These Score Marks

[cwbys4evr]

Been having problems seating .223 with an RCBS die. As I posted yesterday sometimes the bullet comes out ever so tilted. Well today I also noticed these score marks on every bullet I have seated. They run all the way around the bullet near the top. I adjusted the dies per instructions. What could this be?



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[gamestalker]

That ring around the bullet is where the seating plug is contacting it. RCBS will custom a build a seating plug for you that will better fit the bullet profile, if you send them the bullet, at least they used to do that. Other wise just live with it, cause it's not really going to have an impact on how they shoot, at least I don't think so.
GS

 

[JimKirk]

Pull the seater and chuck up in a drill .... hold a piece of 400 sandpaper to cut the sharp edge off the inside edge ... I've done many of my seater plugs this way ...

 

[tyeo098]

Dude you are so paranoid

Have you fired any of these yet?

 

[dsm]

Yeah...contour the seater plug with some sand paper or emory cloth.

 

[dsm]

Also, I think once you shoot them and clean the necks with a neck brush, the residual carbon with act as a lube and provide easier seating. The indented ring is ultimately a result of very high neck tension. Unfortunately with standard dies, its hard to control how much your die sizes the neck.

 

[gamestalker]

In the picture, it kind of looks like the cases have some crimp on them, yes? If so, it could be that when the crimp starts, it increases the amount of pressure required to seat the bullet the last few thou, and this creates more pressure to be exerted against the contact point on the bullets. This might be due to too much crimp being applied, which would explain why the marks look so deep?

With that said, and assuming you are crimping those rounds, it isn't necessary to crimp .223 unless you are experiencing set back issues, or if it's a fully automatic action. Quite often, crimping bottle necks only presents more issues, than it could ever solve for some, just saying.

GS

 

[PCCUSNRET]

Do you chamfer the brass? If not, you might try this along with polishing the seater plug. Had the same thing happen with a RCBS seating die and I polished the plug with some 00 steelwool and it works fine now. Only time I ever see a ring now is if I forget to chamfer a case.

 

[Walkalong]

Pull the seater and chuck up in a drill .... hold a piece of 400 sandpaper to cut the sharp edge off the inside edge ... I've done many of my seater plugs this way ...

Yep, and I tend to go 600 after that. It will get rid of the ring that sharp edge leaves on the bullet.

 

[243winxb]

Use an expander of the correct diameter(.222" to .2225") when sizing the brass. Or like Gamestalker said, you are crimping while seating. Adjust seat die up more to not crimp.

 

[Searcher4851]

Just do what JimKirk and Walkalong said and remove the sharp edge on the seater plug. It can't hurt any (unless you go real crazy while doing it) and it will most likely fix your "problem". I wouldn't worry too much about the ones you've already loaded, just shoot them and enjoy them.

 

[mtrmn]

Summing up what everybody else has said:

1-DEFinitely sand down the sharp inner edge of the seater plug

2-Slightly chamfer the inside of the case mouth

3-IF you have adjusted the seating die to also crimp while seating the bullets, perhaps you need to do the crimp in a seperate operation. This is how I solved several little problems when I was starting out.

4-The expander plug sizes the inside of the neck when you pull the decapping pin back through the case mouth--Possibility that there may be a slightly larger one available for your dies. This is ONLY if you have too much resistance when seating bullets. Remember that FLAT BASE bullets will naturally give more resistance when seating than boattails. You will WANT a fair amount of resistance in order for the case to properly hold the bullet, only experience will tell you how much is too much.

Credit goes to all the other posters---I just tried to simplify all the suggestions into a single post

 

[Certaindeaf]

What these guys said. Also, the American Rifleman, many years ago, did a study on damaged/imperfect bullets regarding accuracy. Any little ding or imperfection on the base affected accuracy tremendously but when they filed the crap off of one side of the nose, accuracy was barely affected.

 

[rfwobbly]

......but when they filed the crap off of one side of the nose, accuracy was barely affected.

This is a highly technical term that older, more experienced reloaders use. Apologies, but it may not appear in your lexicon of reloading terms for new users.

 

[cwbys4evr]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't crimp, I set the die up for no crimp according to instructions. Also I do chamfer every case mouth. It is a bit of a pain to keep the bullet on the mouth straight while seating. I usually have to hold it on there until it enters the die, even with boat tails. If this were pistol I would adjust the case flare but I'm under the impression you can't do that with rifle cases. I will definitely polish the seating plug as suggested.

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[Safetychain]

Not to contradict you guys but, the literature that I load by says that a firm crimp is necessary to assure the best complete and consistent powder burn. You either are to do it with a crimp or seat the bullet where it touches the lands in the barrel. Whether this right or wrong, it is the way I do it and I feel I get good results. I use boat tails and I can usually push them into the case such that they are tight enough to easily pick up the whole cartridge by the bullet to move it from the load block to the shell holder. Some of the hand seated bullets go into the seater die really crooked and all come out straight, which seams to defy logic to me. I use a Lee 4 die set. I've never had the ring show up on a finished round but, then again, I seat with one die and crimp with a Lee factory crimp die, another 3-5 second step per round.

 

[Walkalong]

I use light neck tension, no crimp, and load to fit the mag in my FN SPR .308. Shoots great. I do not know anyone who shoots for accuracy that crimps. They use neck tension, or seating at/into the lands (How I did it in my Bench gun), or just load em up with no crimp and let the quality of the bullet and barrel handle things.

We could debate how best to get that last tiny bit of accuracy out of reloads until time stands still. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[YunGun]

Try a Lyman 'M' die

It is a bit of a pain to keep the bullet on the mouth straight while seating. I usually have to hold it on there until it enters the die, even with boat tails.

I've had excellent results with the Lyman 'M' die neck expander dies (like this one for the .223) when loading .30cal bottleneck cartridges like 30/30 & 30-06 - when setup properly the two stage neck expander plug will help reduce problems with the bullet not being seated concentrically & virtually guarantees that they get a good even start.

As previously stated, the ring you're referring to is from the sharp edge on the bullet seating plug, but should have no effect on the end result.

 

[moxie]

NO CRIMP with .223!

I "follow" the bullet into the die with my fingers so the issue of keeping the bullet straight is moot.

 

[gamestalker]

"More than one way to skin a cat" I haven't heard that term in a good 45 years Walkalong. Takes me back quite a few years it does!
GS

 

[kerreckt]

I started putting a slight crimp on my .223 reloads using the Lee factory crimping die and the accuracy and grouping improved. So, I would say "do what works for you".