Thread: Hmm what have I done wrong ?

So I case gauge every round I reload, 223, I use a Dillon case gauge picked up from Reloaders.

OAL is 2.20", round checks fine on the gauge with the base flush and no raised primer, and it drops out of the gauge easily, but it's too tight for the rifle and I can't close the bolt. All 223 rounds are resized, and trimmed prior to loading. This has happened to @3 rounds in my last batch of 50, everything else has shot straight and accurately which was good news for me, bad news for the magpies.

Hmmm, any thoughts pls on what I've done wrong ??

What sizing did you do? Full length or neck? And what brand of die?

Full length with a Lee kit.
Lee Ultimate Rifle 4 Die Set 223 Remington 90694 - Rifle Dies - Reloading - Reloaders Supplies Ltd

Lube up (yes, learnt my lesson on that one lol), resize, deprime, wet tumble, trim, prime, load, shoot.

It was most odd, for the life of me I couldn't figure out whats changed in my setup, done @1000 223 with no problems, and then 3 in one batch the other weekend,

How many firings? all firings in this rifle?

cases trimmed to length?

Cleaned your chamber recently?
Checked your bolt face for dirt?
If those are both fine then it may be that the shoulder isn't bumped back far enough, neck length too long or base/neck diameter too wide.
Your chamber will be a slightly different size to the Dillon gauge so there is a little leeway for error even if they gauge correctly.
Also if you have annealed AFTER sizing you may have taken your brass out of spec and may need to resize again.
Try colouring one of the offending cases with a permanent marker and inspecting for rub marks after trying to chamber, which may show where the issue is.

Cheers for the advice, I'll give 'em a go and let youse fellas know of the results

Always keen to learn something new....

Were all the cases fired in your rifle?

I had this happen to me too. I found I'd set my die down too far and it was causing a slight bulge. I annealed all my brass, resized and then trimmed the necks (not turning). My bet is your FL die, don't try and run the size mark all the way to the neck/sholder. That was my mistake eh