jstone

Malchira nailed it that is the biggest reason you should remove the lube. When cleaning lube off in a tumbler the ammo does not move a whole lot mainly the media moves. Using tumbler to remove lube from loaded rounds is not dangerous. It is even done by large ammo manufacturers. I have seen photos of powder after being tumbled more than a hundred hours before and after. Photos were taken at multiple levels of magnification up to neer 100 times. There was no change in the powder. Ball, excluded, and flake all were tested. If you don't feel comfortable you should not do it. It took me a while before I tried. Was reloading for years then i saw the pics from the experiment and figured if the powder pictured made it for over 30-40 hours 30 minutes would be fine.

I forgot to add work up to 25 don't just drop 25. I know people who load over 26 and some who start to see pressure signs before 25. I just want to help you safely get your rifle running.

If it is doing what the smith said you may have problems with the ejector. As the carrier move reward the ejector pushes the case out. Do you have another rifle that you could swap the bcg out in the rifle that is malfunctioning if you do try it for a magazine. If the carrier was made shorter the smith has no idea what he is doing. What was the class three conversion was id an rdias or was it a lightning link. Both sometimes have timing issues but removing material from the carrier is not the way to time it. Check your extractor tension and the ejector tension. They should both have enough tension that you should not be able to move them easily by hand. If you do have the money order a bcg from bcm they are 149.99. I have a feeling the smith really messed something up.

Barnes bullets are usually the most accurate for me at there recommended oal. I have moved them out slightly and they were no where near as accurate. I have also shot the same loading in a 223 chamber and a 556 chamber the latter having a longer jump both were about equal shot the same day. I know that's a smaller bullet and i have not tried similar test with my 30-06. I also have not tried the 180's i have only used the 150's in my B.A.R. The tsx and ttsx have what i believe they call the driving bands. If you load them longer you may land in between the bands. Barnes bullets are not really jump sensitive like a vld style bullet.

I like noslers a little better but those new 53 grain v max bullets are kick ass. They shoot like lasers and hammer the vermin. After i got my first batch of 53s it is the only v max bullet i use anymore. I like them better than the 60s.

If they have an orange tip they should be nosler ballistic tips. Nosler uses a different color on all the ballistic tips, orange identifies .224 diameter and green is .308 diameter. I dont know all the different colors they use for each diameter. The v-max bullet will always have a red tip, and z-max will be a neon green tip. If they are v-max maybe they got a shipment of tips ment for nosler and just used them. Midway always messes up the description.

Small base die are not needed for reloading an ar15. They just overwork the brass and shorten its life. It sounds like op found the problem. Op you might want to check the 556 chamber on the DPMS they are known for tight chambers or marking a barrel with 556 when it actually has a 223 chamber.

Do what riggerjj said. As long as you have proper neck tension crimping is not necessary

If your bolt carrier is not the same length as any other it means it was done by the previous owner. No company sells a shorter carrier, some sell low mass but none that are shorter. That would still not make up for a bolt that was to long. That is your first problem. Replace it with a bcg of known quality like bcm, Daniel defense, noveske, or any of the companies who make a mil-spec bcg. DPMS never has made any ar that meets mil-spec standards. Your load is way to lite as well average charge weight for a 55fmj is 25 grains. Your diagnosis is wrong the empty is not hitting the cartridge being loaded. Cartridge is ejected long before it attempts to feed from the magazine. I tried to measure a carrier but they are longer than my six inch calipers. Another thing to check is your extractor it may fix your extraction problems.