Author Topic: First .223 reloads - Sucess and Major FAIL (Read 8331 times)

00BUCK · « **Reply #40 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:22:48 PM »

If I were you I'd contact Nosler's customer service and see what they have to say. Have you tried mic'ing something else so you can prove to them that your mic is working properly?

Oleshome · « **Reply #41 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:26:52 PM »

yes, that thought occurred to me. question is, mic what? not sure I have something that is an exact known length..

kozball · « **Reply #42 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:33:20 PM »

Maybe someone else in your hometown may have some calipers and would be willing to mic your bullets with their calipers.

Maybe try to pull a bullet from a factory load and check it.

Just an idea.

Oleshome · « **Reply #43 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:33:34 PM »

ok well, being a network/computer guy I went back to my roots I guess. Pulled the batteries from the mic and "rebooted." presto! .2235

NENick · « **Reply #44 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:34:02 PM »

Use the projectile from a factory round.

Oleshome · « **Reply #45 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:35:12 PM »

well duh, factory round. slaps head. doesn't matter now. think I've got it... still. shoulda thought of that

kozball · « **Reply #46 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:36:07 PM »

But, problem still exists............

Dan W · « **Reply #47 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:38:26 PM »

I went down and measured a dozen of my Redding die prepped .223 brass.

Average of the resized necks is .220"

I also measured a dozen Hornady 55gr SPP w/cannelure

All measured exactly .224"

Oleshome · « **Reply #48 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:40:13 PM »

here's the pic..

Randy · « **Reply #49 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:40:33 PM »

May I suggest that you measure the new bullets with a second caliper.

Oleshome · « **Reply #50 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:44:04 PM »

brass are fine I believe..

Oleshome · « **Reply #51 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:47:36 PM »

I am going to check with a second micrometer though. Bottom line is not enough powder lead to a squib. The next rounds I attempted to chamber pushed the bullet into the case. The primers were never impacted so no bang. Lesson learned. I won't be doing more progressively till the powder cop I ordered comes in. I'll just charge them and put'em into reloading blocks so I can visually check them.

Dan W · « **Reply #52 on:** February 25, 2013, 07:58:40 PM »

So it may be safe to conclude that a squib, forced out by a primer only ( little or no powder) was stuck in the lands, just beyond the throat.

And that the subsequent failures to fire (thank God) were caused by said squib interfering with the full chambering of the following rounds and forced the bullets back into the case upon contact with the bullet lodged in the throat.

If we agree that that is an accurate description of the failure, I have just one question...

Where is the powder that should have been in that case? I would break down the remainder of the questionable lot and test the powder weights for possible double charge

Oleshome · « **Reply #53 on:** February 25, 2013, 08:04:04 PM »

Fair question but no lot left. It was a batch of 10 only with the failure occurring on round 6. I ruined two rounds and I can't find the tenth. I think its rolling around in the cab of my truck from when we left Big Shots. The other batch I did - the second - was 20 and all fired with no issues whatsoever.

NENick · « **Reply #54 on:** February 25, 2013, 08:19:12 PM »

I had a friend who did the exact same thing that you did.... I won't say who. He told me to tell you to send that barrel/upper/rifle back to the manufacturer and have them inspect it. My friend did that and they found the barrel to be bulged and a number of other issues.

It took me a better part of a year to get the thing back...err my friend, but it wasn't worth risking life/limb years down the road.

You got really lucky. The mag blew out of my rifle and the rear side of the casing burst. Pieces of brass lodged into the extractor/firing pin. I can't imagine why that didn't happen in your case.

Oleshome · « **Reply #55 on:** February 25, 2013, 08:21:46 PM »

Your friend is right. I was already thinking i'd buy a new barrel.

bkoenig · « **Reply #56 on:** February 25, 2013, 08:34:39 PM »

Quote from: Oleshome on February 25, 2013, 07:33:34 PM

ok well, being a network/computer guy I went back to my roots I guess. Pulled the batteries from the mic and "rebooted." presto! .2235

This, and the shenanigans I've had with digital scales is why I use analog tools for reloading.

SS_N_NE · « **Reply #57 on:** February 25, 2013, 09:13:36 PM »

Quote from: Oleshome on February 25, 2013, 07:33:34 PM

ok well, being a network/computer guy I went back to my roots I guess. Pulled the batteries from the mic and "rebooted." presto! .2235

I am a machinist and use digital calipers all the time.
Just to be clear....when you pulled the batteries, did you reset the "zero"? That requires cleaning the measuring surfaces of the calipers, closing the surfaces until completely touching and pressing the zero button. After setting zero, the calipers should always read 0.0000 when the measuring surfaces are cleaned and closed together. It is a good habit to close the calipers to ensure they read zero. Some calipers have absolute settings and it is important to know how the calipers are set (to zero or some absolute number). It appears your calipers do not have an absolute setting but could have been off for some reason (didn't read zero when closed on measuring surfaces).
If you don't spend around $100 for a 6" caliper, don't expect it to be very accurate or durable. I have had very good luck with Mitutoyo Absolute calipers. Even the good calipers are only accurate to .001" on the scale (the .0005" is not usually meaningful or accurate for any purpose).
I have access to micrometer standards (very accurate lengths of steel bar used to set micrometers to zero or check zero) and machinist gage blocks (very accurate pieces of steel used to set or check accurate measurements). Lacking these tools, a few cheap ball bearings (which are usually pretty accurate and hard) can be checked, bagged and saved to occasionally check your calipers.

It will be important to check bullet and case size as well as reloading tooling to realize where the problem may be. There can be a lot of variables in reloading. Simple things like tool settings or brass thickness can easily trip a person up until you learn what to look for and disipline yourself to check everything.

maanbr · « **Reply #58 on:** February 25, 2013, 09:14:48 PM »

Just a speculation here, but the bullet stuck in the bore is what caused your setback issues. How easily did they chamber? Were you getting "clicks" (when you pulled the trigger) because the rifle was possibly out of battery (bolt not seated all the way) since the cartridge would not seat properly because it was hitting the bullet in the barrel? The hammer will still fall but usually not protrude the firing pin since the bolt is not cammed into the lugs. Did you attempt to seat it with the foward assist? Something major was missed here, either from your reloading or operation of the weapon. Glad you or the rifle was not damaged.

I can almost be certain that if it was a squib round and it only went past the throat that it would not cycle an AR15. The charging handle was pulled to the rear to eject the spent casing. It has to have gas to cycle back to the bolt carrier key which then cycles the bolt carrier group and completes your cycle of operation. Many times an AR15 that is a single shot is due to the key being loose and that is even a full powered properly loaded round firing as it should. It just won't cycle from chamber pressure/recoil. But crazy things have happened, I wasn't there.

Do you have any rounds from that same batch that you did not fire? Check the tension on the bullet in the neck. If they can be pulled out or pushed in by hand you have issues with the sizing process.

There are incidents out there where people using the plastic bullet dummy rounds during their live fire exercises will sometimes break a piece of the plastic bullet off in the chamber. After the immediate action, the live round entering the chamber will not seat. That is a cue to stop and check the bore. One instance the shooter and yes THE FIREARM INSTRUCTOR forced the live round into the chamber by beating on the forward assist to seat the round. Well they blew up a rifle because the bore was blocked. Lesson here is never force a cartridge to seat, it's not going for a reason. The forward assist is to seat a dirty rifles bolt not to force something into the chamber. Not saying that's what you did, just FYI.

Be safe.

maanbr · « **Reply #59 on:** February 25, 2013, 09:24:09 PM »

Sorry, I just now went through and read all the responses. I did not realize there were 3 pages to this thread when I started my response.