most frustrating reloading session yet!

[SSN Vet]

loading 7.62x39...new Winchester brass, CCI 200 primers, Golden West 124 gr FMJ bullets, 24.8 gr. Accurate 1680 powder, Lee Classic Turret Press & Lee Pacesetter dies, med. heavy crimp on the FCD.

Problem.....getting a consistant OAL and getting the crimp "dendt" (can't really call it a proper groove) lined up with the case mouth. I was ready to pull my hair out :banghead: (what's left of it that is)...

Then I measured a dozen bullets and found the spread was from .894" to .912". And with that much variation in such a small sample, I'm wondering if the ogive is consistant.

Here's the culprit.....http://www.goldenwestbrass.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GWB%2D053

Since my intended use for these rounds is just 50 yd. paper punchers, I'd be satisfied to hold OAL below the max. for reliable feeding, but I was not satisfied when I tested to see how secure the bullet was. Pushing rounds into the edge of my desk with ony a medium force, easilly moved my bullets back to where the case mouth hit the "dent".

So I checked my FCD set up and it was applying a "medium heavy" crimp....but bullets either have a thick jacket or a hard lead (bi-metal?) filler.

When the bullets were seated with the mouth hard on the dent, the OAL was only 2.174". Where the min. OAL published for max. loads (which I'm not even close to pushing) is 2.2".

So I'm getting a great workout with my kinetic puller.....gaging my smacks to pull the bullet beyond my desired OAL, but not removing it. :banghead:

Lot's of fun.....what a great hobby!

So I figure....that's it...I'm starting from ground zero....

I dissasemble, inspect and clean my sizing, seating and crimp dies. Then I get much more detailed and picky about my set up.....none of this "turn it in untill it hits the shell holder and back it out 1/2 turn" stuff.

I wind up setting the neck ball on the sizing die up ~1/8" proud of the collet, as it was bottoming out on the burr on the flash hole.

No excess gunk in the seating die, but I set it closer to the shell holder.

And I set the crimp die up for a heavy crimp.

I don't know what 'black magic' happened (honest....no chicken bones) but the next 10 came out spot on, seating at 2.180 and doing a "double tap" on the crimp die (actually crimp, spin, crimp)

And the moral of this long story is? I don't know

The bright spot is that my Auto Disk was consistantly dropping spot on charges.

 

[esheato]

Lot's of fun.....what a great hobby!

Yup...

 

[snuffy]

From the looks of those bullets, they're a plated bullet. That means they are made by swaging a core undersize, then plating to bring it up to nominal size. They should then be run through a sizer to make them round and the correct diameter. If the plating is thicker on some than others, sizing could make the thicker plated one longer.

All that could result in the problems you're having. I would bet that if you got some quality cup&core bullets, like from Hornady, you would find they're much easier to load.

 

[sargenv]

I've found that plated bullets do not generally like being pushed very fast either. Purchasing better bullets, though they will cost you, will usually decrease the headaches while loading them. Yes they cost a lot, but also yes they will usually be more consistant.

 

[SSN Vet]

You won't be able to tell from the photo I linked, but I'm sure it is a jacketed bullet.

You can see the lead on the aft end of them and the copper jacket appears to be rolled over as well.

If nothing else...it was a good reminder to use the manufacturers schpeel as a guideline, but then to engage my brain and dial things in so that they function as intended with the matirals at hand.

This is the second time I've had to go against the Lee sizing die instructions to set the expander ball pin flush with the collet at the top.

 

[TEDDY]

setup

I never look at top of pin I alwas look at decap pin as it extends out of die.as time goes on you WILL learn the tricks and it ill be much easier.
you can also shoot lead out of SKS and dont worry about lead shaving.the SKS cart is good for deer.my son got one this fall and it was hit and down.
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