5 or 6 rounds in the last 800 to 1000 not seat in the chamber of the rifle, even thought they slide in out of a case gauge just bugs me. I am missing something, thats a fact.

[Ironbear]

Yes, over the years I have loaded and shot a lot of rounds without a crimp. Why I have had 5 or 6 rounds in the last 800 to 1000 not seat in the chamber of the rifle, even thought they slide in out of a case gauge just bugs me. I am missing something, thats a fact.

My 2¢...

Speaking not as a reloader (there are other far more knowledgeable people), but purely as an engineer...

If all ammunition is trimmed and gaged, the trimming and gaging is correct, and the ammunition isn't altered (damaged) before use - the dimensions of the ammo should be within specifications. This would tend to point toward the mating dimension, the chamber....

Three thoughts come immediately to mind (not including thoughts of lunch).
•The chamber is slightly undersized and interferes only with ammo on the high side of tolerances.
•The chamber is "tight" and crud-n-such buildup bring it under tolerance.
•The chamber is "tight" and random bits of grit or carbon wedge the cases.

I suppose that go/no-go gages are available for chamber dimensions? That might eliminate or pinpoint a potential variable.