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I've just encountered a problem with a batch of Hornady 223 brass.
I reloaded 70 once fired cases I was given and tried to shoot them today. The case head had deformed in the first firing and consequently the extractor would not override the rim when the cartridge was fed into the chamber (as a reload). The consequence of this was that the firing set the primer back out of the case and some brass was sprayed onto the bolt face. Additionally the case could not be extracted and had to be pushed out with a rod.
Some GGG brass with exactly the same loading and processing worked fine.
Has anybody else had this problem? I will scrap Hornady brass in future.

Don't load cases that are deformed.

It sounds like the first firing was over pressure and possibly the second was too.
If brass is flowing and the case is deforming so much that the extractor is not able to engage then something is seriously wrong.

ETA: And why would you fire a round that was not able to seat fully and properly in a chamber?

How do you know they were once fired?

The cases came from a friend who had bought them as factory loads and fired them and then gave me the brass.
The case heads gave no obvious signs of over pressure , indeed the problem seemed to have arisen from soft brass flowing at first firing sufficient to increase the case rim's diameter but not giving any obvious indications.
Resizing didn't leave any marks at the base just above the head. indeed, the reloads looked perfectly normal - just the head diameter had grown. Never come across this before in several decades of reloading.

But when you tried to chamber a case and it wouldn't fit properly the little warning flags should have been flapping like jubilee day.

I'd ditch these, pull any you haven't fired and start with fresh brass.

Mattnall wrote:But when you tried to chamber a case and it wouldn't fit properly the little warning flags should have been flapping like jubilee day.

I'd ditch these, pull any you haven't fired and start with fresh brass.

Already pulled and loaded in Federal brass.

dodgyrog wrote:

Mattnall wrote:But when you tried to chamber a case and it wouldn't fit properly the little warning flags should have been flapping like jubilee day.

I'd ditch these, pull any you haven't fired and start with fresh brass.

Already pulled and loaded in Federal brass.

Good man.

I find 223 federal brass is a bit soft, not the problem you've described above but I was forever trimming large amounts off after each firing. With Other makes (Winchester especially) after the initial trim there is very little stretch to remove each time, making case prep easier and quicker and saving me from Gracey-Thumb.

If you are shooting a lot of .223 then my advice to anybody for what it's worth is buy the RCBS SB X-Die. I shoot a ton of .223/5.56 and the X_Die saves a lot of work, it's a case of run everything you have shot through the X_Die, trim it back then reload and shoot. Come time to size again the COL will be 2.252 and the die keeps it there.

One other thing I have noticed, the X-Die extends case life. I've just shot handloads that were on their 20th reload and they're still good to go. I always make a point of shooting at the range early Monday morning then there's all that lovely brass to be picked from folks who don't handload but who shot over the weekend. I'm guaranteed to pick up at least a couple of hundred of .223 cases as well as lots of pistol brass.

Blu