Hey all you reloading experts. I have an older friend (I know he has to be REALLY old  ) that is reloading .223/5.56 for his TC Contender. Never had an issue with the TC. One day he asks me to bring my AR with Noveske Infidel full upper. He tried his reloads in my gun and about 1 in 4 rounds won't go all the way into battery. It gets stuck so tight I can't pull it out with the handle. I have to split the upper and lower and tap the bolt out with a punch and hammer. Of course it would not fire because it would not go all the way into battery. SO we tried those same rounds in someone's bolt gun and he could not chamber the round in the bolt gun either. So the next week we disassembled the rounds and measured the case. Could not find an issue with the case. It was in spec by length and neck diameter. Also measured out the shoulder. The only thing I did not measure is the case diameter near the base. The round had a properly placed primer. The OAL length of the round was good as it fit in the magazine with good clearance. The brass was LC10 and the head was 55gr FMJ purchased from Midway in bulk. He is using Lee dies and claims he is full length sizing the brass. He has been reloading longer than I have. He doesn't know and I can't figure out what could be wrong.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Probably the buller shoulder is not seated deep enough for your bbl

 Check his full lenght sizing die in his reloader and make sure its within tolerance

I had a similar issue trying to fit once-fired brass reloads into a .308 without full sizing them first. I was being lazy and checking to see if I could avoid full length resizing to save on case lube and elbow grease. Nope.

If the shoulder is bumped back enough, brass is within length, then the only thing I can think of is that the base is too big. You may need to resize it with a small base die.

I am assuming he is full length sizing with a standard sizing die.

His rifle must have a larger chamber shooting hot loads. You would probably have to re-size with a small base die to get them to fit. The tell tale measurement is at the base just above the head. If it's .0005 too big or more, you will get this issue.

If the shoulder wasn't set back far enough on re-sizing, it wouldn't get stuck in the chamber.

If the shoulder is bumped back enough, brass is within length, then the only thing I can think of is that the base is too big. You may need to resize it with a small base die.

I am assuming he is full length sizing with a standard sizing die.

His rifle must have a larger chamber shooting hot loads. You would probably have to re-size with a small base die to get them to fit. The tell tale measurement is at the base just above the head. If it's .0005 too big or more, you will get this issue.

If the shoulder wasn't set back far enough on re-sizing, it wouldn't get stuck in the chamber.

+1

One should always be very careful about using someone's reloads in a different gun.  All chambers are slightly different.    Also, COAL?  Bullet jamming the lands?

OP does your friend use headspace gauges to check his brass?

G,

No he does not have a headspace gauge. All of this was done very informally and without planning. It never dawned on me it could be his die is out of spec. I was always under the impression that Lee made good dies that lasted a long time. I personally don't own any. But I don't know how long he has owned these dies either. However, it did dawn on me that he may not have the sizing die set properly in his press.

Thanks everyone for your input.  I'll let you know what I find out about this.

I would guess the die is not set in the press correctly (backed out to much) kinda like doing a Partial full length size which in turn increases the headspace which would be the reason why it will not chamber. It is very important to have a headspace gauge to check the head space and oal of the case

this thread is so full of "that's what she said"
but i have to learn to restrain myself sometimes (that's what she said)

Hey all you reloading experts. I have an older friend (I know he has to be REALLY old  ) that is reloading .223/5.56 for his TC Contender. Never had an issue with the TC. One day he asks me to bring my AR with Noveske Infidel full upper. He tried his reloads in my gun and about 1 in 4 rounds won't go all the way into battery. It gets stuck so tight I can't pull it out with the handle. I have to split the upper and lower and tap the bolt out with a punch and hammer. Of course it would not fire because it would not go all the way into battery. SO we tried those same rounds in someone's bolt gun and he could not chamber the round in the bolt gun either. So the next week we disassembled the rounds and measured the case. Could not find an issue with the case. It was in spec by length and neck diameter. Also measured out the shoulder. The only thing I did not measure is the case diameter near the base. The round had a properly placed primer. The OAL length of the round was good as it fit in the magazine with good clearance. The brass was LC10 and the head was 55gr FMJ purchased from Midway in bulk. He is using Lee dies and claims he is full length sizing the brass. He has been reloading longer than I have. He doesn't know and I can't figure out what could be wrong.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

G,

No he does not have a headspace gauge. All of this was done very informally and without planning. It never dawned on me it could be his die is out of spec. I was always under the impression that Lee made good dies that lasted a long time. I personally don't own any. But I don't know how long he has owned these dies either. However, it did dawn on me that he may not have the sizing die set properly in his press.

Thanks everyone for your input.  I'll let you know what I find out about this.

My suggestion is to buy a gauge.  You'll be able to tell very quickly which portion of the cartridge is out of spec.

My suggestion is to buy a gauge.  You'll be able to tell very quickly which portion of the cartridge is out of spec.

This ^

as others have said, I'd bet his sizing die isn't pushing the shoulder back enough.