Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles casings stick, won't eject. Very hard to pull charging handle to eject

Been told I should be using small base dies. Help!

Just screw the die down some more, even if it is already camming over. Screw it down until a sized case will freely chamber & eject. You'll be GTG.

There isn't any difference between small base dies and regular dies in .223.

Small base dies are seldom necessary, as long as you are adjusting your standard dies properly as described above. Are you trimming your cases to a proper length? Excessive case length can result in sticky extraction of live rounds.

Also, if you are crimping using the seating die, it is possible to slightly bulge the case shoulder if the crimping shoulder of the die isn't adjusted properly or if an overlength case is used. Too much crimp bulges cases.

Assuming this is an AR - a weak extractor spring can cause cases to not be ejected, as well.

Thanks guys, I'll lower die and get back with you

Have to get a case gauge IMHO or else you are flying blind if you are reloading an AR... need to know the headspace on the gun so you can size to 2-3 under that, but not excessive so you ruin the brass after a few loadings....

Have you got a caliper? You can measure the case width for tolerance before and after the shoulder. Die should be touching your seat with the handle pulled all the way down. I trim all cases which are longer than tolerance dimension just in case my chambers are tight tolerances.

Not many chambers on production guns will have an issue on OAL case length, but thats not 100% for a fact either. Just that I"ve rarely seen an untrimmed case cause this issue.

BTW does it do it wiht factory ammo too? It also could be overgassed.

From RCBS, but I've never used SB in 223....
Q. I see a Small Base Die Set listed for my caliber. Do I need these or should I buy a Full Length Die Set or Neck Die Set? How does each set differ?

A. The Small Base Die set is intended for use for ammunition to be used in auto, semi-auto, and lever action rifles so that the loaded round chambers and extracts easily. The Small Base Sizer Die sizes the case from the shoulder to the head of the case a couple of thousandths smaller than a Full Length Sizer Die. In certain calibers it also sets the shoulder of the case back a thousandth or two more than the Full Length Sizer Die. The Full Length Die Set or Neck Die Set is not normally recommended for ammo to be used in auto, semi-auto, or lever action rifles. The Full Length Die set is recommended for ammunition used in bolt action rifles, particularly for ammunition to be used for hunting. The Neck Die Set can also be used to produce ammunition for use in bolt action rifles. The Neck Sizer Die sizes only the neck of the case so it will hold the bullet firmly. It does not size the body of the case nor does it set the shoulder back. Neck sized cases will usually chamber for three or more firings, depending on the powder charge and chamber dimensions. However, over a period of time, a slight drag will be noticed when the bolt is locked. At this point, cases will need to be full length sized and the shoulder set back so they will chamber and extract easily.

That blurb from RCBS was not true with several RCBS .223 small base dies and a Redding .223 SB die I compared to standard .223 FL dies from RCBS, Redding, Lyman and Lee.

They all turned out cases that were, for all practical purposes, identical. In fact some of the standard FL dies sized some dimensions of cases smaller than some of the SB dies. If you didn't look at the writing on the dies, you would not be able to pick out the SB dies by the cases they sized.

Other calibers may be different. I can only speculate that this is because the AR15 was one of the first, if not the first, rifle to be introduced in .223.

Take a few rounds, run a black sharpy all over them, cycle them through the gun and look for the shiny spots. Then you'll know what is causing your problem and you can figure out what the issue is.

What's the chamber? .223? Wylde? 5.56?

Interesting because I know SB in 308 does size more. Like I said an AR just doesn't need it so I"ve never used one.

Very interesting that they would lie in that advertising, but then thats not so umcommon either

I'll bet there is a difference in the .308. Quite possibly because Winchester introduced it before the M-14 was finalized.

Cartridges older than that? That seems like it would be interesting. Chambers and brass were all over the place in the early days of metallic cartridges.

When I had this same issue and asked about it, I did the simple cam over just a touch more and now my rounds feed smooth as butter through both of my AR's.

I assume you are trying to extract and eject either a loaded round or a resized case and not one that has just been fired in the chamber.

I had the same problem with a new Adams Arms upper when I fist got it. I found that I had to screw the sizing die down a little more to make them fit that chamber. Commercial rounds fit fine, but some of my loads were not sized properly. The same loads that would fit easily in all my other 223 rifles would chamber but not eject easily in the AA. It was a quick fix. I hope yours is too.

I have to assume these are loaded cartridges and not fired. What chamber do you have? Is it a chromed chamber or bare carbon steel? Chrome reduces the sticktion on cartridge cases. I also would try screwing the die down a quarter of a turn to see what happened, but before I did this I would just try to carefully chamber some factory ammunition to see if you get the same problem. If you do, then its probably not the sizing die. I have loaded a few rounds for this cartridge and just use a regular die, not yet had a problem, in any of the 5 or so guns I loaded for but they all had 5.56 chambers.

Guys, thanks for everything. I took the casing to a friend who shoots Casmp Perry and knows a little about reloading. The said round stuck needed shoulder bumped back a few thousands. Its LC brass that has gone through several bolt rifles including my Mine 14. I will turn die down a little and bump shoulders back when needed. Thanks again.

my 6.8 ar15 upper would not run anything in reloads til i went to smallbase dies.