Bullet Runout

[YZ-80]

Also I picked up a Hornady concentricity gauge which works great for showing bullet runout but I'm skeptical bout using it to force the bullet to be perfectly concentric, I'm not saying it wouldn't straighten everything I just think it would mess with neck tension. What are your thoughts?

Yeah and the more bearing surface you have, the more it would affect it and the more you have to push it, the more loosey-goosey it gets. Definitely a consideration with longer VLD bullets we seat closer to the lands.

 

[xsn10s]

Forster Dies, have given Me the Least "Run Out" and BEST Accuracy as they Position, the Expander Ball, Near the Top of Case !.
And you can Have them "Honed Out" for, Your exact Neck Tension desired,.. for $20.00 !
I've TRASHED or, Sold, Every other set of, Rifle Dies,.. I've owned !

My groups at 550 yards with off the shelf dies and a Remarms 700 ADL. Any fitting to seater stems or polish of dies I do myself. And the work is minimal. Heck I seat my bullets with a cheap handheld Lee press. Only because I don't have the room or time to setup my reloading room.

 

[Idaho Lefty]

My groups at 550 yards with off the shelf dies and a Remarms 700 ADL. Any fitting to seater stems or polish of dies I do myself. And the work is minimal. Heck I seat my bullets with a cheap handheld Lee press. Only because I don't have the room or time to setup my reloading room. View attachment 610888

WITH,. "Off, the Shelf Dies",. you,. GOT,.. LUCKY ! ( And, Good for, You as, MOST People, AREN'T that,.. Lucky ! )
I got real TIRED of, "Playing with",. Other Brands of, Dies.
Forster TOOK all, the Headaches and GuessWork,.. Out,.. for Me ! ( .001 to .002 Max,.. Run Out )
I still "Lap" my seater STEM, to any VLD Bullet, I use

 

[Barrelnut]

Oh, and another thing - the concentricity gauge uses a thumb screw to put pressure on the side of the bullet to square it up. Would correcting the run out alter your neck tension? These are all questions that can keep you up at night. Maybe Only the holes we punch can put them to rest.

The Hornady works great for high runout factory ammo. Tooooo... much straightening will affect neck tension in handloads, but the Hornady is still great for "nudging" a bullet the other way. Doesn't seem to affect neck tension as much on factory ammo with tight neck tension and crimps at all.
The Hornady gauge also measures concentricity a little differently than other gauges like the Sinclair. The Hornady measures runout from bullet tip to case head. The Sinclair (like many others) measures runout from case neck to bullet tip. Bullet runout will measure differently with the same case on each gauge. Still all relative though.

 

[xsn10s]

WITH,. "Off, the Shelf Dies",. you,. GOT,.. LUCKY ! ( And, Good for, You as, MOST People, AREN'T that,.. Lucky ! )
I got real TIRED of, "Playing with",. Other Brands of, Dies.
Forster TOOK all, the Headaches and GuessWork,.. Out,.. for Me ! ( .001 to .002 Max,.. Run Out )
I still "Lap" my seater STEM, to any VLD Bullet, I use

I do this all the time. With multiple cartridges.

 

[WeiserBucks]

My groups at 550 yards with off the shelf dies and a Remarms 700 ADL. Any fitting to seater stems or polish of dies I do myself. And the work is minimal. Heck I seat my bullets with a cheap handheld Lee press. Only because I don't have the room or time to setup my reloading room. View attachment 610888

That's a 550 yard group?

 

[Kmccord]

I have a Forster die for a 6.5 Creed, it works good, but it will pass some runout at times, not as much as what I am seeing at this time, probably going to try and anneal the brass, trim and see if anything different.

 

[AkleyFan]

I'm always trying to correct runout - I'm loading for my nephew's 270 Win at the moment and did a bit of testing yesterday with my Dad's old RCBS dies.

Virgin Winchester brass in RCBS seater - runout to .014"

Once fired Winchester brass, neck sized only, in the same seater - .006" runout or better.

I'm finding the relationship to the case and the die to factor in significantly, the less clearance between the case and die the better. I run the die down on an empty case and set the die a bit off of contact. Seems to be helping.

A sloppy fit between the seating stem and the bullet also compounds the issue. I'm going to purchase a better seating die and set of stems soon. YMMV

 

[Roughrice]

My groups at 550 yards with off the shelf dies and a Remarms 700 ADL. Any fitting to seater stems or polish of dies I do myself. And the work is minimal. Heck I seat my bullets with a cheap handheld Lee press. Only because I don't have the room or time to setup my reloading room. View attachment 610888

Holy Moly !
That's a 550 yard .268" group??

 

[Roughrice]

When your reloading for super precise loads what would be an exceptable tolerance? I know I would like to get every one of them to have .0000" runout but I want to be realistic.

Also I picked up a Hornady concentricity gauge which works great for showing bullet runout but I'm skeptical bout using it to force the bullet to be perfectly concentric, I'm not saying it wouldn't straighten everything I just think it would mess with neck tension. What are your thoughts?

FYI… I only check runout for match loads. I'll always select the best runout rounds if going yo an F/TR match.
Besides that, I just accept the extra bit of runout for all other purposes.
I have other dies that I don't mandrel size and they shoot fine for hunting and range shooting.

 

[YZ-80]

My Gawd! If that group were a woman, it would be Elizabeth Hurley in her prime!