How do you gentlemen reset your rifle dies?

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Comrade Mike

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I've had no problems resetting handgun dies. They always seem to seat bullets +/- .001 or so when measured by COAL. That's a tolerance I can accept.

With rifles, due to minor inconsistencies in Ogive it seems my seating depth can vary by up to .01. So what I've been doing to reset my dies when loading is to make a test cartridge for each bullet I use. This cartridge is of a known COAL. To reset the die I pull the test cartridge apart and tune the die to reset it to the same COAL.

The thinking behind this is that I'm using the test case as sort of a Datum line. The die will always touch the test case in the same place and seat to the same depth, thus it will seat subsequent rounds consistently with the datum line of the test case. Then if I want to make a load for a specific bullet longer or shorter, I change the test case by the desired amount thus moving the datum line.

Is this a good practice or are there easier ways to reset dies?
 
Same here, except I don't re-use the dummy round. I keep them in a labeled plastic box (fishing tackle type with adjustable dividers.)

One box so far, as I don't use that many different bullet types.

With careful control of resizing, I have seen variations in COL by the amount you stated, but not the dimension base to ogive.
 
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Do you trim your brass on a regular basis?

I'm anal about trimming my brass, my brass in every caliber for which I reload. I want the bullet seated and crimped just right and the easiest way I have found to make consistent loads without adjusting anything is to cull the brass using a dial caliper. Any brass over the midpoint in length of Trim-To length and Maximum length gets thrown to one container, any brass below that midpoint length goes into another container.

All the brass that is over halfway between minimum and maximum lengths then goes through the Forster Trimmer. The brass that is below the halfway length doesn't get trimmed this time around.

Once I had a system down I can sort and trim a batch of, say 200 cases in the matter of about an hour, two hours at most.
 
If you really want to keep with consistency then ever piece of brass should be trimmed to minimum case length every time. Trimming every piece of brass is faster than measuring each case, sorting them then coming back and trimming the ones that are deemed to long. Trimming brass keeps the crimp consistent but has nothing to do with bullet seating depth. To be anal about bullet seating depth a guy really needs the Hornady or similar bullet comparator which measures off or close to the bullets ogive as COAL really means nothing when measuring a bullet with any exposed lead tip as the exposed lead is never the same from bullet to bullet.
When I change over to a different caliber and start the seating portion of the project I measure the rounds comparator length (Comp OAL) and adjust the seating die to get the length I need. Just installing the dies in the press can change your Comp OAL if you don’t tighten down the die the same way every time. While loading I check a round every now and again to make sure everything is still the same since I only tighten the seating stem lock nut finger tight so it’s easy to adjust and doesn’t require a wrench.
Once you adjust the dies enough you will get the feel for it and the box of dummy rounds end up just setting around not being used. I started out doing the dummy round thing to but find even with setting the die to a dummy round it still needs fine tuned so I don’t even bother using them anymore. A dummy round is helpful when setting the trimmer length though.
 
I don't trim my brass unless I absolutely have to because I don't crimp anything and almost all my bolt action brass is neck sized and doesn't grow much after fire forming. Even with that it grows pretty consistently.

You guys say "fine tune" your dies even using test cases. What data point or dimension are you using to "fine tune"?
 
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Mike, I generally mark the first couple rounds of a batch of precision rifle ammo as 'foulers'. (My rifles don't shoot consistently on a clean bore anyway)

If I've changed bullets I back the seating die depth off about 5-6 twists, load it overlong, then get it down to spec by running it down a bit at a time on the first round. I mark that round as a fouler shot (black line with a sharpy).

The next few rounds I check to make sure that the OAL is where I want it. If they are off and I have to make an adjustment they get black sharpy lines too.

Once I'm dialed in, I finish the batch without touching the depth again. All rounds in the box except the sharpied ones are "consistent" and at the depth I want.
 
For consistency in seating depth I have found that one first needs a quality seating die, whether a Wilson chamber type hand die, or another brand of press mounted seating die. This die must touch the bullet at the ogive, not the tip. Thus with some brands of dies, there is included a seating punch for the VLD type bullets with the elongated ogives.

Then the issue of consistent seating depth shifts to the sizing die. If one has uniform neck tension, holding the seating depth to .001" is doable, where with inconsistent brass, one never knows what he will get, but .003" variation is common.

I promise I don't have the answer to this question, but I have found that neck turned brass, properly annealed, and sized with a bushing die, trimmed to consistent length, will give me more consistent seating depth.

I know what I am about to say doesn't make a lot of sense, but I have found that using consistent technique in operating the loading press in the bullet seating operation, so that one has the same "feel" upon seating, is important. I always try to "bump" the handle at the end of the stroke rather than sneaking up on the press stop.

There you have it. If this helps someone, great!
 
I simply make a dummy round for every different bullet I have. I do this for pistol and rifle.

If I decide I want to load one thing or another, I put my seating die in, I back the seater way out. Then I put the dummy round in, lower the handle and then screw the seater down until it is touching the dummy round. I put the dummy round up, and I'm done, ready to reload.
 
I simply make a dummy round for every different bullet I have. I do this for pistol and rifle.

If I decide I want to load one thing or another, I put my seating die in, I back the seater way out. Then I put the dummy round in, lower the handle and then screw the seater down until it is touching the dummy round. I put the dummy round up, and I'm done, ready to reload.

See you do the same thing I do. I'm not ready for neck turning and all the super consistent techniques yet. I'm still working my way up there and I wanted something that's repeatable at my skill level and technical ability. Looks like ill be sticking with dummy rounds for a bit until I can afford some new equipment.
 
I simply use my Hornady O.A.L. Gauge in conjunction with a bullet comparator to find the longest possible COAL for my chamber, and then set my bullet seating die to seat the bullets 0.010" - 0.015" shorter, as long as that dimension allows for one full caliber of the bullet within the neck. If that dimension exceeds my magazine length, then I set the the bullet seater up to magazine length dimensions.

Don
 
If you want to go back and forth from bullet to bullet in one caliber by far the easiest way to do this and remain consistent is to trim brass if your are crimping into a cannelure, and use a micrometer top whether you are crimping or not.

Micrometer top if you already have a Redding seater. I have added these to a couple of seaters.

At $69.99, the Forster seater is a slam dunk. I highly recommend them.

And of course the Redding Competition Seater is a very good product. I use one of these for .38 Spl/.357. One seater for both.
 
I simply use my Hornady O.A.L. Gauge in conjunction with a bullet comparator
For serious loads, I log that comparator number for a given load/bullet, so I can always repeat it.
 
I use a comparator as well as my dummy rounds. I'm pretty consistent with my loads. A comparator is the absolute way to go. Use it conjunction with the dummy rounds. I very rarely go by OAL measurements, since the really mean nothing.

Reason for saying that, is the point of the bullet touches nothing, it's the ogive that makes contact with the lands. The point of the bullet can vary from bullet to bullet from the same box.
 
I use a comparator as well as my dummy rounds. I'm pretty consistent with my loads. A comparator is the absolute way to go. Use it conjunction with the dummy rounds. I very rarely go by OAL measurements, since the really mean nothing.

Reason for saying that, is the point of the bullet touches nothing, it's the ogive that makes contact with the lands. The point of the bullet can vary from bullet to bullet from the same box.

Looks like its time to save my pennies for a comparator. Buy once cry once right? :D
 
Actually it's not all that expensive. I have the Hornady OAL gauge, with all the inserts. I bought mine from Cabelas. Can't remember what the price was but I do know it wasn't that expensive. You could probably find it cheaper somewhere else, but I'm trying to rack up some points at Cabelas for something.
 
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