Elongated bullets

[maliveline]

Hi everyone here Is my dilemma.

Basically I have some .223 bullets that I have powder coated they are 55gr RCBS mold. I have a somewhat thick coating on the bullet I have developed to help cut back on leading in my suppressor. The problem I’m having is the coating is somewhat thick and the bullets are kind of taking a lot of force to get through the lee sizing die. It’s basically causing the projectile to elongate by about .020 In over all length. They seem to be shooting ok or at least good enough for plinking which is all I’m really doing but I still like my bullets to be nice and uniform. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

[sigep1764]

The sizing die does not shave the boolit down, it squeezes it into a thinner longer shape. There is no way around this unless you shoot the boolits unsized. If your casting and coating is very precise, this should not be a problem as most of the boolits will be uniform after sizing. Load them and shoot them and see what you think after. Gotta test them to decide if there is anything to do after that.

[243winxb]

Does a naked bullet, no coating, also elongate after sizing ?

[maliveline]

I never said the bullet was being shaved by the sizing die I’m well aware why it’s elongating I was just wondering if there was any tricks to improve my situation.

[odfairfaxsub]

I’ve wondered this myself. I shot bullets I sized from .462 to .452 and shot them at 100 yards at 1600 fps and didn’t notice negative accuracy

[popper]

Nothing you can do about it, the barrel does the same thing. i assume GCd so you might line them up on the bases and see if any noses are 'out-of-line' which means base is probably crooked.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Nothing you can do about it.
The metal that is displaced during sizing has to go somewhere.

[maliveline]

I’m not using gas checks but I’m starting to have acceptance for this elongated bullet. I think we should start a support group

[sigep1764]

Mal,
I didn't assume you didn't know what the boolit was doing i.e. shaving versus elongating, and certainly did not mean to put words in your mouth. Girlfriend says I have a problem of explaining things like I'm talking to a 3 year old. I just tend to reduce things to as simple as my mind can make it for my benefit in visualizing what is going on and it all comes out like word vomit. Again, no harm or insinuation intended.

Some people on here, I have read, lube the sizing die a little every so often to alleviate the pressure needed to push the boolit through, if that is at all a concern. Are all the boolits coming out of the die consistently close in length?

Im working on a 270 Win project right now and for the next project want to acquire a 5.56 bolt gun(Mossberg MVP) to shoot cast out of. Failing that, it would provide me a nice companion to my AR's to shoot bulk ammo out of. What gun are you loading for?

[odfairfaxsub]

This might be where lube groove bullets can have a advantage over slick sided bullets. I haven’t seen that proving though but lube grooves allow for the lead relief to move into the grooves and not necessarily changing the length of the bullet too much. All a theory here.

[maliveline]

Sig no offense taken just wasn’t sure if you were aware of what my position was. Anyway I’m loading for my ar15. I would say the bullets are coming out consistently they same length after being elongated. I always use lube when I size my bullets. I typically use spray lube so I don’t have to clean my bullets afterward but now that I think about it I suppose I could try some RCBS roll on case lube that stuff definitely gives better lubrication but I hate having to wash it off afterwards and I’m sure I will still get elongation with the RCBS lube but I will try it and let you guys know if it works any better

[243winxb]

Try a different mold, so sizing down is less then .003" A bullet that drops from the mold at groove diameter or .001" larger , would be deformed less on sizing. Better for accuracy.

[Grmps]

Try a different powder that adds less diameter to the boolit, or try HiTek coating

Contact smoke 4320 and ask him what his thinnest coating powder is.

I have both the RCBS and the LEE 6 banger and neither have problems elongating the boolit.

You have to make sure you knock ALL the excess powder off before baking

Lanolin case lube can help make sizing easier.