.223 help

[sambo77]

I have some loaded up hornady 50gr varmint rounds, we loaded them at an OAL of 2.200 checked every 5 rounds. But the problems came when I tried to chamber them in my savage 11, 44 of the 100 won't chamber all the way. I got so frustrated last night I didn't break out the calipers and double check the ones that didn't fit. Used a hornady ap press. Gonna check size again when I get home from work but I know size is within spec. I'm stumped on what it could be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[REDX]

did you full length size and trim the brass?

 

[sambo77]

did you full length size and trim the brass?

Yes.

 

[REDX]

2.200 shouldn't be an issue, I just measured some factory 55 grain and its 2.225. Do you have a case go/no go gauge?

 

[bambam]

Will they drop right into the chamber by hand?

 

[palmettomoon]

Your Savage could have a "tight' chamber (I know, that's what she said) and as such may require the use of Small Base dies. I have several rifles including an M1A Supermatch and a Remington 700 that absolutely will not chamber any round what was loaded using a case sized with regular RCBS .308 dies. They must have a case sized fully (additional 1/8th turn on the die after making contact with the shell holder when setting) using SB dies.

Edited to add: You are on a progressive so a case gauge isn't going to do much good there. If you go single stage I'd use a LYMAN gauge (very tight, Dillon sucks) to check case size. A case that will gauge "correctly" in the Dillon case gauge will NOT fit the chambers of the two aforementioned rifles but any case that fits a Lyman gauge will chamber. I run every case through a LYMAN gauge after sizing, trimming, chamfering and deburring, but before annealing. If it doesn't fit it goes into the "re-resize" bucket.

 

[Greybeard]

Your Savage could have a "tight' chamber (I know, that's what she said) and as such may require the use of Small Base dies. I have several rifles including an M1A Supermatch and a Remington 700 that absolutely will not chamber any round what was loaded using a case sized with regular RCBS .308 dies. They must have a case sized fully (additional 1/8th turn on the die after making contact with the shell holder when setting) using SB dies.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yep, full length size or small base dies. You would be surprised how much a 1/4 turn makes on your die. All shoulder case get their length from the shoulder, col is still used for bullet to land or magazine clearance. If you don't have a go/no gauge I would purchase one.
When I load shouldered cases all go through go/no gage, just to prevent firing out of battery.

 

[sambo77]

2.200 shouldn't be an issue, I just measured some factory 55 grain and its 2.225. Do you have a case go/no go gauge?

no I don't.

Will they drop right into the chamber by hand?

yes, bolt will close about halfway if I go to close it.

Your Savage could have a "tight' chamber (I know, that's what she said) and as such may require the use of Small Base dies. I have several rifles including an M1A Supermatch and a Remington 700 that absolutely will not chamber any round what was loaded using a case sized with regular RCBS .308 dies. They must have a case sized fully (additional 1/8th turn on the die after making contact with the shell holder when setting) using SB dies.

Edited to add: You are on a progressive so a case gauge isn't going to do much good there. If you go single stage I'd use a LYMAN gauge (very tight, Dillon sucks) to check case size. A case that will gauge "correctly" in the Dillon case gauge will NOT fit the chambers of the two aforementioned rifles but any case that fits a Lyman gauge will chamber. I run every case through a LYMAN gauge after sizing, trimming, chamfering and deburring, but before annealing. If it doesn't fit it goes into the "re-resize" bucket.

the tight chamber is what I was thinking. I'm gonna recheck the measurements today, and I'll have an update this evening.

Thanks for y'alls input guys!

 

[REDX]

might not be a tight chamber, you are probably using reloaded AR brass correct? if so you need to do what palmettomoon said and completely full size your brass. I have some virgin LC brass you can use my case gauge to check yours

 

[sambo77]

might not be a tight chamber, you are probably using reloaded AR brass correct? if so you need to do what palmettomoon said and completely full size your brass. I have some virgin LC brass you can use my case gauge to check yours

I assume it's ar brass. I know it's a mix 5.56 and .223. The 5.56 was all completely resized. It was brass that was given to me. I'm probably gonna pull everything and resize tonight.