good grief !

[Bob S.]

I've been reloading for about 25 years. If ignorance is bliss I've been in heaven. I always done what I was taught by my dad so long ago. Full length resize follwed by trimming , champfering, primer pocket cleaning. Weigh each powder dump and funnel into a primed case. Run the works into the seating die and slowly adjust for desired length. Check a couple more lengths then don't worry about it.

After hanging around here for a while I decided to check a few more things to see how consistent every thing was.

Case length after trimming was within .002" longest to shortest, I was satisfied with this. Can it get better?

COL after seating the 50 grain Hornady V-Max varied by as much as .005" in both directions. I was very surprised at this result. The majority were within .002 but had some out there. Is this to much deviation? What could cause this? I checked a bunch of the bullets for length and they varied by as much as .008" This just seems like a lot to me. I have never bothered to check this before and am slightly bewildered and now wonder if I'm doing something wrong. Bullet length sould not in itself cause the OAL problem with the standard RCBS seating die should it? I was thinking that bullet circumference wher it sits into the seating cup would be more of a culprit but maybe its the length of the polymer tip or something.
I did not weigh each bullet on the scale to see how much that varied. I'll save that for next time after sorting this out.

Sorry for the long post but was really bothered by the results. I guess had I measured lenth after each seating I could have chased it all night but I waited till done and measured them all.

 

[Guest]

I had some problems with a batch of Hornady SST bullets , a couple would group then it would all go to hell , tried some true and tested loads that always grouped well , and it shot great , so i checked the bullets and the OAL was way out so i checked at the ogive and the same thing but after checking with a smaller ogive tool about the same size as the seating stem in the die they were all the same or within .002 ,after checking all the unloaded bullets NONE were the same length when checked with a 24 cal ogive guage.

 

[Bob S.]

I guess that is the last box of hornadys I purchase. Too bad I have a new box of 225gn SSTs for my 338.

 

[shilen30]

Measuring from the base of case to bullet tip does not tell you anything. You must measure from the base of the case to BULLET OGIVE with either a sinclair or stoney point bullet comparator. I will bet if you do this your rounds will not be as far off as what you say they are right now according to bullet comparator measurements.

 

[dcb]

its hard to load benchrest quality ammo with off the shelf
hunting bullets and brass.
My opinion /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Bob S.]

I suspect you guys are right about the measurement from the ogive to the base.
I loaded some 80 gn nosler ballistic tips today and the col was within .002" in either direction.
The bullets themselves were all within .004"
Kinda interesting on the tolerances of the bullet manufacturing process.
I'm not trying to load bench rest quality here, just reasonably accurate hunting rounds.
I guess I was not prepared to find the results I did.
I will have to get one of those comparators if I want to get any tighter tolerances.
It just goes to show you a little knowlege can be a dangerous thing.

 

[rost495]

FWIW I have shot probably 15K hornady AMAX. I've seen so many variances that I won't use them in a real match. I can get them cheap from a good source so I use them in short range 300 yards or less practice. But the OAL AND the Ogive have varied quite a bit. Seems like sometimes they don't get the bullet all the way to bottom in the form dies for some reason. And those bullets generally don't shoot so well. The good ones shoot really well though. Just enough variance not to trust.

And as mentioned, if being anal--- read the seating depth to the ogive and adjust on each round. I can't see enough difference out to 600 to worry about it in a highpower match, but out to 1000 I do see the differences.

Jeff

 

[3sixbits]

Cowboy, you might take a look at the Davidson's at Sinclares they clamp to your calipers. Another option is to check them this way with the Davidson's and shoot them as a group of sorted. That way your pressures will all run the same. I hope you see the trouble with to much knowlage. It causes all the nasty questions. I'll bet you'll recall that old saying about ignorance being bliss after this! It truly is "What you think you know that ain't so, that causes all the problems" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bob S.]

Thanks guys I'll look into the comparator and figure out how to measure from the ogive. I guess I should have left well enough alone and not gone looking. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Is there a brand of bullets that seem to run tighter manufacturing tolerances in your experiances? I don't think I need to step up to match grade or custom bullets but you never know what the future might hold.