Processed .223 brass on friend's progressive, didn't check with case gauge...

General Firearms Reloading & Ammunition
1

I did something really stupid. I processed 4000+ pieces of range pickup brass (all the brass I’ve got) in preparation for moving using a friend’s dillon 650, without checking a case with a headspace gauge. He told me it was all set up. I assumed he had used a gauge to set it up- he didn’t. He used Lee’s instructions to ‘turn it down against the shell plate and go!’

I go to other friend’s house to load said brass, drop a round into a gauge, and find the headspace is measuring -.014"! That sizing die was really pushing the shoulders back. -.006 is as far as I’d normally want to go.

I’m using 55gr Hornady FMJ on top of 26.4gr of aa2460 (26.7gr is listed max for a 5.56 chamber) through a BCM chrome-lined barrel (5.56 chamber- closes on a .223 nogo).

The only option beside trashing the brass seems to be either trading it to someone to use as .300 blackout brass or learning to cut it down myself and then sell/trade it.

Would you shoot this brass, keeping in mind it is range pickup and may include some reloaded cases?

2

You can shoot it. I’d have a broken shell extractor handy. This brass will suffer case life from such a shoulder bump.

3

I have never taken one that far out of spec, but I have fired ammo that was close to that. Had the occasional split case mouth.

4

Perhaps anneal to help with splitting and should help seal during fire forming.

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5

Yes. My suggestion is to load 25 test rounds. If these show split necks, then you might reduce your load and test another 25 rounds. All is not lost.

6

Maybe ask your buddy what load he is using since it’s his setup you processed your brass on.

7

ghjkl

8

I would check some factory (LC, IMI, etc) 5.56 or commercial .223 in that same HS gauge to get a relative reading. Could be you are closer to normal than you think.

9

Split necks aren’t the issue. Case separation is. Slamming that shoulder forward to form to the chamber will create a weak ring in front of the case web.

Here’s where they’ll likely separate prematurely… the rim is up in the top of the port. No damage to anything… just a pain when the front of the brass stays in the chamber.

10

ghjkl

11

Here’s what I know, having just dealt with 3K of LC brass that was bumped that much and a bit more. The entire batch was cleaned and processed by a shop who let the die get out of spec. You WILL not be able to get it back to spec by firing in a semi-auto, and likely the brass will not fill back out in a bolt gun. I tried treating mine like a fire forming process, with a lighter load. In my Rem. 700 Varmint, the primers pushed back as the brass moved forward. The head space remained unchanged in over 100 attempts, making the brass useless in a .223/5.56 chamber. They are now being turned into .300 BLK. You may be able to work out a trade with someone to recover some of your brass.

12

I would try to anneal 100 cases at the next reload before cutting it down to .300BLK or tossing it. This softens the brass and makes it more fluid. You might be able to save some of the brass. kwg

13

I’ve had that happen. I’ve had about 4 separations over the years… I think one came out with the next round.

14

A very generous friend invited me to come over and exchange brass since he had recently started shooting .300 blackout and only had about 100 cases set aside for it. He had just enough brass to exchange all but the 500 pieces I’d already loaded and even let me stay over late and process some.

Thanks for all your input guys.

15

The world’s FIRST EXAMPLE of something good coming of 300 Useless!!! God works in mysterious ways. :sarcastic:

16

Ha! The guy was shooting 150gr suppressed (supersonic, of course) at the last match I attended. He was having difficulty with the hold-overs at 300.

I like the BC of the 220gr subs and that they cycle an AR with nothing changed but the barrel. It’s a cheaper way into semi-auto 220gr subsonics than a .308 AR. Other than that, I’d rather have 5.56.