Inconsistent boolit seating depth?

[thx997303]

Did up a few dummy rounds to test how consistent everything can stay on my reloading setup, and the darn OAL started at 1.126" went to 1.122" then 1.128" What the heck is going on?

[HollandNut]

To me with CB's and exposed lead jboolits , thats somewhat "normal"

Probably compressing the nose a bit more or less ..

Consistent seating pressure ??

[BD]

Unless you're using a flat seating stem on a flat nose boolit, the difference between where the seating stem contacts the ogive of the boolit and your measurement to the tip may explain the variation.
BD

[Changeling]

Did up a few dummy rounds to test how consistent everything can stay on my reloading setup, and the darn OAL started at 1.126" went to 1.122" then 1.128" What the heck is going on?

I hope this helps. Unscrew your seating die (you didn't say whether you were crimping or not).

Now put a seated bullet into the press that is exact length like you want. Screw the seating die down till it touches the bullet firmly, tighten down the set screw. Give it a few tries and be sure you are measuring correctly. If not get back to this post.

[thx997303]

Will try that when I get home changeling.

Seating pressure is probably not as consistent as It should be.

Is the .006" difference cause me problems?

[Changeling]

Will try that when I get home changeling.

Seating pressure is probably not as consistent as It should be.

Is the .006" difference cause me problems?

Everything can cause problems when you reload,LOL. The best thing to do is set up a procedure and follow it to the letter when you reload. I've been reloading for years and I have it all written down in a little notebook that hangs on my bench, sometimes you just forget something, it's just natural.

Lets just take things one step at a time so you and us don't get confused on what has been done.

[Navy_Guns]

I had problems bigger than that when I was trying to use un-sized TL-style Lee boolits (hey, the manual said I could!) and the Lee FCD. The seater die didn't crimp at all, and when I pulled the round back through the FCD, the carbide ring would "squirt" the fatter bullets out as much as .050"!!!

[Char-Gar]

You asked a question that can't be answered without a discription of your "reloading setup".

[lwknight]

I venture 2 guesses:
1. You have a lee press. Watch how you manage the handle when you seat the bullet.
2. Your seating plug does not match yout bullet nose. Soft bullets may vary according to resistance differences caused by different brass tension.

[fredj338]

I venture 2 guesses:
1. You have a lee press. Watch how you manage the handle when you seat the bullet.
2. Your seating plug does not match yout bullet nose. Soft bullets may vary according to resistance differences caused by different brass tension.
Or you are seating & crimping in one step & using mixed brass. Try seating in one step then taper crimping in another. I assume 45acp? That seems to work best for me. If you are using a LFCD, do yourself a favor & stop or adjust it so it just taper crimps. Navy gave you qa good reason why not to use one. It sizes the entire case & bullet along w/ it. It can actually cause you to lose neck tension, bad thing, & accuracy will suffer.

[beagle]

And...this is pretty far out. If you're using a really large diameter for the caliber, your crimping shoulder may be doing part of the seating. I ran into this seating .432" bullets in the .44 Mag with Lyman dies and also in the .45/70 with .460" diameter bullets...also Lyman dies.

My fix was to have the crimping shoulder reduced a couple of thousandths./beagle

[kawalekm]

I could suggest two other factors. Sometimes a bit of lube gets stuck up in the die and will result in a bullet seated in too far. Try cleaning the die throughly first before seating.

The second is for my Hornady 44 seating die. I has a "floating" seating stem that for whatever reason jams up and seats the bullet deeper. Most likely a cleaning problem also.
Michael

[thx997303]

9mm Lee Carbide 3 die set.

Boolit is .360" dia. (Yes, I know large. It gets swaged down to .357 when seated)

Lee Challenger Press.

Dies are clean.

I am crimping and seating in one stroke.

Military Brass.

[cbrick]

I never crimp and seat in the same step, a perfect recipe to mess up a nice boolit.

Why are you using the seating die and the case to size your boolit? Seems like a fine way to assure a lack of consistency.

NEVER use the point of a boolit or bullet to measure over all loaded length. It's amazing your getting the consistency that you are. There are tools that measure correctly on the ogive at the point it contacts the throat and are the correct method to determine freebore (and cartridge over all loaded length, COAL in my loading notes).

Rick

[beemer]

Does your press have a ram that breaks over at the top of the stroke and starts back down. I have never used a Challenger press so I don't know how they are set up.

Dave

[243winxb]

.005" to .010" is normal. Lee website said >
Seating depth variations

There are a number of possible causes for overall length variation. One is the way it is measured. If you measure overall length from the tip of the bullet to the base of the case, remember to subtract the variation due to bullet length tolerance. The bullets will vary in length due to manufacturing tolerances (bullets with exposed lead noses are the worst in this regard) and this will add to the overall cartridge length variation. Remember that the bullet seater plug does not (or shouldn't) contact the tip of the bullet when seating, but contacts farther down the ogive. For a more accurate seating depth measurement, take the seater plug out of the bullet seating die, place it on top of the cartridge and measure from the base of the case to the top of the seater plug.

Another possible cause for bullet seating depth variation is seating and crimping at the same time when trying to apply a firm crimp to untrimmed cases. Variation in case length also causes variation in the amount of crimp applied. Long cases get a heavier crimp than short ones. When seating and crimping at the same time, the crimp is formed as the bullet is seated into the case. The crimp will form sooner on a long case, and therefore the bullet will not be seated as deeply. The solution is to seat and crimp in a separate step (the Lee Factory Crimp die is good for this) and/or trim cases to a uniform length.

The amount of force required to cycle a progressive press varies with the number of cases in the shell plate. When the shell plate is full, it is harder to lower the lever than when there are one or two cases present. This can lead to variation in cartridge overall length because there are different loads placed on the working parts of the press. When the shell plate is full, seating depth will be slightly long, because the load is higher and all of the clearances are taken up. With the shell plate nearly empty, the load is not great enough to squeeze out these clearances, and the seating depth is short. http://www.leeprecision.com/cgi/faq/index.cgi

[thx997303]

Because cbrick, I don't have a sizer. And I don't have the money to get one.

So rather than use the as cast .360" dia boolits, I size it down in the die.

And you know what, it is actually pretty consistent. So, works for me.

Anyway, I think I will give seating and crimping separately a try.

[Cloudpeak]

Because cbrick, I don't have a sizer. And I don't have the money to get one.

So rather than use the as cast .360" dia boolits, I size it down in the die.

And you know what, it is actually pretty consistent. So, works for me.

Anyway, I think I will give seating and crimping separately a try.

The Lee push through sizer works very well and cost around $14.00.

I'd consider sizing down to .357-.358" for you 9mm.

[thx997303]

I know, I just don't have the money at the moment. Very sad thing it is.

And .357" is what I intend to size to.

[Charlie Sometimes]

Could be lube build up in the seating stem, if your boolit is being shaved by the case or sized down when seated, too. It gets squeezed out of the boolit and into the die, and comes out on cartridge noses periodcally as globs. One reason I don't like Liquid Alox- you start out with more on the nose than regular lubed boolits.

[atr]

fredj338 has some good suggestions,,

I also find that seating and crimping done in two separate steps usually gives a better handload
also,
check your die stem occasionally....sometimes a build-up of lubrication will cause variations in seating depth.