Here is an example of doing the right things for the situation at hand, but having it all turn out wrong. I was loading .223 for my TC Contender. To assemble the 'most accurate' loads for the gun, I minimun sized the cases so the TC would just close on the case. A safe powder charge (25.5 gr of AA 2520, below max) was loaded which was recommended by a friend as very accurate in his TC. Then the 50 gr bullets were loaded out just short of the rifling. It was a safe, accurate, load that took many woodchucks. So I loaded up 500 of them. Then my tastes changed and I only fired another 20 rounds while hunting (most one shot kills). Last year I sold the TC and picked up an AR. Hey, I have lot's of ammo so I'm all set right? Nope! I found myself with 480 rounds of ammo loaded up that I could not use.
Since they were not crimped for the TC, I seated the bullets to proper overall length and crimped them. (No, it was still safe with the bullets seated deeper) So, now I'm good to go, right? Wrong. While the minimun sizing worked for the TC, the cases would not chamber reliably in the Bushmaster. Some would fire, some would not.
So now we need to resize all of this loaded ammo. Running them through the sizing die will not work as the die would also try to reduce the necks. So a call to my buddy Mikie and I found I needed a 'body die' to resize the loaded ammo. I got one and went to work. I can blame the next problem on old age, or the fact that 99% of my loading is for handguns with carbide dies. I failed to lube the cases. Well the seventh round stuck in the die. So now I have to pull the bullet, get the powder out, render the primer inert, and pull the stuck case. Long story short, I have now resized the 80 rounds in the first box and they are running through the AR very well.
The lesson learned; I will not load this many of a 'specialty' load ever again. Any 'mass' loading I do will be 'by the book' as to sizing and seating depth! This was way too much work! 44 Man
