reloads jam in chamber

[Robb]

This post is a little premature but I wanted to ask while this is fresh in my mind.

I reloaded a number of .223, thought I had the process down. What's happening is that my reloads chamber & extract fine in some older guns and I have troubles in newer builds. This past weekend I had a few rounds that jammed in the chamber of a brand new build and I had to rap the buttstock on the ground in order to pull the charging handle to eject the round. When I ejected the rounds the cases appear fine, some soot on the shoulder, no creases or galling or anything like that. I case gauge all my brass after resize but before I reload and again after they're complete to double check. This is with a Dillon case gauge: flush on the bottom and top of the gauge, if not a hair short, so if the shoulder needed to be bumped down I would think the brass or complete round in the case gauge would be too long. What am I missing?

This post is a little premature because I have not taken the calipers to some of the completed rounds but I'm kind of at a loss sitting here thinking about it. Like I said, I have used rifles my reloads fire flawlessly in, and 2 newer rifles that seem to be tight. So does that mean the chambers are a touch tight? The problem rifles are a PSA and a Windham. Bushy's and Colt seem to be problem free.

Thoughts please.

[Robb]

If I had a bulged case, it shouldn't fit in the case gauge... would it? They arn't bulged to the naked eye, but like I said I haven't mic'ed them yet.

The dies I use are Dillon. It's true they only size down to the bottom 1/4" or so of the brass. Another thing is funny is that of course the problem occured at random out of the same batch of ammo.

[Robb]

Well, that does sound like my problem...

[Hoser]

Is you press caming over when you are sizing?

Gauges are fine, but unless they were cut with the exact same reamer that cut your chamber, they are only a guide.

[Robb]

Is the press camming over?...
Arg... thanks for bringing that to my attention. I need to be more aware of that happening every time and being absolutely consistant. I wish I could say it did, but I can't say for sure, 100% of the time.

[Hoser]

Most of the time small base dies are not needed. My small base die is in a box somewhere. I reload a lot of 223, 300 Whisper and 308 to gun through mag fed rifles.

Size a few cases and see if they jam up before doing any more steps in reloading. Only then will you be able to narrow it down where things are going wrong.

Take some time setting things up and you will be good to go.

[Robb]

It's odd to me the few cases and leftover rounds I ran trough the case gauge seemed fine. I know, that's hardly a scientific way to do things. But now I have to wonder if maybe I wasn't as consistant in my throws and that's the cause of a few bad rounds out of my afternoon of shooting.

Thanks to the both of you for your input, it gives me things to think on and look into.

[Buckaroobonsai]

Reviving an old thread. I've been having this issue recently with my Remington 700 in .308. The case chambers fine, but then is hard to extract after firing. I previously added a single shot follower, so just took that out to limit the variables. On the last shoot, none of the fired cases would fit all the way down the head space gauge. I do have a small base die, but that set of brass may have been processed before it. I usually load at minimums, so don't think that's an issue. I'll check the cam over setting now as well...

[Tim K]

Was it a warm day? Ammo in the sun or siting in a hot chamber? What's your load?

Sounds like overpressure to me. Deprime a couple and seat some new primers. If they are loose, to know pressure was very high. If not, it's still likely a pressure issue.

[Buckaroobonsai]

Ok, cam settings are fine. I ran all the suspect brass through the small base sizer to be sure, and they all headspace gage fine now. I'll load them back up as usual, and try half of them without the single shot follower. If they all pass, I'll put it back in and see if there's any change.