I never stop learning----This weeks lesson herein

Thanks for sharing, Ive had my finger on the trigger to order a gauge for a while but just can't seem to pull it.

Well, I believe that the bullet is being forced back toward the center a bit. But I appreciate your opinion.

I'm also thinking that large amounts of runout could be the equivalent of a chamber ream not being concentric woth the bore, which I do believe woukd be near the top of.the list of potential accuracy problems. I'm no expert, just talking here. The results on target will ultimately determine how much I care and how much effort I will put toward fixing any runout issues.

Ol' Red said:

When I got my concentricity gauge I measured some .300 win mag loads that I just finished. The worst one was .002" runout while most were less. I thought that I wasted money on the gauge or it did not work. For the next hour or more I was digging out boxes of reloads and some old factory loads from 20 years ago. The gauge worked just fine. I found that rotating the shell three times while seating the bullet helped. I also found one set of .308 dies just needed to be replaced.

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Which gauge did you get and are you happy with it?

The gauge I got is a Redding. I like it....its simple. The hornady model is set up to 'adjust concentricity' as much as it is to measure it. I woukd not personally want one of those. Just my two cents.

Old Rooster said:

Which gauge did you get and are you happy with it?

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I got the RCBS. If I were to buy it again, I would probably get the Sinclair. That's just due to it having rollers bearings instead of a V slot to roll the round in.

I'm definitely "NOT" going down that "rabbit hole"……I have too many mental issues!

I have a method…..approved by the SWAG system of hand loading. I go through the usual loading steps, minus a few that you guys use, however when seating the bullet……I fully seat, rotate the loaded/seated cartridge 180 degrees, then seat again.

I can't attest to this as helping minimize runout or just screw things up twice! But, I get groups about as good as possible considering……the shooter, the cartridge, the load, the rifle/scope combination, and felt recoil which may fall into the shooter category. I constantly get one hole @ .375"…..until I fire the second shot! memtb

DLJ6 said:

Thanks for sharing, Ive had my finger on the trigger to order a gauge for a while but just can't seem to pull it.

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Don't Flinch! memtb

memtb said:

I'm definitely "NOT" going down that "rabbit hole"……I have too many mental issues!

I have a method…..approved by the SWAG system of hand loading. I go through the usual loading steps, minus a few that you guys use, however when seating the bullet……I fully seat, rotate the loaded/seated cartridge 180 degrees, then seat again.

I can't attest to this as helping minimize runout or just screw things up twice! But, I get groups about as good as possible considering……the shooter, the cartridge, the load, the rifle/scope combination, and felt recoil which may fall into the shooter category. I constantly get one hole @ .375"…..until I fire the second shot! memtb

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Thanks for that, it made me belly laugh.....we need to remember what the weakest link in the chain usually is, don't we!

Bang4theBuck said:

Well, I believe that the bullet is being forced back toward the center a bit. But I appreciate your opinion.

I'm also thinking that large amounts of runout could be the equivalent of a chamber ream not being concentric woth the bore, which I do believe woukd be near the top of.the list of potential accuracy problems. I'm no expert, just talking here. The results on target will ultimately determine how much I care and how much effort I will put toward fixing any runout issues.

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I 100% applaud your effort to find out for yourself!! ......If more folks took that approach there would be less useless old wives tales floating around.

Beluebow said:

I 100% applaud your effort to find out for yourself!! ......If more folks took that approach there would be less useless old wives tales floating around.

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Only "if" they don't share ! memtb

memtb said:

I'm definitely "NOT" going down that "rabbit hole"……I have too many mental issues!

I have a method…..approved by the SWAG system of hand loading. I go through the usual loading steps, minus a few that you guys use, however when seating the bullet……I fully seat, rotate the loaded/seated cartridge 180 degrees, then seat again.

I can't attest to this as helping minimize runout or just screw things up twice! But, I get groups about as good as possible considering……the shooter, the cartridge, the load, the rifle/scope combination, and felt recoil which may fall into the shooter category. I constantly get one hole @ .375"…..until I fire the second shot! memtb

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I have the Hornady concentricity gauge and have straightened many bullets with it.
I really like memtb's idea of turning the seated bullet 180 and seat again,sounds like it work well!

Old Rooster said:

I have the Hornady concentricity gauge and have straightened many bullets with it.
I really like memtb's idea of turning the seated bullet 180 and seat again,sounds like it work well!

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As I am seating the bullet I rotate it three times. I don't really know if it helps, but it doesn't hurt.

I do the same as Ol' Red

Plus one on the Forster full length sizing dies. I'm very impressed with mine. I don't want to disparage anyone else's but the Forster's are definitely top notch. For seating, two of the best seem to be the Redding Competiton Seater dies and Forester Bench Rest seater dies. I own both and both are very good. Most that comment on them seem to give the nod to Redding and I would probably have to agree. This set up of sizing and seater dies will produce very concentric ammo. What I am currently thinking about now is to pull the expander plug from the sizing dies and expand the case necks separately with a mandrel. If there is a weak link in the process of reloading concentric ammo, it's probably the expander plug. Lubricating the case necks helps and perhaps polishing the expander plug could possibly help too. Starting with good brass will also go a long way.

In addition to sorting brass with the concentricity gauge, this little guy can take it one step further.