Small base .223 die needed.

[swampratt]

So my .223 rifles are fine and dandy with chambering and never going CLICK!
But a buddies AR15 is finicky.
I pushed the shoulders back .005" more than my shoulders and that helped but still gets the dreaded CLICK from the case not chambering all the way in.
Sucks when you are hunting for meat.

So I am assuming here that it may need the case body sized down more than my die sizes it .
My case near the base measures .374" after sizing.
I measured some factory rounds and the case measures .372".

I feel I either need to hone his rifle chamber a bit or take a chance on a small base die and hole it sizes the body to .372".
I checked everything else out on the gun and no issues at all with it..I have 2 of the same builds the PSA freedom 5.56 1:7 twist 16" barrel.

No issues with mine.. but you know that .001" can mess your day up.

So anyone here have a small base die that can give me some measurements..or a regular die that sizes the body smaller than .374".

 

[Defcon Shooter]

You need a lee factory crimp die. You are setting the shoulder back during crimping. AR15 chambers are loose they do not require small base dies

 

[Mad Professor]

If it is a PSA barrel, I would suspect the chamber.

I can get you a measurement on a case sized with a small base due in a couple of hours if no one else has replied by the time I get home.

 

[swampratt]

I have Lee dies and the FCD and I do not crimp my rifle ammo.
Only time shoulder is set back is during my FL resizing.
In a few days I will have his rifle here and will smoke a loaded case and chamber it to see where it is touching.
Smoke or color the entire round with black permanent marker.

My same AR15 will chamber my bolt rifle ammo with no issues and those do not get the shoulder set back at all and bullet is seated .030" longer. Buddies AR binds up solid with those and you must pound the round out from the muzzle end.

I may be jumping the gun thinking it needs a small base die. I t could have a hickey in the chamber or something like that I have a scope I can see in there with.
My cases are annealed federal cases and neck Id is .003" smaller than bullet OD, plenty of bullet hold there and i use a lyman VLD chamfer so I do not pull any metal off the bullet during seating.
The taper on the RCBS chamfer would pull metal on a few different cases i have used it on .243-.308.

You would think they would be loose ..but I have worked on some guns that are just not following the rules.

 

[swampratt]

I found my 380 factory carbide crimp die from Lee and pushed a .223 case through it all the way rim and all.
The hole is very tight the case measured .374 and the Lee die measured .371 I had enough brass spring back to only allow the case to size down to .373 maybe a hair larger than .373. I ran it through 6 times with and without lube and same size every time.
I would like to get them to .372".
But I think having brass spring back will require very stressful times on the case.
I will get my buddies AR and measure it.
May need to home it a tick.
I would rather do that so it will feed any ammo.

 

[dennishoddy]

I was having the same issue years ago. RCBS told me to take the sizing die 1/8 more turn from its current setting and the problems went away.

 

[Mad Professor]

I’m measuring .3725” with my RCBS SB die. I measure .3735” with my RCBS FL die.
You can see in the pictures the the small base die is working the brass a bit further down.


I also measure .371 with factory Federal loaded ammo.

I still say I would have that chamber reamed with a known good reamer.

 

[Jedabug92]

i have small base 223 dies.......i believe.

 

[swampratt]

Thanks Mad Professor.
I actually use my single stage cast iron press to load all my rifle ammo and have the die bottomed out against the shell holder Then another 1/2 a turn This is a Lee press and it does not cam over.
If I turn more than a 1/2 turn nothing more happens even 1 full turn more is no different than 1/2 a turn.

For my personal guns I turn in the die until it just touches the shell holder and for my guns they all chamber fine.
And that gives me 0 shoulder set back If I go in 1/12 Of a turn on my .223 it will set shoulders back .002"

Jedabug92 I feel I will need to get a small base die.
Or ream his chamber a tick.
I will try and get the gun here today.
His wife owes me 25 bucks anyway on a bet she lost.
She said anterless deer season was over on the 31'st and I told her no it was the 30'th and she said bet me.
She went on saying she knew the date and said to her husband you are a witness.
That family! I bet his dad $10,000 one time that I could get all his firewood in the bed of his truck into my Geo Metro.
I said he did not have that much in there for all the time he spent cutting it.. it was level with the bed.

Easy money
I let his old man off the hook as it was hot outside and he was bummed about the 10 grand loss..as we were for real on the bet.
He was moping around and had a nice cold beer he was drinking and I told him : Man I would give 10 grand for a nice cold beer like that!
He perked up and said get all you want there are in the fridge.
I drank one and said: I suppose this makes us even.
He did not get his firewood back though. And has not bet me anything since.

 

[swampratt]

I got my buddies AR15 and I took it apart and compared everything with my AR15.
I ended up brushing the chamber a little and then bore mopped it with some Meguiars compound on the mop.
All loaded round plunk in and out fine. Even fat ones.

The gas piston felt to be dragging much more than mine. I took it out and cleaned everything up and tested again and you could feel the machine grooves in the cylinder that the gas rings ride against.
My AR was very smooth almost like a polished cylinder.

I tried the compound on a mop but that did nothing. So I wrapped 1500 grit wet sand paper with the #2 compound on it and polished it then bore mop with #2 and it slicked right up and is much smoother than mine is now.

I could not find anything else that could be an issue. His firing pin actually sticks out .006" more than mine does.
No issues there..I think it was all about not having the bolt all the way closed.
It sure clicks together much easier now.
We will soon see next time we are out to the range.