I just started reloading 223, have reloaded 1000s of 308 and 45 acp so figured reloading 223 would be nothing. I got rcbs small base dies, imperial resizing wax like I’ve always used for rifle brass and went to deprime and resize, for some reason this is where in having trouble. When I run the case up (single stage press) almost every case is just a huge fight. Dies are adjusted to just tap the shell holder at full extension, cases are lubed, cleaned, cleaned or tried to clean the dies nothing seems to help. I’m getting crushed shoulders, and it’s a huge headache/chore to just do a small number. Any ideas on what else I can try? All of it is once fired through my rifle, a bunch of lake city, some ta, Remington and some I don’t know with just letters on the case head, those are the worst and I’ve been sorting them off. All of them were from freedom munitions that I had gotten and ran through my colt. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Is your brass annealed? Annealed brass resizes easier than un-annealed.
kwg
No it’s not. I have never done it.
You want just enough case lube to keep the cases from sticking. You do not want any lube on the case neck or shoulder as lube will cause dents. Some people use dry lube inside the case mouth to make the return stroke on the reloading press handle easier.
Some brass springs back when resizing and requires a second pass through the resizing die.
Get a set of Hornady full length dies and sell those small base dies to someone who thinks they want them. I’ve heard many people say they are necessary if reloading for an AR pattern rifle but I have not found it to be true. I reload .223 Rem and .300 Blk, as well as several other rifle and pistol calibers and don’t use SBD’s for either. (Hmmmm SBD, thinking of something that stinks)
It’s not the return stroke, it’s the insertion stroke that’s the problem. Is the Dillon carbide sizer die worth the cash?
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You need a case guage. You can get away with touching the plate on pistol, but NOT on rifle. You need to adjust the die correctly with a guage. and,
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Get DILLON CASE LUBE. Imperial sizing wax is a good product and has it’s place. But DCL will make the biggest difference.
You might try to swab out the Imperial as much as possible with a qtip… since DCL and imperial are different. And I can’t tell any difference when my brass is annealed. And for 223, I never anneal.
If you are getting crushed shoulders, you are using way too much case lube.
+1 on the Dillon Case Lube
Spot on.
And make your life 100% easier, get yourself http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloading-equipment/reloading-dies/replacement-parts-amp-upgrades/skip-s-die-shim-kit-7-8-14--prod33197.aspx and never worry about trying to adjust the locking ring on your sizing die again.
I don’t know what dies you are using but I use a Forster full length sizing die. It is critical that you get the expander ball located correctly in the die. I had the same problem until I read the directions and adjusted my expander ball correctly. It would crush the neck down. I use imperial wax for the case and dry lube for the neck. Just have a brush with dry lube below it attached to the loading bench by my reloader
Pics would be a big help of course. If you use Dillon case lube, and do the baggie application, you can simply wipe the case lube off the case shoulders and neck before sizing. Just a quick wipe will do it. You only want to make certain you dont have the shoulder wet with lube. Enough lube will remain on the shoulder and neck to make everything work OK. When done, DO NOT forget to check you case length and trim the cases if needed. 223 cases seem to grow every time you look away from them.
Markm, when you speak of setting the dies up correctly,what do you mean? I just followd the directions on my .223 F/L dies(lee) and my sized cases fit in a wilson case gauge, slide in and out on their own easly etc…is there a link or something that explains what you want done when setting up your sizeing dies correctly?? Maybe that would help us noobs get a better grasp of things…
texasgunhand,
I reload mostly 30-06, 8MM Mauser, 7.62x54R and .308 Winchester, but I do load .223 occasionally. I like to set up the dies to set the shoulder (datum line) back 0.002" for a bolt action rifle and 0.004" for general use including a semi-automatic rifle.
You are going to wind up wiping case lube off of rifle brass at some point during the sizing process and you don’t necessarily save a lot of time with spray on case lube. I have used a lot of Dillon case lube over the years and recommend it over some of the other liquid lubes I have used. I recently switched to Hornady Unique case lube and prefer it over anything else.
How do you measure the set back? Iam only loading for auto right now,when i start loading 6mm ill start neck sizing since its a bolt gun. It would help if i could find some brass for it.
