[Cbmarine]

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I'm still having an occasional failure to feed with the reformed brass. I caliper measured about ten loaded reformed brass rounds last night and compared to factory and the SAMMI specs sheet it seems good. I'll have to hand cycle a few loaded through to see if I have one bad piece of reformed brass or if it is something else. All the reloaded factory 300BLK brass works fine with the same bullet/load so I am thinking I need to check my shoulder forming. I really need to get a case gauge but I've had a hard time sourcing one so far. Calipers get old. lol

Seems that reformed .223 brass would be a bit thick in the neck. Neck reaming required? Don't see a shoulder forming as a problem in that the brass will conform to the chamber shortly after ignition. Full resizing completely?

Midway has L. E. Wilson Case Length Headspace Gauge 300 Blackout for $26.99
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/714043 ... uctFinding

[Owen]

Seems that reformed .223 brass would be a bit thick in the neck. Neck reaming required? Don't see a shoulder forming as a problem in that the brass will conform to the chamber shortly after ignition. Full resizing completely?

Midway has L. E. Wilson Case Length Headspace Gauge 300 Blackout for $26.99
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/714043 ... uctFinding

I am dubious about that one because there are many negative reviews on Midway saying it was too "loose" for diameter but I'll bite. Ordered on just to see. Also bought a Hornady bullet puller and 308 collet because the red rips get ruined if I pull the bullets with my kinetic puller. NRASHOW2 code saved me $10 off $50 though so it's all good!

I'm using a Hornady new ammunition full length sizing die. I measured all the neck diameters and the cases largest diameter and they look good. Still a work in progress me thinks. Most of my reformed brass works just fine. Maybe one out of 50 locked up in the chamber part way in so I just need to work out my kinks with the reformed brass.

I am not deterred!

[Sodbuster]

I had similar problems when I started reloading for 300 Blackout. It turned out the Hornady resizing die was cut too deep and was forming the shoulders on the .223 cases too far forward.
After taking a few thousandth's off the bottom of the die, all went much better.

[Owen]

I had similar problems when I started reloading for 300 Blackout. It turned out the Hornady resizing die was cut too deep and was forming the shoulders on the .223 cases too far forward.
After taking a few thousandth's off the bottom of the die, all went much better.

Good to know thanks! I have mine darn near on the shell plate of my 550b. I backed it off maybe 1/4 turn. When you say "a few" is that less than 5 thousandths? Something I could sand off?

[Sodbuster]

Good to know thanks! I have mine darn near on the shell plate of my 550b. I backed it off maybe 1/4 turn. When you say "a few" is that less than 5 thousandths? Something I could sand off?

Honestly, I didn't measure when I did mine and it would depend on how far off your die is. I don't know if you could sand the metal away, those dies are hard. I put my die in the lathe and used a Dremel tool as it revolved.

Compare the shoulder on a resized factory case to a reformed .223 case, in my case the difference was visible to the eye.

The proper solution, if the die is the problem, is make Hornady deal with it.

[Owen]

Honestly, I didn't measure when I did mine and it would depend on how far off your die is. I don't know if you could sand the metal away, those dies are hard. I put my die in the lathe and used a Dremel tool as it revolved.

Compare the shoulder on a resized factory case to a reformed .223 case, in my case the difference was visible to the eye.

The proper solution, if the die is the problem, is make Hornady deal with it.

I agree. If I find the die is the issue I'll definitely send it in.

When I measured shoulder locations they were the same with both reformed and factory brass. I was able to manually cycle through the bullets loaded into reformed brass. I did note that the crimp might have been a little light on a couple. May just be a matter of a little more crimp.

At this point I'm going to pull the bullets out of all my hand loaded 300BLK (~40 rounds). I'll set aside the reformed for later. I have enough factory brass. I just have to decide if I want to keep up with the Lil'gun but a little lighter or switch to a different powder. I actually have a small selection of other powders I can try. Once I have a known good load with factory brass then I'll start experimenting with reformed brass again. I really want to start shooting the rifle more.

[Cbmarine]

@Owen, here's an interesting 300blktalk.com thread on brass used for .223 -> .300 BLK conversion
http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtop ... 23&start=0

[Owen]

@Owen, here's an interesting 300blktalk.com thread on brass used for .223 -> .300 BLK conversion
http://www.300blktalk.com/forum/viewtop ... 23&start=0

Thanks! I'll have to take look when I get home. Work blocks that site. It's tough to do research because by the time I get home I usually get pulled in other directions. The weekend is coming so I'll do some experimentation/sleuthing then.

Thanks for the help everyone!

[Owen]

I reviewed that link Cbmarine lots of good info for my problem thanks! Once the bullet puller comes in I'll resume load building.

[Owen]

Ok been pulling bullets and re-reloading? I love this Hornady bullet puller. Removes the bullets with no fuss and they are pristine!

I started at 8.8 gr of Lil-gun per my recipe and headed out to Ommelanden. Even the 8.8 were a bit too much and caused bolt bounce, argh, but no failures to feed. I could cycle the factory 220gr just fine so I sighted in my optic for 220gr subs at 25 yards. The rifle side target runners were up so that was a pleasant time.

I started up a fresh batch with 8gr of Lil-gun working up to 8.6gr that I'll test as soon as I can. Maybe tonight after AP. I just want a nice lock open on last round now. I'll probably get a heavier buffer at some point and probably an adjustable gas block but for now I have plenty of gas (ahem) so I can download the powder and keep it cheap!