Would you shoot rounds not resized?

[motoelf]

Hello all, new to the forum. I am new to reloading as of a month ago. My .223 I use all my own old brass. My 300 acc I bought brass from Everglades. It said it was ready to reload. So I get 1000 bass of ex military brass and as I'm reloading I notice sometimes my bullet looks like it's not centered. I notices when I checked to see if the brass was lengthen evenly that my trimmer wasn't sliding into the brass. I then started putting my brass in lube and resizing and tumbling again. Now my bullets are seating properly. My question is.... Would you shoot the reloads that were not resized before the powder went in and the bullet installed. Sorry if I didn't use all the correct terminology as I am new to reloading.

 

[Duster340]

I full size all any rounds going through my semi autos. Also, size any pick up range brass. Just my preference

 

[Mn Fats]

No. I personally wouldn't. Maybe to plink? But I like my own reloads. Rounds from start to finish. Or at least factory loads I trust.

 

[Dudedog]

Welcome to THR
lots of great people here.

Do you have a case gauge?
If you gauge them and they are ok they are probably ok to shoot.
I would be tempted to pull them and start over.
If the bullet is not straight they won't be accurate.

 

[motoelf]

Ok, every brass I shoot and reload I process. first I run thru the tumbler. Then I resize and de-cap. Then I run thru the tumbler again. Then I prime, charge and cap with a bullet and crimp. The brass from Everglades says it was ready to re-load which I took as ready to prime charge and cap. It says it was lubed, cut and de-burred and tumbled.... You lube brass to resize from what I understand. If it wasn't resized why would you lube? I'm not worried about my group size I just want to keep my brass and time spent loading these rounds.

 

[motoelf]

Sorry people, I've had nothing but problems so far on this forum as in errors.

 

[Dudedog]

My main concern would be if the brass was trimmed to the correct length.
If it is to long it could cause pressure problems.

If you reload a case gauge is a good thing to have.
If you don't want to break them down and don't have a guage I would buy one, probably <$50 and a good tool to have.
Someone (I forget who, will look) makes a neat one that is cut to allow you to view the round.
Wlakalong might be along with a link to who makes them.

 

[Walkalong]

https://sheridanengineering.com/product-category/ammunition-gauges/

 

[stillquietvoice]

Everglades. It said it was ready to reload. So I get 1000 bass of ex military brass and as I'm

How was this shipped. What are you shooting it in. There are lots of questions to answer Wether you should shoot what you already made. I usually size it all, most times I don't even crimp just use neck tension to HD a bullet in place. Ultimately the decision is yours to shoot it or not.

 

[Englishmn]

From the sellers site.

Primer pockets are swaged and brass is re-tumbled in ceramic media to remove case lube and deburr case mouth. Trimmed to SAAMI Spec. "Boat tail projectiles will load fine but it may be necessary to run an expander ball for very square base (non-boat tail or non-tapered) projectiles."

The stuff that loaded fine should be good, to convert 556 to 300 they have to size it.
They claim to have trimmed it.
Case length is easy to check, you should own a caliper.
Chances are some of the case necks are out of round due to shipping and handling, why you couldn't get them on your trimmer.
Just run the expander stem way down and the die up and just expand the necks like they suggest, or full length resize them again.
Lyman makes a nice multi cal case gauge not as nice as some but it will find a unsized case.

 

[motoelf]

Dayum Englshmn spot on! Yes I do own a digital caliper and checked them they are in specs. but when I insert the case trimmer it doesn't slide in easy until after I resize the case which if they lubed it should already be done. I am using a lee turret and now resizing all the Everglades brass before reloading but I'm lubing, resizing then tumbling again. I'm going to a boat show in Stuart this weekend and going to BP to pick up a ammo checker. I'm not lubing them resizing them then tumbling them again before reloading. My question is would you shoot a round that was not sized properly before dropping powder and seating a bullet?

.

 

[jmorris]

Welcome aboard! For us to be able to help you the best, let us know specifically what problems you have or are trying to address.

