Trouble Reloading

dmick33

Member
Messages
96
I just started reloading this year and have done a ton of research but I keep running into a problem. Each bullet I make I am getting a different length to the bullet ogive. I touch nothing on the press or die but keep getting a spread of about .005. Am I missing something? Thanks
 
If you are reloading rifle ammo with spritzer bullets that has a lead point, there is your problem. Your seating die is coming into contact with the pointed lead nose first, and not the ogive of the bullet. Some of those lead points are getting pushed down and giving you different COL lengths. Also some bullets may have a deformed lead tip that will cause the problem when the seating die contacts the point instead of the ogive when seating the bullet into the case.

A cure will be to remove the bullet seater stem from the die and use a 1/8 inch drill bit to deepen the center of the seater die about 1/8- 1/4 inch. This way the seating stem will not contact the pointed nose, and only the ogive giving you more consistent COL lengths on your finished cartridge.
 
Thanks right now I am loading nosler accubonds using the Forester die with the micro head adjustment. Would that die be contacting the point first.
 
+1 to RE.

Also, Neck tension is critical if you're trying to get exact OAL measurements to the ogive. If you're not outside-turning the case necks you'll rarely get results any more precise that your current loads..... which is good enough for most anyway. (if one case mouth has more lube than another, it will affect OAL too. This goes back to about the same thing as neck tension.)

I doubt the Forster seater plug is contacting the AB bullet tip but it might be. The OACL will vary a bit because of any tip, even the AB tip but the ogive shouldn't vary that much for precision loads.

It's sure tough to troble-shoot when we can't get our hands on your stuff.

Maybe call Sinclair reloading and see what their techs say after you've tried a couple more things.

just my 2 cents,
Zeke
 
Thanks for the tips. I have been using all brand new brass right now and when I got it I full length resized and chamferred the inside and out of the case mouth. I did this a couple months ago to prep before I got my rifle back from the smith. Should I have re-applied some lube to the inside of the case neck? I also go the neck tennsion die so I can have more of an exact neck tension once I get my lot of brass I bought fire formed for the first time.
 
No, Don't re-apply sizing lube to seat your bullets.

New brass of not, it might not be as concentric as you'd want IF you're going to be as particular on ogive length. I always neck-turn my new sized brass. If it's a hunting gun I try to turn 50%+/- of the neck so I don't end up with thin brass. If your chamber is a custom minimun neck release chamber then you'll only want about 3-5 thousandths difference between the chamber and the loaded ammo at the neck which means you'll turn you brass quite a bit thinner (probably doesn't apply here).

For me, neck tension has one of the biggest effects on varying OACL than almost anything. There's just a lot of "spring" in brass. It's crazy stuff.

Zeke
 
LAST EDITED ON Aug-29-14 AT 06:43PM (MST)[p]Are you measuring your overall case length (bottom of case to bullet tip) or are you using a comparator to measure the cartridge base to bullet ogive?

I bought the hornady comparator set (sinclair has one as well) and it's been a great tool. I experienced the same variation between loaded rounds when I would measure the OAL, but when I used my comparator on these same rounds, the base to ogive measurements were all within +/- .005" of each other. Most of the time they all come out to the same measurement. That's plenty precise for my needs.

Here's the hornady link:
http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-Load-.224-.308-Comparator-Set-With-6-Bullet-Inserts/
 

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