Seated bullet below Max OAL

[dak0ta]

Hi,

I was adjusting with the bullet seating die as I like to seat off the lands for my .270 winchester. I accidentally loaded one round to ~3.244" which is well below my 3.405" max overall case length in my rifle. The 270's Minimum COAL is 3.340", can I still shoot this underspec round and be safe without causing too much pressure? I loaded 150 gr Nosler BT into neck sized brass.

 

[troy fairweather]

will be fine long as your not loaded to the max in that gun. to pull the bullet out some you can put the case in your press with the handle down,use some wire cutters to grip the bullet and raise your handle. sound crude but works if you don't have a puller. after buy a puller the wack A mole ones are under $20.

 

[dak0ta]

I have it loaded with 53.5gr of IMR 4831. Thanks will give that a try.

Also, on those Lee FL sizer dies, those decapping pins always seem to get stuck no matter how tight they get screwed down. Might consider switching to RCBS or Redding...

 

[troy fairweather]

I have it loaded with 53.5gr of IMR 4831. Thanks will give that a try.

Also, on those Lee FL sizer dies, those decapping pins always seem to get stuck no matter how tight they get screwed down. Might consider switching to RCBS or Redding...

some time with the lee you really have to tighten the carp out of the nut, some not so tight. i just use a long wrinch and lean on it good. you could call lee they will most likely replace the die.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Do you have a kinetic hammer for pulling bullets. If you do just give it a swat in it to bring the bullet back out some and run it through the seater again to it's correct spec.

 

[stringnut]

Troy is right about the pressure and pulling the bullets. Accuracy may be poor. That's a long jump to the rifling. For pulling I have used pliers with a round opening. Damages the bullets less. Usually sufficient if not crimped. If crimped you need something that bites better, such as, wire cutters . Bullets I have pulled with various hand tolls have always shot just fine.

 

[243winxb]

The loading is on the upper end, so pulling is a good idea for 1 bullet/round. I use channel lock & the press. The bullet damage does little to hurt accuracy @ 100 yards.

on those Lee FL sizer dies, those decapping pins always seem to get stuck no matter how tight they get screwed down.

This is why my 1st set in 223, was my last. RCBS for me.

 

[dak0ta]

Ok thank fellas, will try to pull the bullet with hand tools first. I don't have a kinetic bullet puller at this time. Also, for the Lee collet die, how do you guys get consistent neck sizing from one case to another? It seems a bit inconsistent as you're testing if a bullet will feed into the case with hand pressure. For appropriate neck sizing you want the bullet to bite into the case but not get pushed in by hand pressure?

 

[243winxb]

Lee collet die

Lee has answers. http://leeprecision.net/support/index.php?/Knowledgebase/List/Index/13/product-support

 

[dak0ta]

Here's their answer. So I just size a bit, use my calipers and determine the internal diameter of the case? If I'm shooting .277 (270) bullets, the neck diameter should be .276?

Bullet Run Out ( Run-Out )
Posted by on 19 October 2011 02:10 PM
Bullet run out is the cause of most reloaded rifle cartridge inaccuracies.

Through testing, we have found that Collet sizing a neck to .001 inch under the intended bullet diameter gives the optimum amount of bullet pull with the least amount of run-out. When using a collet Neck Sizing die, the rifle chamber acts as the sizing die, and tends to generate the most concentric running cases. The Collet Neck Sizing die just constricts the case neck a few thousands to again hold the bullet.

The Full length resizing die constricts the case neck much more. The expander then draws the case neck back out to a diameter again .001" smaller than bullet diameter, but it tends to stretch the thin side of the neck more than the thick. This tends to pull the case neck eccentric.

If you want to minimize run-out, stick to the Collet Neck Sizing Die.

 

[243winxb]

At times, a smaller mandral is needed. 25 lbs pressure.

Collet die pressure exertion
Posted by on 01 September 2015 04:02 PM
All of the sizing in the Collet die takes place at the very end of the stroke, when the ram/shell holder appears to bottom out against the base of the die. If you lean into the handle at this point, you will force the collet up into the die body, and cause the collet to squeeze the case neck down against the mandrel (the very end of which pops out the spent primer). About 25 lbs. of force is sufficient to resize most cases. If you are sitting in front of your press, just leaning your upper body weight into the lever is about right.

A good way to determine how much is necessary is to start the case into the die and feel the die remove the primer. Start using pressure and work up to what you think is about 25 lbs. Remove the case from the die and attempt to place the intended bullet in the case neck. If there is little or no resistance, repeat the process with slightly more pressure. When you have reached a point where there are vertical striation marks on the outside of the case neck or the intended bullet does not fit easily into the case neck, the correct amount of pressure has been achieved.

i have never used one

 

[dak0ta]

^ That's how I did it yesterday. I'll combine the above with measurements using the caliper for internal diameter to get more consistency.

 

[dak0ta]

I found this video informative, and method #3 is the wire cutter + press method. Method #4 was interesting, using a fired case to grab the bullet and you just work it out slowly.

 

[dak0ta]

Just tried with the wire cutters and pulled it out enough to get it adjusted to correct COAL. Thanks for the help guys. Bullet wasn't that scuffed up that badly either.

 

[dak0ta]

Now how to get stuck decappin pin out of case?

I also went back and measured the internal diameter of my neck sized cases, and gosh was I surprised that they measured .276", exactly 0.01" less than the caliber as per Lee's recommendations.

 

[dak0ta]

Figured out how to get the decapping rod back into the die without sacrificing the brass. Just raised the decapping rod with brass stuck to it up through the FL sizer die, then recaptured the rod with the collet and TORQUED it down super tight. Once it was torqued down, you then try to ULTRA-Torque it down and you get a few extra turns of the thread that secures it even more. I then lowered the ram and the brass came off of it. This is great, didn't have to lose a bullet or brass from the two above mistakes.