Potatohead
Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2013
- Messages
- 5,375
thx for article steve
Nothings perfect, case heads can be different and the bullet base to ogive isn't always exact from bullet to bullet and depending on the nose design like an exposed lead bullet the measurements can be even further off. If i'm seating bullets to an OAL of say 1.125 it could very from 1.120 to 1.130. Gold dots are fairly close and stay around +- .003. I have loaded some pulled .40 bullets that vary as much as +- .010 and required I reduce the load as they showed some pressure signs at my normal .40 load. This is with 165 grain bullets. A couple thousands of difference is not going to make any difference.the OAL range?
Tapping the bullet back out and continuing to load it is bad JuJu. The case neck tension could be compromised, if its factory rounds the sealer they use will be broken and you are not sure of the neck tension. Plus unless you have a micrometer and measure the OAL its just a guess. If you don't reload then shoot the rounds ever once in a while before any set back and if in doubt just get rid of the round.357 Sig is another round that can have setback problems because the case doesn't hold the bullet very firmly.
If you are really concerned about setback, get a bullet puller (the inertial kind, looks like a plastic hammer) and you can tap the bullet back to proper length or longer and if you load that caliber you can reseat it at the proper length. If you don't reload you can still tap the bullet out to a length comparable to others. If you really must unload and load daily, use a sharpie to draw a ring around the bullet at the case mouth. If the line disappears into the case, you know the bullet is setting back and you can tap it back out to the appropriate length.
use a sharpie
My friend nearly blew up his XD .40 with a set-back cartridge. Lucky I spotted it and told him to dispose of it.
Good job in catching that for him, but how do you know this round would have "blew up his XD 40
Because the round was pushed back so far its shoulder was literally below the rim of the cartridge
As little as 1/10 of setback in .40 S&W will double the pressure inside the case, and this was at or beyond that.