Progressive problems...

[Kenstone]

I want to thank everyone for the Ideas. I pulled my seating die breachlock bushing and all. I placed it in my single stage breachlock press. I ran the cases through the progresive until they reached station 3. I took the case out and seated the bullet using my single stage press. I received the same results. I took the rounds that were close and placed them back into the progressive and ran them on through the fourth station where my FCD is. No change in oal during the post sizing and crimping. I remembered one of you talked about the seating stem, so I looked at that. My son brought me a magnifying glass after he seen me trying to see how the stem contacted the boolit.... It was a Eureka moment. I noticed my crappy powder coating and something that had gotten into the powdercoat. Its so humid up here in wv and I’m still useing old harbor freight powder coat. My paint was irregular and some of the boolits had granuals of something in the powder coat. Something contaminated my paint. I set several boolits on the back of an ammo box tray for a straight edge and placed the seating stem on top. I used the back end of my calipers to measue from the base of the boolits to the top of the seating stem. The measurements were all over the place. I’m pretty sure this was my culprit. I want to thank you all for the ideas, and my son for the magnifying glass. I guess I have a new tool on my reloading bench, new fresh powdercoat to order, and some irregular boolits to recast. Thanks everyone!

Good to know you have it figured out, looking at what I suggested (1st):
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...=1#post4418537
and had been echoed a few times by others.

[bgw45]

Lloyd, you just posted my exact experience. My 550 won't be gone till i am.

[Walt]

Lloyd, you just posted my exact experience. My 550 won't be gone till i am.

Yep, Lloyd has the answer to a whole lot of progressive press problems!

[Kenstone]

Yep, Lloyd has the answer to a whole lot of progressive press problems!

Yea, a whole lot of problems, not this one though...

[trixter]

I have found that once fired and new brass have small burrs on both the ID and OD of the case mouth that end up in the seating/crimping die if not removed.

Because you describe only having this OAL spread with 45 ACP/ not 9mm, I'd look at the seating stem profile, and where the bullet contacts it, for variation.

I shoot a lot of SWC (H&G 68 clone) in my 45 and 9mm. I have found that if you take the seating stem out and turn it over, it works much better that way. (flat end down) With rifle bullets in won't work, but the ogive can be in a little bit different place on each bullet, co consider where the seating stem actually makes contact with the bullet. Just some things to think about