My .223 I use all my own old brass. My 300 acc I bought brass from Everglades. It said it was ready to reload. So I get 1000 bass of ex military brass and as I'm reloading I notice sometimes my bullet looks like it's not centered.

With that, I don’t know what we are talking about. Is it the old .223, the 300 “ready to load” or “ex military” and what do you mean by “not centered”? Photos can be great for allowing us to see what you are talking about.

I notices when I checked to see if the brass was lengthen evenly that my trimmer wasn't sliding into the brass. I then started putting my brass in lube and resizing and tumbling again. Now my bullets are seating properly. My question is.... Would you shoot the reloads that were not resized before the powder went in and the bullet installed. Sorry if I didn't use all the correct terminology as I am new to reloading.

Again, I’m not sure what you are trying to communicate. A trimmer blade won’t cut into brass if the case is not longer than the set length. A pilot for a trimmer might not go into the mouth if it’s too large or the case mouth is messed up.

If your bullets were not seating properly, how were they not seating properly? Did they just fall into the case, fall out, crooked? In any case, if they are not right and you know it why waste the components, fix things and go from there.

The only times I have fired cases that have not been resized are few and far between. Generally involving chambers that are under normal dimensions and cases that must be turned in order to fit them. There is enough neck tension to hold a bullet without sizing though.

 

[Englishmn]

Ya, the case trimmer pilot is made to fit an expanded neck so tight fit.
It is likely they have a case cutter set close enough they just chop the 556 down and after sizing the length is right.
They just tumble to deburr and remove lube then ship.
No expander in the die would allow faster processing and more wiggle room in alignment on a automated press.

 

[jmorris]

but when I insert the case trimmer it doesn't slide in easy until after I resize the case which if they lubed it should already be done.

What firearm are you using and what were they last fired in? No reason to trim until after you size.

Why? Because if sizing changes the cases dimensions, it would change your trim to length, if you did that first.

 

[motoelf]

I am shooting a ATI omni max ar pistol in .300 acc. My .223 has nothing to do with this as I am reloading already fired .223 which I process. I purchased .300 acc from Everglades that states its been processed and ready for reload but it seems to me that it wasn't resized in a die to accept the bullet. I took the brass, loaded it with powder after checking length and seated the bullet with crimp. some of the bullets seem not centered. After I checked, it doesn't look like the brass was resized properly which made the bullet seat off center. I reloaded about 140 rounds without resizing in the die but they seem to seat and crimp ok just not center. Would I be safe to shoot them (even though they my shoot a little off) not blow my face off?

 

[Bfh_auto]

I am shooting a ATI omni max ar pistol in .300 acc. My .223 has nothing to do with this as I am reloading already fired .223 which I process. I purchased .300 acc from Everglades that states its been processed and ready for reload but it seems to me that it wasn't resized in a die to accept the bullet. I took the brass, loaded it with powder after checking length and seated the bullet with crimp. some of the bullets seem not centered. After I checked, it doesn't look like the brass was resized properly which made the bullet seat off center. I reloaded about 140 rounds without resizing in the die but they seem to seat and crimp ok just not center. Would I be safe to shoot them (even though they my shoot a little off) not blow my face off?

Does it have the proper powder charge, seating depth, and does it chamber? If your answer is yes, it's safe ammo. I wouldn't expect stellar accuracy though.
You could set that batch aside and use it for blasting.
How expensive are your bullets? If they're cheap bullets, I would shoot. If they're expense, out comes the hammer puller.

 

[reddog81]

Do the rounds feed and chamber in your gun? I’d shoot them assuming they feed and don’t have any problems with bullet set back.

 

[sequins]

I mean the real question isn't "would I shoot them", it's "could I shoot them". The reason you size is so you can get neck tension to hold your bullet and so it actually fits in your chamber. Everything else you do while reloading is just to improve accuracy. I get the sense you're using cheap bullets because you don't care about accuracy so I'd whip out the cartridge gauge and get a preliminary reading, then start testing to see if you can get them into battery from a magazine.

If they load fine I'd say go for it, but I doubt they will... And thus the bullet puller.

 

[Englishmn]

Take a few pictures of the loaded rounds and bullets you are using that will help us a lot.

