Bullet seating depth?

zr600

New member
Im using a hornady locknload press with rcbs dies. Im currently only reloading for my 22-250. When seating the bullet what can u do to get the same seating depth everytime? Currently i get it close and measure it then just easily seat it till i have it were i want it. I do this with every bullet. How can i speed up the process is there a way to set a stop for my seating depth?
 
Are there instructions with the die set? Rest easy, there is a better way! There are 2 adjustments on the die that are lockable once set.
 
There are i structions but not very clear on setting the die. I have it set so it will work with out crushing my cases my cousin helped me set it he has been reloading for awhile but he is doing it the same way. Im just a beginner. Trying to learn. I can seat it way deeper then what i want what do i need to change i still have quit a bit of travel left with my press.
 
Don't measure off the tip of the bullets, buy an ogive gauge. Hornady makes them and Davidson makes them available from www.sinclairintl.com

I use a split neck case cut with a very thin dremel cut off wheel. Insert the bullet in the case, close the bolt, the bullet engages the lands and gets pushed back. There is a learning curve involved because if you leave the bullet sticking out too far, the lands will grab the bullet and pull it out of the case. With a little trial and error, you will be able to duplicate the OAL to the lands to the .001 consistently.

Hornady makes another tool where the bullet is inserted in a case and the bullet is pushed up till it contacts the lands, but I can not get readings that repeat to the .001 every time with that tool. Everyone is different and many, many people use this tool, I just can't get it as accurate as I can get with the split neck case method.

Learning to measure your OAL to the lands is paramount to achieving small groups as most rifles may have a very sweet spot that they like for best accuracy.

The 22/250 is very forgiving and a great case to begin reloading on. As a general rule, all the Remingtons that I have ever owned liked the bullets seated just barely off the lands, say .005 is a great place to start. I work up my loads at that seating depth, then start altering my seating dept in .005 increments, going in and backing off. I only shoot 3 shot groups because I am looking for 3/8" or smaller groups.

Then after I have got the load and seating depth dialed in, I will try altering primers which make a HUGE difference:
9 1/2
cci 200
Fed 210 have all given about the same results, rule of thumb only

CCI 250 is a radically different primer than the above

Winchester standard primer is also very different from the above primers, but Win primers are a tad larger than the other primers so I save these primers till the primer pockets get a tad bit larger, then go to Winchester and usually have to alter the load a tad because the primer is so very different. If you start off with Winchester primers, then the pockets are opened up a tad and may feel a little loose with other primers.

All this sounds like a lot of bother, but this method has produced excellent results(sub 3/8") for a lot of advanced reloaders that shoot long range and benchrest competition alike.
 
Ok so if you dont measure the tip of the bullet how do u know your oal when seating your bulletes? Isnt the oal or overall lenght the lenght of the total lenght of the case with your bullet seated at the depth you want? Now how do you seat this in your die and press the same? Sorry for the begginer questions. I have been thinking about the gauge.
 
As long as the ogive measure is consistent you are GTG. The bullet tips can be all over the place on hollow points and lead exposed soft points. I use a reference bullet to get a distance to lands measuring the ogive. The Sinclair tool is an excellent repeatable set up. I have used the Hornady with good results but it does take more effort.

Once I get the COL with the tool I seat THAT bullet in a case and then measure the ogive to case base.

Greg
 
Ok so are you measuring each bullet or how do you know were to seat it with the press, once you figure your length out? Im currently just using the lenght in the book and measuring every bullet ill seat them then check it then push it in little by little till i get them at 2.35 or as close to it as possible. What im really wondering is if i want am oal of 2.35 how can i set the die or press so i dont have to measure every one.
 
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Originally Posted By: zr600Ok so are you measuring each bullet or how do you know were to seat it with the press, once you figure your length out? Im currently just using the lenght in the book and measuring every bullet ill seat them then check it then push it in little by little till i get them at 2.35 or as close to it as possible. What im really wondering is if i want am oal of 2.35 how can i set the die or press so i dont have to measure every one.


Maybe im misunderstanding your problem but if I am understanding you correctly it sounds like you've set the die up in the press and have it screwed down quite a ways and then your adjusting seating depth by how far you move the press, do I understand that right?

