OCD FRUSTRATIONS!?!

[uncle.45]

The swc seating stem with my SDB only contacted the nose of the bullets, so I drilled the flat portion several thousandths, and fitted it to my most-used bullets with epoxy so it contacts the taper instead.
My 1911s like .45acp 200gr swcs at 1.260" , but even with the modified seating stem, the oal ranges from 1.2585 to 1.2635" .
My desired oal is in the middle of this range, but the OCD part of me wants a variance of +/-.001" , not +/-.0025" .
Do you find this oal range acceptable?
Am I just too OCD for my own good?
I appreciate your input!

 

[ArchAngelCD]

You do realize you are worrying about five one-thousandth of na inch, correct? A piece of dust could cause that difference.

0.02" is more than acceptable variance, 0.005" is outstanding results. Most reloaders don't measure over two digits past the decimal point.

Relax and enjoy shooting your ammo.

 

[.308 Norma]

My desired oal is in the middle of this range, but the OCD part of me wants a variance of +/-.001" , not +/-.0025" .

Plus or minus one, one thousandth of an inch?

Am I just too OCD for my own good?

Yeah, I think so.

 

[uncle.45]

Thanks Gents!!
As long as the oal stays in this range,
I guess I'll just 'choot em'!

 

[Blue68f100]

I have my SWC seating stem only contacting the shoulder of the bullet. This is consistent through all that I have used. don't care what the OAL is as long as it under max. I seat the bullet with only a thumbnail thickness showing above the case.

 

[Stew0576]

I had this problem, spent hours adjusting, readjusting and readjusting before i realized that it is what it is

 

[Jim Watson]

If you hand cast the bullets in a single cavity mould and seated them in same lot number brass with just the right amount of expansion, you might could hold the OAL closer.

 

[Walkalong]

but the OCD part of me wants a variance of +/-.001" , not +/-.0025" .
Do you find this oal range acceptable?
Am I just too OCD for my own good?

Yes.

Relax and enjoy shooting your ammo

Yup.

 

[uncle.45]

I get it, fellas!
I will turn the seating stem down a little to keep the oal below 1.261" so the ammo will feed from my magazines reliably.
Anything over that causes bullet noses to drag in the magazine shells.
If the .005" variance is 1.255" to 1.260" I should not have any feed issues, and the accuracy should still be good.
Like you pointed out, it is only a few thousandths.
Thanks again!

 

[Varminterror]

What is the variability in your base-to-ogive lengths? COAL is always going to vary based on the variability inherent to bullet tips - even poly tips. Absolute waste of time to pull your hair out over COAL variability - apply your OCD to your BTO control.

 

[uncle.45]

OCD Wins!!
I walked away from it yesterday, and came back to it fresh this morning.
After turning down the seating stem a little more, the oal now ranges from 1.258 to 1.260.
I am not sure how a 1/8th turn of the seating stem could improve consistency, but I'll take it!
I measured every round as I loaded a box of 100, and all of them were in that .002 range.
Uncle.45s OCD is happy, happy, happy!

 

[Dudedog]

Less is better but if they all feed I think you probably couldn't tell the different between say 1.258 and 1.263 on paper.
Might be a fun experiment to try to load some at each end and see if it makes a difference that you can shoot.
If it does not OCD can take a nap, if it does then OCD can claim victory and you will lose sleep at night worrying about it for weeks on end

 

[CKweigand]

Some simple math might explain the difference in just the 1/8th of a turn on the seating stem...let’s pretend for just one second that your seating stem was 7/16” in diameter by 20 threads per inch and had hexagonal flats for advancing and backing out the stem...

So take one revolution of the seating stem divided by 20 (threads per inch)...

1 / 20 = .050”

So for every one revolution of your seating stem you are moving it either in or out .050”...that is quite a bit so to break it down even more take your .050” and divide by the number of flats you have on your seating stem let’s say for example 6 like a regular hex cap screw bolt...

.050” / 6 = .0083333” so for every flat you move in and out you are advancing or backing out the seating stem roughly less than .0085” so just half a flat could move it only .004” and then of course when tightening your seating stem to lock in the setting, you probably just moved it unintentionally another .003-.004”...

When dealing in the thousandths a piece of dust or grime or even a hair can wreck havoc on OCD tendencies...not that I would know of course...

“I do precision guesswork based off of unreliable data given by those of questionable knowledge.” Proud to be a millwright!!!

 

[rfwobbly]

IMHO when you load SWC bullets, OAL doesn't really matter.

What guides a SWC into the chamber and allows it to "feed" correctly is where the shoulder ends up, relative to the cartridge case mouth. So what you should be worried about is the distance from the case rim to the shoulder of the SWC bullet. Where the meplat ends up means very little. And the OAL is taken from the meplat.



That being the case, I find it best to cut a seating die anvil (or "seating stem") that pushes on the bullet's shoulder. In this way the press has more control over where the bullet's shoulder ends up. This anvil also needs to effectively corral or conform to the angular portion of the bullet nose to effectively straighten and center the bullet during the seating process.

Such an anvil (in red) is shown in the cartoon below, seating a SWC in which the meplat is not touched during the seating operation....

 

[uncle.45]

rfwobbly,
That is exactly how my seating stem contacts the bullets after I drilled it to stop the contact at the meplat.
Thanks for confirming that I was right to modify the stem.

 

[Blue68f100]

Some bullets do have a seam that can cause you problems, the reason I seat off of the shoulder.

 

[uncle.45]

Blue,
I'll watch for that.
I am currently switching from Precision Bullets to Missouri Bullets because of the many positive mentions on this forum.
I will let you know how it goes with different bullets when I can.