Do you measure from the neck to the shoulder??? I just set up the die like the directions said.
texasgunhand
I’m 65 with chronologically gifted eyesight and stopped using Wilson type case gauges and switched to the Hornady cartridge case headspace gauge for a very good reason. A fired case may not fit inside a Wilson type gauge so you do not know its fired headspace length. My Hornady gauge is fitted to a digital readout vernier caliper and the fired length and resized length is very easy to see.
Below a fired unresized case in the Hornady gauge.
Below the same case after full length resizing and .003 shoulder bump or shoulder setback. (minimum full length resizing)
We live in a plus and minus manufacturing world and not all chambers and reloading dies are the same diameter and headspace length and your dies will need to be adjusted for the “correct” shoulder bump or shoulder set back. I have a Lee full length .223 die that when setup per the dies instructions with the die making hard contact with the shell holder and the press reaching cam over will make the case .009 shorter than the GO gauge and .012 shorter than the chamber. This amount of full length resizing is excessive and will cause case head seperations when all that is needed is .003 to .006 shoulder bump for the AR15 rifle.
Below is a exaggerated drawing of full length resizing and what happens inside the die, pay attention to the red and green dotted lines and the words shoulder setback.
The green dotted line above is how much the die can push the shoulder back from its fired length, and for minimum sizing and “LONGER” case life this should be kept to the minimum. On a bolt action rifle .001 to .002 shoulder setback is normal, on a semi-auto .003 to .006 is more than enough. What you need to remember is the die is setup to push the shoulder of the case back so the cartridge will fit in “any” chamber and you want to adjust the die to "your’ chamber for “LONGER” case life.
I do things a little different than most reloaders, once I have the die setup in the press to produce minimum neck runout I do not like to adjust the die up and down for the proper shoulder bump. Below on the right is a standard RCBS shell holder and on the left is a Redding competition shell holder, these shell holders come in different lengths or deck heights and rather than adjust the die up and down I simply change shell holders to control the shoulder bump. These Redding shell holders come in .002 increments from +.002 to +.010 with five shell holders in a set.
And I now use my Wilson case gauges as paper weights and pen holders.
The best part about the Hornady case gauge is you only need to buy one gauge and not a separate gauge for each caliber.
Thanks,that helps alot. I will look into getting one of the hornady headspace gauges.
Once again, a drop-in gage will tell you if a case meets minimum-maximum length and shoulder-bumping (headspacing).
It cannot possibly tell you if the external case diameter has been sized to feed and fit into a tight chamber.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but a “drop in gauge” will not tell you the fired length of your cases if it will not drop into the gauge. And drop in gauges are commercial SAAMI headspacing standards and not military standards. To set your proper shoulder bump and extend case life the Hornady gauge works much better. I have been reloading for over 46 years and still use my Wilson case gauges “BUT” the digital display on my vernier calipers is much easier to see and more accurate.
Below a Colt 5.56 Field Gauge, 1.4736.
Below the same Field gauge in my “calibrated” Hornady gauge. (and its no longer just a comparator gauge)
Again I used drop in gauges for years but the Hornady gauge setup above is much easier to read and they don’t make drop in gauges that give braille readings.
(senior citizen humor) 
Since I’m trimming every time (for .223) I almost never use the gauge since the brass will all end up approximately the same length anyway, and my sizing die is already set up. I definitely believe in using the gauge to set the die up for sure.
For .308, I use the gauge to tell me which brass is needing to be trimmed. The directions for my .308 gauge indicate that you set the brass neck up on a flat surface and place the gauge over the case to see if your OAL is within min/max.
You might try polishing your expander ball or getting rid of the expander ball and using a bushing or collet type neck sizing die
For my AR’s I full length resize everything.
For my bolts I only neck size. I use the lee collet neck sizing die. No donuts! About every 4 or 5 reloadings I full length resize.
I have thought about using the forster bump bushing die http://www.forsterproducts.com/store.asp?pid=36223 but you would still have the donuts to deal with.
I use a giraud case trimmer. It makes it so easy that trimming is just part of my reloading process.
and I use an ultrasonic case cleaner. Cleans them inside and out sparkling.