If that is the case your doing it basically completely backwards. The press handle should go all the way down every time you seat a bullet. If your die is set up correctly this should seat the bullet the same everytime. Again maybe I'm missunderstanding how your doing it currently so correct me if I am wrong. Somebody else can probably explain it better than I (I am not great at explaining things like that through text) but I'm still just trying to figure out exactly how your currently doing it.
 
Yep you are correct FairChaise93 i am not running the press all the way up or handle all the way down. Thats what i was trying to figure out. Now i need to figure out how to set my die correctly. Any help with that from anybody on hear that would be great the instructions that come with the die are kind of lacking the seating die setting. I figured the sizing die right away.
 
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Using the Hornady press and Hornady dies I pit a case in the shell holder and run the ram all the way up and leave it there. Next I make sure the adjustment on the seater die itself is back way off then I screw the die into the press right over the case that's there until I feel some resistance, then lower the ram and back the die off a half turn and set the lock ring. Next put a primed and charged case in the shell holder set a bullet up there and run the handle all the way, if you backed the adjustment on the die off enough in the first place the bullet should barely be seated in the case. Now turn the adjustment on the die in a little at a time and keep running the press all the way and measuring until you get to your desired depth. Then seat another bullet in a case and run the press if your set up correctly it should seat the bullet the same depth as the last round you made. Your measurements will probably read different a lot if your measuring to the tip of the bullet because of variances in the bullets them selves but if your measuring to the ogive the measurements will stay more exact.


Does any of that make sense? I find myself hard to understand in text sometimes but I think I got most of it there. Now obviously there is some fine tuning and such but that is just a very basic run down of what it should be like.
 
Yep thanks i got it. Pretty pumped. Cant beleive i didnt think of this on my own i just made a dummy round amd did it that way. But i see what you say about measuring the tip of the bullets out of 5 i had one that was off 2-3 thousands. But i should be real close now. Thanks for,the help it was bugging me and i havent been able to sleep because of it lol.
 
Originally Posted By: zr600Yep thanks i got it. Pretty pumped. Cant beleive i didnt think of this on my own i just made a dummy round amd did it that way. But i see what you say about measuring the tip of the bullets out of 5 i had one that was off 2-3 thousands. But i should be real close now. Thanks for,the help it was bugging me and i havent been able to sleep because of it lol.

Now that you are up and running...do you have a loading manual there like the Lyman #49? It has good descriptions and pictures that walk you through the basics on die set up and all he rest.

I would suggest you start reading up on that as there are more things coming up in the future regarding case trimming and crimping that will be helpful to know.

Greg
 
Originally Posted By: zr600I have the hornady and berger loading manuals.

Hornady is not the best for specifics. I would recommend picking up The ABC of Reloading off Amazon.

The ABCs Of Reloading: The Definitive Guide for Novice to Expert Jan 12, 2011
by C. Rodney James

It gives timeless instruction on the process.

Greg
 
One thing to keep in mind about the Hornady OAL gage.

The modified case that Hornady uses is a unfired case and more specifically a not fired in your chamber case. You can drill and tap your own fired case or send a fired case to Hornady and they will drill and tap it, but you would one for every chamber you have. So if you have two 243's, you would need a modified case for each.

Here is what I do. I use the Hornady headspace gage to measure the length of the Hornady modified case. I then measure a fired in my chamber case, the Hornady case is always shorter, I then subtract the two for the difference in length and write that number down. Then when I measure OAL, I add that case length difference back to the OAL number. This will get you a wholehell of a lot closer. I see case length to shoulder datum difference between .005 and .010 that big when setting close to the lands.

This is important because OAL is measured base of case to ogive. But the bullet is set in the modified case from shoulder to lands. The difference has to be figured in.
 
Ok now im having an issue with seating depth which i thought i was good to go on. Sometimes im seated to 2.350 and other times it will seat them to 2.355 or 2.354 then again to 2.35 were it suppose to be. So why am i getting two different coals? Now im confused and frustrated again.
 
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Ok yea thats what i have been doing. So the ogive gauge is pretty much needed to do this then or is there a way to do it without?
 
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