Thread: 223 tight chambering?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Again....what happens if you try to chamber the not yet reloaded full length resized brass?? It's been full length resized,checked for length,primer pockets inside reamed. Full length resized using redding dies hard down onto redding base. Rounds done with same for same rifle before weren't an issue. Only whackamole is new factor

Just tried 7 resized cases in a row and they are all tight and only just able to close bolt without excessive pressure. 4 x winchester once fired factory cases are smooth as. Might have to drop round and see you one day.

Anneal them and run them through a small base die. Bet they chamber. Die touching and a quarter turn.

Right.so I will chuck them all back through the dies.if that doesn't make them fit...will use that brass myself and we will sort some other brass for you to use.

Do you know anyone with one of the cheap lee trimmers that use the case length gauge? Try trimming them, inside and outside deburr might get rid of those yuck looking edges. Ive had tight bolt close from not trimming my cases enough after FL resizing. At least using those lee case length guides they seem to get trimmed more than enough to fit without faffing around trying to set the proper case length.

How about whoever FL resized them didn’t have die adjusted correctly. Why put them through Lee Classic neck sizing die after they supposedly been FL sized?

My 2 cents
I dont do neck sizing any more ,just full length to suit chamber of rifle.
Utube is your friend.
Had some issues with neck sizing similar to the lines shown on your necks.
Check length after a few firings.
If factory ammo is loading ok you might want to consider chucking that old brass and start with new or once fired brass.

Originally Posted by woods223

How about whoever FL resized them didn’t have die adjusted correctly. Why put them through Lee Classic neck sizing die after they supposedly been FL sized?

You kind of have to run them into the lee whackamole dies again in order prime them and seat the bullet using the lee classic loader sets. It wont really change the shape of the brass much as the neck should already be down to size using the FL die.

You need to FL resize any brass thats been once fired in another rifle before using it in a lee whackamole set which is what they have done obviously. Somethings gone wrong in the FL resizing. Surely either the FL die has not bumped the shoulder back enough or the case hasn’t been trimmed enough. I dont think putting it in the lee whakamole die would have affected the brass further in any way.

Correct.the only thing possibly wrong is I may have allowed die to creep back up so will run them back through making sure the die n base are in hard contact...that SHOULD fix any issues. And yes by using whackamole to prime n seat ,you only miss out the deprime step. 99% sure I checked dozen cases of same batch at random and all were well under maximum length using both calipers and Lee trimmer.will do so again.

My guess is it’s a case length issue. Based on the fact that the OP said some of the cases were longer than 44.7 which is book max. The Lee case trimmer guide should trim them down to around 44.4mm or so according to the packet. Also the pictures with the vivid on the case didn’t show any shoulder contact. Also the end of the case looks a bit mashed as if its rammed up against the end of the chamber. Ive had something very similar happen using a manual set case trimmer where I swear I trimmed just below book max but I had tight chambering. Next time I just got a lee case trimmer, used the guide, it took a reasonable amount of brass off each case. After that chambering was all good.

Found issue and fook me that raised my eyebrows. My case trimmer WAS out of spec. Too long,carefully ground the tiny amount off tit and now cases measure correct or tiny flyshit under after retrim and referring...I've used said trimmer for twenty years no issue in my rifle.just goes to show,assume nothing.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Found issue and fook me that raised my eyebrows. My case trimmer WAS out of spec. Too long,carefully ground the tiny amount off tit and now cases measure correct or tiny flyshit under after retrim and referring...I've used said trimmer for twenty years no issue in my rifle.just goes to show,assume nothing.

Have you checked them in the rifle?

Have retrimmed fifteen cases. Have niggling doubt in mind..just a niggle.if my fancy pants measuring tool is wrong,may now own a too short trimming insert. Will wait till engineering savvy RUMPY pops over this arvo with different measuring stick.its got to be something really simple or I would've struck issue before now.

In mine yes. Rumpys..not yet.

“You kind of have to run them into the lee whackamole dies again in order prime them and seat the bullet using the lee classic loader sets. It wont really change the shape of the brass much as the neck should already be down to size using the FL die.”


@Juisy. Probably 20+ years since I used my Lee Classic Dies but I’m pretty sure you tap case out of die and sit case on priming tool with die loosely You kind of have to run them into the lee whackamole dies again in order prime them and seat the bullet using the lee classic loader sets. It wont really change the shape of the brass much as the neck should already be down to size using the FL die.sitting on top of case to act as powder funnel then use as guide for seating bullet with priming anvil tool. Only going by memory but I’ve done hundreds of 223 & 308 with those things. I would still suspect FL die wasn’t adjusted right or cases are over length.

Originally Posted by woods223

“You kind of have to run them into the lee whackamole dies again in order prime them and seat the bullet using the lee classic loader sets. It wont really change the shape of the brass much as the neck should already be down to size using the FL die.”


@Juisy. Probably 20+ years since I used my Lee Classic Dies but I’m pretty sure you tap case out of die and sit case on priming tool with die loosely You kind of have to run them into the lee whackamole dies again in order prime them and seat the bullet using the lee classic loader sets. It wont really change the shape of the brass much as the neck should already be down to size using the FL die.sitting on top of case to act as powder funnel then use as guide for seating bullet with priming anvil tool. Only going by memory but I’ve done hundreds of 223 & 308 with those things. I would still suspect FL die wasn’t adjusted right or cases are over length.

Shit, I don’t know what happened there but somehow what I typed and what I quoted has merged into a nonsensical post upon posting. I will try and redo what I wanted to say shortly.