Built a 223 a few years ago, but didn't get to shoot it much at the time. Just recently pulled it out of the safe and ran a few rounds through it. It's a heavy 24" factory barrel with a 1 in 9 twist.

The loads were made with 55 grain Nosler BTs, LC 09 brass, CCI 400s and either 25, 25.5 or 26 grains of H4895. According to my Stoney Point, the loads were about .010 from the lands. The brass was bought from Midway a few years ago and I think it was new, but was discolored and spent a lot of time in the tumbler just to get it looking kinda shiny. All the brass was run through a FL sizer before starting, but that didn't take much effort.

Shooting went well with the 25.5 grain load. Four shots in one hole and the fifth one just outside. Maybe around 3/8" for the five shots. the other groups looked to be about 3/4".

Didn't have any trouble lifting the bolt, but it looked like all the primers had backed out a few thousandths. Measured the fired rounds with the primers still in them and, sure enough, they checked about .005" longer than the deprimed rounds - 1.762 vs. 1.757.

Checked the rifle with a no go headspace gage. While I couldn't completely close the bolt, it did seem to be near maximum. Only had a little bit left on the bolt throw.

So, I'm kinda guessing that this brass might have started a little small. With my rifle being near max headspace, the firing pin pushed the round to the front of the chamber, the brass grabbed the chamber wall and the slop at the back of the chamber allowed the primer to back out .005 past the brass.

Should I:
A) Not worry so much?
B) Jam some bullets until this brass fits my chamber good?
C) Go ahead and adjust the headspace just a little bit tighter?


Thanks in advance,
Dana