Bullet concentricity with Berger Hybrids

[2rjshort]

Ok, yes I agree with you. I know the Bergers are true. I just didn't understand why I'm experiencing the runout with them. Sounds like it could be a couple issues

 

[Dirtrax]

You can easily remove the "seating stem" from the Lee seating die and drill the insert deeper with any hand drill. A 3/16" bit should be plenty. The idea is to increase the depth to provide sufficient space for the tip of the bullet without contact. You have gone deep enough when you place a bullet into the stem you have removed and you are assured there is no contact with the end of the stem by the tip of the bullet. Even if you drilled all the way thru you can use the stem although I don't recommend drilling that deep.
Personally, I ream the stem to VLD specs too but that is a little more involved and not necessary.
It is much easier to see wobble in a VLD type bullet because of the Secant design as opposed to the Tangent ogive on other designs. Given that the Tangent ogive is less sensitive in general you could have overlooked an existing issue if you weren't looking for it.

 

[2rjshort]

I just pulled the seating stem and I don't think that is the problem. I inserted a Berger and marked it with a sharpie. Then I inserted a 1/8" drill bit and marked it. The drill bit was seating .39 deeper than the Berger which tells me the bullet is not bottoming out.
I guess now I need to explore the expander ball / neck tension as a possible cause.

 

[Tiny Tim]

Often times it is beneficial to partially seat the bullet then rotate the cartridge in the shell holder and finish seating. Is your press ram tight? Have you experienced this situation with any other cartridge or bullet?

 

[Savage 12BVSS]

Often times it is beneficial to partially seat the bullet then rotate the cartridge in the shell holder and finish seating. Is your press ram tight? Have you experienced this situation with any other cartridge or bullet?

Wow to be able to see runout in a loaded cartridge is not good. If its not the seater itself not pushing straight on the bullet you have something not working in the loading process. A case checker would allow you to spot where things are going sideways as you check after sizing and after seating. RCBS and Sinclair both make them, I like and own the RCBS myself.

 

[2rjshort]

I will give that a try. I have been seating then rotating the cartridge and running the press again. Your method makes more sense. This is a new vise setup and 300 wm is the only cartridge I've loaded on it so far. I have loaded Accubonds and Sierra Game Changers and haven't notices the issue. However as Dirtrax mentioned above I may have just never noticed it due to ojive design. I'm probably going to load a few different bullets this morning and see if I'm having the same problem.
I'm not sure what you mean about the ram being tight? Do you mean as far as the ram traveling through the press? It's a new Lee press and seems to have a good fit.

 

[Tiny Tim]

I will give that a try. I have been seating then rotating the cartridge and running the press again. Your method makes more sense. This is a new vise setup and 300 wm is the only cartridge I've loaded on it so far. I have loaded Accubonds and Sierra Game Changers and haven't notices the issue. However as Dirtrax mentioned above I may have just never noticed it due to ojive design. I'm probably going to load a few different bullets this morning and see if I'm having the same problem.
I'm not sure what you mean about the ram being tight? Do you mean as far as the ram traveling through the press? It's a new Lee press and seems to have a good fit.

Precisely. I was referring to the fit of the ram to its bore in the press frame. Also, is the ram true to the die bore. If your die is not true to the ram, it could run out issues. Grasping at straws here. Same concept as truing the threads on an action.

 

[Backcountry sports]

I've had grouping issues using the 215 Hybrids. I was able to work up a load shooting 5/8" using the 215 hybrid and 76.2 g of H1000. However upon trying to duplicate the group it opened up to just over an inch. While on the shooting bench i watched one of my loads roll across the table and it was obvious that the bullet was not seated concentric. While I don't have a dial indicator it was very clear when going through my loads which wasn't centered correctly. I have not noticed this with other bullets I've loaded such as Game Kings or Accubonds. Any of you guys experienced this, know what causes it, and how do you go about correcting it?
Thanks,

Use the berger seating die for the vld style bullets

 

[rsmithsr]

not so much neck TENSION, as STRAIGHT necks.
with a micrometer measure the dia of the loaded neck. do several, at several places and pick an average. get a neck bushing .002 SMALLER than that number. a great starting place for a bolt rifle. lots of die makers with both vld stems and bushing sizing die. my generic choice is redding, yep they aint cheap, but you see what is happening with your lees.
then it all has to be set up correctly for your chamber.

 

[2rjshort]

I've got the Redding dies in my cart at Brownells. Is there any reason to get the competition 3 piece set over the 2 piece set with the type S FL sizing die? Both sets have the micrometer seating die.

 

[2rjshort]

I measured a box of my loads today on a Hornady Concentricity gauge tool. My rounds averaged .015 of runout. Using the tool I was able to get all of them to .003 and most of them to within .002. Hopefully the rain will hold off in the morning so I can make a range trip to see if this helps my groups.

 

[sedancowboy]

You only need the Type S FL 2 die set.

 

[cockednlocked]

I was having run out issues not as bad as you are but enough to cause problems I went to an inline bullet seater and expander mandrel I'm getting .0005 on average now have you checked the run out on a fired case before sizing ? If so what was it ?

 

[2rjshort]

I have not checked the fired cases. I actually don't have the proper instrument to do that. I've read were guys are doing that but how could the case have runout after firing? Improperly cut chamber?