seating depth?

[wc12364]

why is my seating depth different from bullet to bullet?
im loading 6.8 spc and set the seating to 2.292 and get bullets from 2.292 to 2.281....all cases are trimed to same length and no crimp ....using hornady l-n-l press and hornady dies.

 

[cfullgraf]

Measure the bullets themselves, it will be an eye opener.

If you measure off the ogive, it should be a bit more consistent.

There is some flex and tolerances in the press system. Variances in technique bullet from bullet also create differences.

 

[jim243]

I would guess you are using the wrong seating stem in the die. Are you doing hollow points, flat points or FMJ? Different bullets have different profiles and need the correct stem to be consistant.

Jim

 

[wc12364]

i understand that different bullets will seat different .....all i have used is hornady 110 gr v-max

 

[gamestalker]

Trimming, or not trimming the brass, has no efect on OAL. Many years ago when I first started reloading I did some home work and realized that the only accurate way to determine OAL is to measure off the olgive. After doing so I then discovered that most bullets have a fairly large variance simply because of the manufacturing process. Even match grade bullets will have a variance of +/- .010" off the olgive. So considering you are working with handgun bullets don't let a variance measured off the tip of the bullet get you too concerned. So long as everything else is OK, such as cycling and feeding your good to go.

GS

 

[68wj]

Measure the bullets themselves, it will be an eye opener.

If you measure off the ogive, it should be a bit more consistent.

There is some flex and tolerances in the press system. Variances in technique bullet from bullet also create differences.

This. The HP bullets tend to be the most frustrating, even the match versions.

 

[James2]

Yes, some variation is expected. A different seating stem may help. I would not worry about it. Put the calipers down and load.

 

[Jasper1573]

I have similar variances. I load them 5-10 thousandths longer and then dial down the micrometer die to make them plus or minus a couple of thousandths. I only do this for match cartridges. For everyday shooting stuff, I simply load them and check every 10th one or so.

I don't find that the variations make much of a difference in accuracy from my Rem 700 in 308 Win...YMMV.

 

[jwrowland77]

Measure off of the ogive. I measure the ogive for seating depth and set my gauges off the ogive since that's the part that touches the lands and grooves. It has made my rounds much more consistent.