 

[Bill460]

Fully prepped .223 / 5.56 MM brass is all that I buy now. I've purchased it from Everglades, as well as other sources. I have never had an issue with any of it. Fully processed brass is, "the way of the future", as far as high volume reloading. Because prepping brass, (tumbling, resizing, trimming, swaging primer pockets, etc.), is a time consuming PITA, that does not give the feeling of accomplishment.

At least for me it doesn't. Not any longer. And I've been reloading since 1972. I shoot a lot of semi auto .223 / 5.56 MM, and shooting fully cleaned and prepped brass allows me to produce a high quality handload with the least amount of time and work involved. And at my age I like spending time at the range pulling the trigger, a lot more than I do pulling on a press handle.

 

[FROGO207]

First thing, welcom to the forum.
When I get any brass-----new in box all the way to range pickup-- I always take the time to run it through a FL die and then measure length/debur the mouth, basically prep as needed. I believe over the years this step has saved me a lot of heartburn. You should have a method of taking bad rounds apart for times like this. Also as a rule I do not crimp rifle ammo unless it is to be used in a tubular mag rifle like lever action 30-30. I find mine more accurate if not crimped. But you should try it both ways and use the most accurate method you find. If you think your bullets are installed crooked roll the rounds on a flat surface, if ok the tip will not wobble when you do this.

 

[bihj]

If you're not sizing the brass and having problems with them, size them and see if it helps. If it doesn't help, you have another problem. If it does help, you've answered your own question. Personally I size all brass being loaded.

 

[SlowFuse]

Back when I first started reloading I bought 1000 pcs of Lake City unprimed 5.56 brass. These were stated to be new cases, not pulled, demil or once fired. Admittedly "new" should not necessarily be taken as "ready to load" as you say yours were but I figured they were fine.

So, I made sure they were within spec on overall length (all were under max OAL) and loaded them up. I'd say I probably loaded 50 like that. When I shot them they weren't the most accurate but I blamed that on using cheap Winchester FMJ's and maybe not having the ideal powder charge for that gun. Later I full length resized the exact same brass after firing and loaded up pretty much the same load and realized they shot better, my lesser accuracy from the previous lot was probably from inconsistent neck tension. I'd say maybe I was lucky that I didn't have a failure or something serious go wrong. Lesson learned, always size my brass now no matter if it says ready to load or not.

So @motoelf I personally would do the "push test" on those loaded rounds. Take ten or so rounds from the batch in question. Measure the overall length on one and make note of the measured length, hold the round you just measured with the projectile tip down and press the tip of the bullet with a reasonable amount of force on your loading bench or another hard surface. Re-measure your overall length with calipers. If the bullet moved and shortened the overall length your neck tension is bad. One suggestion you received above to roll it on a known smooth flat surface sounds good too. If the tip wobbles when you do that you def. have issues. Using the bullet puller sucks, I have one of the cheap Frankford inertia or hammer style pullers. It's time consuming and a little humiliating, which is a good thing. It's made me personally be more careful the next time after I goof something up, not saying you have necessarily been careless or made a major mistake. But, it's worth the time and effort to pull and start over if you think you have a problem versus having a failure or damaging your gun/your face.

 

[fguffey]

I bought brass from Everglades. It said it was ready to reload. So I get 1000 bass of ex military brass and as I'm reloading I notice sometimes my bullet looks like it's not centered. I notices when I checked to see if the brass was lengthen evenly that my trimmer wasn't sliding into the brass.

I have case neck trimmers that have pilots that will not fit case neck if the case is sized; meaning the pilot was designed to be used on fired cases before sizing. I could fix 'the problem' but oversized pilots have to be rare. Is there a problem with loose necks? I am the fan of bullet hold, I want all the bullet hold I can get.

F. Guffey

 

[Bill460]

..... I am the fan of bullet hold, I want all the bullet hold I can get. F. Guffey

Do what I do. Use a Lee Factory Crimp Die. It will give you maximum bullet hold without putting any longitudinal stress on the case itself. Best $15 bucks you'll ever spend.