Did I buy scrap brass?

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Went to a yard sale and there was a 5 gallon bucket of mixed .223. Mostly LC The price was $45 I snapped it up... Owner said there was a sticker under the lid.

Sticker read:

One Time .223

x Tumbled (1 hr)
x Lubed
x Deprimed Resized
x Tumbled (2hr)
x Swagged (I assume swaged) (I inspected and looks good)
X Trimmed, deburred chamferred 1.74"-1.745 "griraud" ( I am assuming Giraud)

Not necessarily my process but it has all the correct ingredients


I wanted to load a 10 to see how they went through the press and worked.

So I measure 10 or so (all within the range above) and began to make 10 dummy rounds...

Here's what I found:

My Mr. bullet feeder would not seat the bullet on the case like it normally does.

The necks needed to be expanded.

Question: Any harm in running the cases through the Lyman Neck sizer?

Will I have to retrim/

I would test this however I lent the die to a friend on vaca at the moment.
 
I suspect the brass needs to start over. Probable an old sticker from first go around. Run a batch of ten from scratch then report back.
 
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I suspect yhe brass needs to start over. Probable an old sticker from first go around. Run a batch of ten from scratch then report back.

Will do...everything except the neck, checks out...seems like the neck needs expansion...

I am hoping that I can simple run through the lyman die so I can simply use the bullet feeder. Just need to make sure neck expansion does not mess with anything.
 
Try backing out a full length die so that only the expander ball cycles through the neck.

The guy that did them might've decapped first and sized them with the expander mandrel removed.
 
di they check out on a case guage ? I purchased a fair amount of "preped" brass. turns out it was only deprimed and tumbled. I resized it all and back into business.
 
Thanks for those that chimed in

I started by measuring a case 1.74. I did the normal procedure from start to finish and it worked, but I still needed to reshape the necks with the lyman die for bullet stickage and it still shortened the case a bit.

so here's what I tried:
0. Bullet would not stick in case when fed from Mr. bullet feeder.
1. I took my dillon sizing die apart and ran the pin through the mouth of the case and it perfectly fit. There would be no expansion from this pin. I then ran through on the machine with no changes with full length die.
2. I took the Lyman die apart and did the same thing...there was a minor amount of roughness through the case mouth due to the fact that it is knurled. I ran through backing the die out a bit. No changes to bullet seating/sticking in case

3. I ran the lyman die as it should be and noticed a some resistance like the neck of the case needed some reshaping. However the case ended up coming in shorter than the start. It went from 1.740 to 1.736.5....
4. When I tested the result of step 3 I was able to seat a bullet and have it stick, so I did 10 cases or so of the same LC (but diff years). 8 out of the 10 had bullet stickage which is good. However, all were shortened to lengths of 1.736-1.738

I guess my question now becomes whether the .004 - .002 under my desired case length will have any ill effects for plinking? I am hoping with the necks being short there isn't a neck tension issue.

All in all I think after the first shoot the cases will lengthen a bit for the next reload and I can run them through the normal process.


Try backing out a full length die so that only the expander ball cycles through the neck.

The guy that did them might've decapped first and sized them with the expander mandrel removed.
 
I guess my question now becomes whether the .004 - .002 under my desired case length will have any ill effects for plinking? I am hoping with the necks being short there isn't a neck tension issue.

I'd shoot them.
 
EC gave one answer that fits. Here's another. Dillon's size and trim tool. On my first one, the necks were about .008" smaller in diameter than with normal die set-up. Dillon screwed up. I called them up and they sent out another which was better but still about .004" smaller than what I was used to.
Case length being a few thou' short doesn't matter. But I'd certainly check shoulder location. Just modifying neck diameter shouldn't change anything but neck diameter.
 
Great thanks for the possible issue..I will investigate...

After reading the posts above and experimenting...I truly think there is no issue with the brass other than the neck seems to be a little tight for accepting a bullet from MBF..

The trim job is excellent.

That being said:

I placed a bullet using my fingers to hold on the case and was able to seat with no problem. Case Length 1.743. There was no wiggle.

At this point I have two options:

1. Run through the Lyman neck sizer and then use the Mr. Bullet feeder dealing with the reduction in OAL (will have to see what the neck is)
2. Leave alone and use my fingers to place the bullets.

I did find this from MBF too: http://www.mrbulletfeeder.com/rifle-calibers/

May need to pick up a Lymam M die and give it a shot.


EC gave one answer that fits. Here's another. Dillon's size and trim tool. On my first one, the necks were about .008" smaller in diameter than with normal die set-up. Dillon screwed up. I called them up and they sent out another which was better but still about .004" smaller than what I was used to.
Case length being a few thou' short doesn't matter. But I'd certainly check shoulder location. Just modifying neck diameter shouldn't change anything but neck diameter.
 
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If it's just one bucket, you're talking about only 3K rounds max. Post less, place the bullets by hand, and you'll be done in no time.

Get busy.
 
I dont know how the lyman M die affects case life but I used one to make up some batches of 223. One with and without the M die and in 20 rounds rapid aimed fire they grouped a lot tighter than the cases done just with the Hornady resizing die and the 20 rounds of factory ammo.

Great thanks for the possible issue..I will investigate...

After reading the posts above and experimenting...I truly think there is no issue with the brass other than the neck seems to be a little tight for accepting a bullet from MBF..

The trim job is excellent.

That being said:

I placed a bullet using my fingers to hold on the case and was able to seat with no problem. Case Length 1.743. There was no wiggle.

At this point I have two options:

1. Run through the Lyman neck sizer and then use the Mr. Bullet feeder dealing with the reduction in OAL (will have to see what the neck is)
2. Leave alone and use my fingers to place the bullets.

I did find this from MBF too: http://www.mrbulletfeeder.com/rifle-calibers/

May need to pick up a Lymam M die and give it a shot.



Sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk Pro - typos are from the GD auto correct unless they are funny substitutions those I'll take credit for.
 
My experience with 223 has been that bullet seating is a rather delicate process. Easily done by hand but I would hate to try it using a mechanical device. I would never try it with a flat based bullet, only boat tailed.
 
Personally I would never pick up used brass and not run them through a full length die anyway. Length is definitely not an issue for plinking. Run them.
 
Mr. Bullet feeder is an exceptional machine...I used some of his key parts to make one...I am using 55gr FMJ-BT. Once brass is run through the M die they are placed with perfection.


My experience with 223 has been that bullet seating is a rather delicate process. Easily done by hand but I would hate to try it using a mechanical device. I would never try it with a flat based bullet, only boat tailed.
 
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Agreed took your advice and case gauged the bucket...all checked out....There were 8 real short that I pitched. It was a learning experience and I picked up a new tool in the process.

Personally I would never pick up used brass and not run them through a full length die anyway. Length is definitely not an issue for plinking. Run them.
 
I was able to speak to the son-in-law of the guy who I purchased the brass from....Gave me the run down on what he had done...I felt confident after case gauge checks and speaking to him.

Bought the Lyman M die and it worked perfectly. Made 100 or so and all went bang and nice groupings at 75, 100.

For those that have not used the M die I would highly recommend it. So my tool head on 650:

1. M Die
2. Powder
3. MBF
4. Seat
5. Empty (No Crimp) I am going to take a closer look at this and if it is an issue I would back off M die a bit.

I case gauge nearly every piece of ammo I make as it give me a little time to take a look to see if I missed any major defects in the case.

Again, thank you for the input.
 
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