problem with reloading .223

[Franky4Fingers]

Here is my problem.

I have assorted brass, some of its federal, some of its remington, etc. I have several types of bullets, hornady, sierra, etc. Ages of said bullets and brass range from brand new to stuff from 20 years ago. All brass has been fired at least once. What I'm about to say goes for all brass and bullets.

I went to reload some .223 and had a startling discovery. I can take a .224 bullet and I can take ANY brass and I can put the bullet inside the case with great ease ....with my fingers. Like, I can actually set it in there and the bullet will fall inside the case.

WTF is going on here? How can I load these like this?

[soccerbum87]

have you resized the brass yet? When I first started reloading i swapped out a good depriming pin with a broken one and started to resize not realizing that the piece that i switched out was also the neck resizing piece for 8mm and I was reloading 308 I couldn't figure out for the life of me why my bullets would just fall into the case. But most likely your problem is from the cases not being resized yet. Once a bullet is fired the case expands upwards and width wise so it is crucial to resize.

[Steve in PA]

Resize!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pete D.]

WTF is going on here? How can I load these like this?

As noted in the other posts, it sounds like the brass needs to be sized.

This is going to sound very critical but....if you did not know that brass has to be resized before it can be reloaded - a very basic part of the reloading process - then, before going any farther, you should get a good reload manual and read through the sections on the entire process before doing anything about actual reloading.
If you have, in fact, resized the cases and the necks are still loose (it'd be very odd for that to happen to every piece of mixed brass), then the brass may need to be annealed.
Pete

[Franky4Fingers]

I am a dumb tit, I was setting the resizing die wrong.


Thanks everyone.

[Mush]

When all else fails, read the instructions........ :-)

I can still hear my Father telling me that......

[Franky4Fingers]

When all else fails, read the instructions........ :-)

I can still hear my Father telling me that......

It wasn't that I was lazy or stupid and didnt read.... in my opinion, the fault lies in those whom of which had written the directions not explaining it properly.....either that or I am too dumb and need extra help.

[shortthrow50]

im fairly new to reloading but i never knew that there was a die that didnt deprime and resize cases. So for me, i dont know what to think of this thread. I reload .308, .223, and .50 and resize and trim all cases to spec. I hope this fellow is checking all his cases for length. I have found that even after one fire that most cases are way over the maximum case length which can cause the case to go to far in bore. Which can pinch the bullet and cause excessive pressures. Kaboom!!! gun blows up in face
CHECK CASE LENGTHS AFTER RESIZING AND TRIM TO PROPER LENGTH!

[Mush]

It wasn't that I was lazy or stupid and didnt read.... in my opinion, the fault lies in those whom of which had written the directions not explaining it properly.....either that or I am too dumb and need extra help.

For me, some times it takes awhile for the light to go on in my head after reading directions.

Also, Be careful, some dies use a different sequence in which die to use in what order. I have some old RCBS dies that size the case first, secound die - deprime/expand the mouth (pistol), then third die - seat the bullet.

......

[soccerbum87]

It's ok I think that I'm only running one of those real dim 30W light bulbs upstairs... All of my problems are usually are "Operator Error".