oal varying

[kart racer]

I'm loading 115 gr jhp from remington,9mm.rcbs dies,partner press.Why does the oal vary from say 1.113-1.117 on average?

 

[R.W.Dale]

That's actually not a bad tolerance, I bet that if you check the length of the bullets they will vary by a few thousants.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Are you using mixed brass?

 

[kart racer]

it's all winchester.one other ?are remington primers any good?a local store has them for 12.00 1000.

 

[HSMITH]

For $12 per K I would clean them out. Literally, I would clean them out.

What you are seeing in the OAL is a small variation in the profile of the bullet ogive and a small variation in the OAL of the bullet combined. No worries, that is actually pretty small and is insignificant.

 

[g56]

What you are seeing in the OAL is a small variation in the profile of the bullet ogive and a small variation in the OAL of the bullet combined. No worries, that is actually pretty small and is insignificant.

+1

 

[jedboom]

I'm having the same problem with .223, so this is normal? I trim & measure every case so they are REALLY close in length, then when I seat the bullets I get wild variations in OAL. I'm using kinda cheap bulk bullets could this be the culprit? Or am I overlooking something?

 

[g56]

I'm using kinda cheap bulk bullets could this be the culprit?

Very likely, particularly if you're using surplus or pulled bullets, they aren't consistent.

 

[jedboom]

well they're not surplus they're remington and winchester, but in the 500 round packages. I had some surplus tracers and don't recall this much problem. The winchester ones seem the worst.

 

[Steve C]

My first 20 years of reloading I didn't own a caliper or micrometer. OAL was set from a factory round and checked to see if they chambered properly. Then I bought one of those calipers and wasted a bunch of time measuring everything. I think I was much happier before the caliper.

 

[caz223]

Agreed.

 

[db_tanker]

you think its bad now...wait till you try to load up some jacketed soft points.

I was freaking out thinking my dies were kluge until reason set in and I thought about it.


Like steve suggests...use a factory round to get where you need to be...then when you get more used to the setup and get used to certain chambers in rifles and such, then you vary the length to get better accuracy. I always keep a "sizing" round in my die-boxes for certain calibers...223, 308 and 7-30 Waters.

D

 

[USSR]

kart racer,

Cartridge OAL typically varies because bullet lengths vary. That's why we rifle cartridge reloaders measure from cartridge base to bullet ogive -- not bullet tip. The only time cartridge OAL (base to tip) comes into play is in making sure your cartridges will magazine feed (if that is a requirement).

Don

 

[NavajoNPaleFace]

I load my handgun ammo on a Lee Turret press and the OAL might vary as much as 5/100th of an inch and that suffices in my semi-auto actions.

The RCBS Rockchucker allows me to get within 5/1000th of an inch and I use that press for my bolt action rifle rounds.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Agree with all of above.

For precision rifle loading this is the ticket for accurate OAL.

http://www.stoneypoint.com/comparator_index.html

 

[Roadkill]

Clean out your dies. It will amaze you how much stuff can collect up there. Also clean out your shell holder. Same thing.

rk

 

[robertbank]

If you think you had problems...I have three Lyman 2 cavity molds for casting 200 gr LSWC. Well to make a long story short, after going crazy trying to get the boolits to seat at the same depth the light finally went on. Each of the molds, while casting the same boolit design, actually cast them at different lengths! Not by much but enough to makes a noticeable difference in length of the cartridge. Well lesson learned. I now intend to sell two fo the molds. So much for speed in casting. LOL The crazy thing is I don't shoot that particular boolit very often. Must be a dumb Canuck thing! Live and learn.

Stay Safe

 

[AFhack]

I use Lee dies to reload 45 ACP and 223 and I can't see how bullet length variance would make any difference at all. Both die sets set the length against the tip of the bullet, so any bullet length variance would only affect how much bullet is within the case, not overall length. Maybe other dies size off the ogive but mine don't.


Roadkill made an excellent point. I've noticed that if I don't clean my 45 ACP dies every so often it can build up to a huge difference in OAL - mainly due to lead build up on the seating die.

 

[Kramer Krazy]

With my first 1000 rounds of 45ACP, I got 0.003"-0.006" tolerance with my RCBS Rockchucker Supreme. I suspected the Rainier plated bullets were a bit of the reason. I had similar results with the 38 Spl 158 gr JHP, too. I noticed on a couple rounds, the error was actually from primers that were sticking out a couple of thou further than the case head. I try to pay more attention to the primer seating, now.

 

[Ol` Joe]

I use Lee dies to reload 45 ACP and 223 and I can't see how bullet length variance would make any difference at all. Both die sets set the length against the tip of the bullet, so any bullet length variance would only affect how much bullet is within the case, not overall length. Maybe other dies size off the ogive but mine don't.

if your dies don`t they are the first I`ve seen that are built that way. The three sets of Lee I have all seat off the ogive. As do my RCBS, Redding, Lyman, and Forsters. If you look at the seating stem the end is cup shaped to allow the bullet tip to enter it and the egge of the sup contacts the bullet on the ogive. The problem with seating off the tip is there is a varying amount of bullet inside the case. This varies the chamber size slightly and effects the loads performance. The accuracy of the load is also based, to a point, on the barrels vibration. Seating depth (difference in barrel leade to bullet contact point) will affect this.

 

[pilot teacher]

Got the same with Ranier bullets. The tips got slightly flat when seating.
The Raniers are plated so I don't understand how there could be hollowness at the tip. I found Hornady to be a superior bullet.

Someone also posted Remington primers. I stay away from after a 30-30
round went off in the magazine of my Savage bolt action 30-30 destroying it.

 

[Kamicosmos]

The Raniers are plated so I don't understand how there could be hollowness at the tip.

It's cause they use very soft lead. Seating the bullet will easily deform them. That's also why you don't want to push them supersonic, rifling will rip right through that thin plating, and eat up that soft lead. I discovered this when my Desert Eagle started leading up. oops.

 

[pilot teacher]

Thanks kamicosmos. I never thought of that.

 

[Bronson7]

Maybe I'm not understanding something here. How does bullet length affect oal? Olgive, yes. Bullet length, no. A longer or shorter bullet will put more or less of the bullet in the case but will not change oal.
Bronson7