How do you eliminate runout

[Brett Bracken]

Savage...thanks for your comments and you sir definitely understand where from I am coming and have articulated perfectly what I'm trying to do. It's the little things that add up. My rifle is a superb shooter. I'm just trying to get better at feeding it what it likes. I am definitely going to take your advice and give the collet dies a try.

 

[jedimonkey]

The seating process requires an adjustable base, the case needs to be completely in the seating die. This advise
is assuming that a Wilson type die is used. .002" bullet run out should be the cut off.

 

[misterc01]

I start with checking my brass after tumbled with an RCBS Precision Mic to see where I am before starting. I then size it with a Hornady Match bushing die to get the initial measurement to .002 under SAMMI Minimum. I agree with Savage 12BVSS about I using a seating die with a sleeve - I use a Forster Micrometer seating die, and it made a world of difference. My end product is usually at or very close to where I want it as far as run out. Some use a co-axial press and believe that also helps. I then use a Hornady concentricity gauge to get it as close to 0.0 as I can, and call anything under .002 "good enough" and that works for me.

 

[Stgraves260]

In an effort to improve my reloading process with the intended goal of improving accuracy, SD and ES I have invested in a concentricity gauge to measure runout on my brass necks and finished loads. I also just started using a Redding type S full length "bushing" sizing die to control neck tension. For some darn reason all of my brass necks are ending up with about .0015"-.0025" of runout. What am I doing wrong?

I have and EP of only 5 FPS and I don't have or do any of that. Hum :/ What am I doing Wrong/ wright? A lot of the time I can get it down to 4 FPS on my EP without all the fancy stuff. Sometimes less is more. Use less stuff and get better results. Use to much stuff and you are increasing your room for error. Good luck.

 

[BrentM]

For neck only run out, if I am looking for .001 or less....I neck turn the brass. If you are looking at bullet run out, I have a habit of turning the case as seat the bullet in 3rds. Usually see under .002 bullet run out with the majority being around .001. Only bullets I have seen under .001 consistently have been lathe turned.

 

[Tumbleweed]

This is why I've become a fan of using match diameter chamber throating over the last several years. IMO it makes run out null and void. When you close the bolt on a round in a match diameter throat (.0004-.0005" over bullet diameter) the bullet has no choice but to come into perfect alignment with the center of the bore.

 

[Mikecr]

While a tight throat is good IMO, it doesn't actually center WHERE the chambered bullet is pointing.
Look at the length of throat -vs- length of loaded ammo. That throat is a small fulcrum in this respect, and it is also a pressure point when ammo runout is high.
Pressure points, anywhere in the shooting system, are bad things.

But, the reason the throat doesn't hurt much as a pressure point(until extreme) -is because it's just a small fulcrum, about which the chambered ammo can settle into alignment, given clearance to do so.

The whole thing with runout is a loop. Either a big loop (with big clearances), or a small loop (with small clearances).
Big clearances lead to big runout, but it's ok to a point because of big clearances.
Small clearances lead to small runout, which is good because larger runout would shoot bad with small clearances.
Your sizing plan should account for this.

 

[xsn10s]

An old Ken Waters trick was to set up your dies with a rubber o ring between the locking ring and the press. This allowed the dies to "float" while still keeping enough tension on it to stay in place.

 

[Plowboy85]

Are you allowing the bushing to float in the die?

 

[rsmithsr]

did you ever measure a loaded round, then chamber , carefully remove, and re measure ?

 

[skotydontno]

Get an expander mandrel. Erik Cortina says runout doesn't matter

 

[antelopedundee]

In an answer to all the above....I have turned all the necks and have removed the expander ball/depriming pin from the die.

How do you expand your necks? Do you use something like a Sinclair expander?

 

[Gone Ballistic]

I have found that sometimes in our desire for ultimate accuracy we overthink the wheel. A new product becomes available for the bench shooter and immediately someone applies it to the reloading of rounds the hunting and long range shooting reloader. It feels necessary to make more accurate loads, or so we think, but the reality is that what we actually achieve is sometimes so minimalistic that it's a waste of time and money.
Correcting your runout below what you are getting, in my opinion, is not going to change your point of impact enough to be so concerned about it. Personally, tuning the powder weight and bullet shot is of far greater, result rendered, importance.

 

[J E Custom]

In an effort to improve my reloading process with the intended goal of improving accuracy, SD and ES I have invested in a concentricity gauge to measure runout on my brass necks and finished loads. I also just started using a Redding type S full length "bushing" sizing die to control neck tension. For some darn reason all of my brass necks are ending up with about .0015"-.0025" of runout. What am I doing wrong?

I found the same problems until I started turning the necks (Just enough to clean them up and get the wall thickness the same) on New cases. Once I started prepping the new brass before it was fired in my chamber, I found better quality cases after being fire formed to the chamber. I check all cases before loading with the concentricity gauge to verify concentricity, Then, I started checking after each step in the loading process to find the problem/weak point. Sizing had a small effect/if any when minimally sized to feed. The largest change came in the bullet seating step. So I worked on a method to minimize the runout in this step.

Now it is common to load 70 to 80% with no runout and the remainder are normally under .0015.
Zero runout, is no doubt the most accurate, But as long as you stay less than .001, it is hard to tell the difference except for very small improvements in group size.

There are so many different things that can effect concentricity, you just have to find the one that is causing the problem. This was a good way for me and it greatly improved my ammo quality.

J E CUSTOM