Bullet seating

[barnabus]

I have a Sharps 45-70 I been fooling with. do yall always seat the bullet so it seals for best accuracy or do you seat it off a little?

[uscra112]

I always seat cast bullets well out, so they engage the lands firmly, pushing the bullet back into the case a little as the action closes. But this only works with Stevens 44 and Ballard rifles. (And *spit* those newfangled bolt actions. :rolleyes:) The breechblock of the Sharps can't do this, because it slides normal to the bore axis. Best you can do is seat for light contact with the lands.

The ultimate is to seat the bullet all the way into the throat, using a special tool, followed by the charged case. Same way big artillery pieces are loaded. Schuetzen competitors still do this.

[Toymaker]

I found my best accuracy with a 45-70 Rolling Block, 45-70 Trapdoor and 38-55 Ballard High Wall comes when I seat the bullet so that the bullet engages the rifling. Not so it pushes the bullet back into the case but just so the rifling marks the bullet.

[uscra112]

Ballard High Wall?

[marlinman93]

Ballard High Wall?

Yes, the cartridge is actually the .38-55 Ballard, not a Winchester cartridge. So guessing he's got a .38-55 Ballard chambered High Wall.

[marlinman93]

I seat mt bullets according to what each gun likes, or shoots most accurately. It's not simply a scenario of seating bullets out the same for each gun. I play with starting touching the rifling, and slowly seat them slightly back to see what shoots best.

[Toymaker]

Right you are, Marlinman93. caliber 38-55 Ballard in an 1885 High Wall.

I make a dummy cartridge and paint the bullet with a black Magic Marker. I set it at various O.A.L.'s and load it. That way I can see when the rifling is just touching the bullet. This also gives me a pretty good idea of how concentric the alignment is in the chamber.
Then, because I powder coat my bullets and that adds a bit to the diameter, I get a perfect fit.

[uscra112]

An added trick is to drill & tap the primer pocket 1/4-20, so you can push the bullet outward in small increments with a carriage bolt or bit of allthread. Once you have it right, cut the bolt off flush with the base, Loctite it, and you have a setting gage for the seater die that can never slip out of adjustment.

[barnabus]

Im using a 405 grain bullet and im not sure by the marks on it that its touching the rifling since there is a solid ring around the bullet compared to when using a jacketed bullet you can see each of the lands where it touched.

[marlinman93]

Im using a 405 grain bullet and im not sure by the marks on it that its touching the rifling since there is a solid ring around the bullet compared to when using a jacketed bullet you can see each of the lands where it touched.

I can't imagine why the rifling wouldn't leave marks on a cast bullet if it does so with a jacketed? How do the two bullet shapes compare? Is the cast bullet rounder, or a wide flat point that has an ogive shaped such that it wont contact the rifling?

[Winger Ed.]

Im using a 405 grain bullet and im not sure by the marks on it that its touching the rifling since there is a solid ring around the bullet compared to when using a jacketed bullet you can see each of the lands where it touched.

I'd think the 405 is hitting on the edge of the throat before it goes in far enough to reach the rifling.
If its hitting the band, maybe it needs to be sized a little more.