first time issue w/my ar 15!

[sway]

I recently started reloading rounds for my dpms AR 15, the first 100 rounds where 69 grain smk using 223 brass. Of course they where all test reloads trying to find that sweet spot for accuracy, they all shot well and chambered and ejected just fine. After going thru all 100 test rounds i was ready to reload in bulk. But i had an issue finding 223 brass in town, so of course i did what anyone else would do and got on the net and came across some 5.56 lake city brass. The deal was just too good to pass up, and he had 5,000 rounds of it! Now i remember reading an article that stated if your ar 15 was stamped .223-5.56 it wouldnt be an issue using the 5.56, does that sound right? Now to the issue i reloaded 100 rounds of the lake city 5.56 using the smk 69 grain, cci no 41 primers with imr 4895. So im pumped heading to the range, i just cleaned my rifle so i shot 4 rounds of just some store bought rem 55 grain. So im ready to put my 5.56 rounds on paper i slap my clip in and chamber a round and all i get is a click when i squeezed off? So i thought to myself maybe it was a bad primer, as i reached to pull my bolt back its stuck, and i mean stuck! I sit there and mess w/ it and finally got it to eject. So i called my friend and asked him to see if his dpms (which is the exact ar as mine) was having the same issue, seeing as we reloaded all of our rounds together so they came from the same batch. And he tells me there working just fine! So whats the issue, is it my bolt? Or my rifle just not chambered for a 5.56?:confused:
any advise would be helpful!!!!

[brmfan]

Did you full length size the brass?

[sway]

i believe so.

[kraigwy]

Run your brass through a case gage checking the head space of the case. I'm bettinng its a tab bit too long. Even though you think you FL sized it.

It's a problem with semi's.

[sway]

wait, full length size the brass?? sorry like i said i just started reloading so im a little slow! is that just checking the over all length of the rounds?

[brmfan]

+1 Every chamber is not exactly the same, thus brass fired in one rifle may not always fit in another. Full length sizing brings the case back to the proper spec. - i. e. makes it fit in any chamber cut for that caliber. Overall length is a different issue that may have to do with not trimming the brass to proper length, seating the bullet too shallow, or not having the proper head space. Bullet depth is more of an accuracy issue, and full length sizing will take care of the headspace.

[johnwilliamson062]

Get a mini-14.... :) I had to:)

I showed up to a CMP shoot with a bunch of steel case wolf and layed it on the table my rifle still cased. One of the guys was all like I would never treat my AR like that blah blah blah. When I produced the mini he stopped talking.

[sway]

brmfan, kraigwy thanks guys you pretty much told me exactly what i did wrong on the money! i just pulled a bullet and check it and it is just a hair too long cant believe i forgot to run my brass thru full length sizing die. thanks again guys. hahaha i like mini 14s, but i cant hold this against my ar, bc it was my fault.

[brmfan]

No problem! Make sure to get a broken shell extractor. A lot of the recycled NATO brass is fired from machine guns and once in a while you get some cases that are weakened due to improper headspacing. The result is the back end of the case being ripped off during extraction. Not a big deal if you have the tool but something to have on hand just in case.