Today I began loading 9mm ammo with Winchester 115-gr FMJ bullets. I am using my new Hornady LNL-AP, all three Hornady dies, and an RCBS Lockout die. I am NOT using a powder-through expander or a seperate crimp die.
I adjusted the micrometer stem on the seating die to get my desired COAL of 1.135 and made a few test rounds. All was well, with a COAL variance of +/- .002, which I thought was acceptable. I set the seating die to very slightly crimp the round, which seemed to do a great job removing all the residual belling of the case mouth. I can feel very slight "springiness" of the press handle, which i usually associate with crimping action.
As I shifted into production mode, and had brass in progress on all stations, I measured the first few rounds to be ejected from the press. All were approximately 0.010 longer than the test rounds that I made one at a time. So, I adjusted the micrometer seating stem down to compensate for this, and kept loading, with the desired COAL +/- .002
Why was this adjustment of the seating die necessary? I know there is more work being done by the press, as I need to apply more force to the handle, but I still "bottom out" the press handle at the end of each downstroke.
Is one of the dies screwed down too far and is interfering with the downstroke of the handle, causing a false sense of "bottoming out"? What do you think is the first place to look?
Or, is this a normal condition and I should just make the seating die adjustment each time I switch between one-at-a-time and production modes?
I adjusted the micrometer stem on the seating die to get my desired COAL of 1.135 and made a few test rounds. All was well, with a COAL variance of +/- .002, which I thought was acceptable. I set the seating die to very slightly crimp the round, which seemed to do a great job removing all the residual belling of the case mouth. I can feel very slight "springiness" of the press handle, which i usually associate with crimping action.
As I shifted into production mode, and had brass in progress on all stations, I measured the first few rounds to be ejected from the press. All were approximately 0.010 longer than the test rounds that I made one at a time. So, I adjusted the micrometer seating stem down to compensate for this, and kept loading, with the desired COAL +/- .002
Why was this adjustment of the seating die necessary? I know there is more work being done by the press, as I need to apply more force to the handle, but I still "bottom out" the press handle at the end of each downstroke.
Is one of the dies screwed down too far and is interfering with the downstroke of the handle, causing a false sense of "bottoming out"? What do you think is the first place to look?
Or, is this a normal condition and I should just make the seating die adjustment each time I switch between one-at-a-time and production modes?