OAL INCONSISTENT

[mitchiepinoy]

124gr JHP MONTANA GOLD

LEE PRESS

Am trying to seat the bullets at 1.160oal but out of 20 there is 2-3 different oal's like (1.170-1.180)

Anybody has the same issue?

Thanks

[TCBDoubleTap]

Try searching the forums for "inconsistent OAL".

You'll find a lot of information and suggestions on what to check.

Tom

[Hi-Power Jack]

trying to seat the bullets at 1.160oal but out of 20 there is 2-3 different oal's like (1.170-1.180)

Mitch, you might have the wrong shaped seater -

there's one for round noses and one for flat???

[mitchiepinoy]

Try searching the forums for "inconsistent OAL".

You'll find a lot of information and suggestions on what to check.

Tom

Thanks for that Mr Tom

[mitchiepinoy]

trying to seat the bullets at 1.160oal but out of 20 there is 2-3 different oal's like (1.170-1.180)

Mitch, you might have the wrong shaped seater -

there's one for round noses and one for flat???

Will definitely look for the right shaped seater,,, didnt know that there is a certain seater in different bullet heads... Thanks bro

[captray]

I have not been able to get the OAL variation below +/-.005" on my Lee Loadmaster. I have a Redding

Competition seating die and have added "C" clamps to the toolhead to prevent verticle movement.

Even when I segregate the ammo produced from each shellplate hole I still get variations of +/- .004".

Although this drives me bats, I calculate a difference of .010" OAL only makes a ~1.3% difference in case volume.

So, forgeddabouit ...

Ray

[Hi-Power Jack]

So, forgeddabouit ...

Ray, I'd worry about trying to seat bullets at 1.16" and

getting some that are 1.18" - that's too much of a difference

for me.

I might get differences of 1.158 - 1.164" (+/- 0.006")

but here we're getting differences of 0.020". That's a

three - four times larger difference.

That large a difference could mean a round that doesn't

feed thru the mag, or contacts the barrel's rifling.

Not to mention reduced velocity - I presume this is

a 9mm major, and depending on the powder charge, could

mean the difference between a slightly compressed charge

and a charge with no compression.

I think that there should be a way to get that difference

down quite a bit without too much effort.

[mitchiepinoy]

Captray... Too bad i shoot yesterday and i drop 2 stage because of long OAL... but thanks for the comment... Appreciate it...

[Sarge]

I presume this is

a 9mm major,

Thinking the same thing. If it is a 9MAJOR what powder? My 9MAJOR loads will vary a lot if I use a powder that takes up too much space. Compressed loads are tough to get consistent oal.

Are we getting close?

[noylj]

Is it a compressed load? If so, they may have had a marginal grip on the bullet and the powder re-expanded, pushing the bullets out.

Were they all the same head stamp and did you have other of the same headstamp that weren't over long?

Do you detect play at the shell plate or the tool head?

Were these two or three rounds from the beginning and/or end of the reloading cycle with a mostly empty shell plate of cases?

Did you try running them back through the seating die? If not, why not?

Did you separate them out and not shoot them?

Did you check to be sure your seating die is TIGHT and locked into the tool head?

You should be getting COL within 0.01" (extreme spread from shortest to longest).

[Desmo412]

I believe he is using hs6, which is a fairly dense powder. I load on a hornady lnl with a redding comp seating die. My OAL variation is never outside of +/-.003. This is with MG CMJ and same-headstamp brass. I do notice when switching headstamps that the average OAL could change as much as .005"

[mitchiepinoy]

Is it a compressed load? If so, they may have had a marginal grip on the bullet and the powder re-expanded, pushing the bullets out.

Were they all the same head stamp and did you have other of the same headstamp that weren't over long?

Do you detect play at the shell plate or the tool head?

Were these two or three rounds from the beginning and/or end of the reloading cycle with a mostly empty shell plate of cases?

Did you try running them back through the seating die? If not, why not?

Did you separate them out and not shoot them?

Did you check to be sure your seating die is TIGHT and locked into the tool head?

You should be getting COL within 0.01" (extreme spread from shortest to longest).

I will make a note tonight and ill get back

To you... Yes its HS6 powder

[Steve RA]

See if the shell plate is as tight as you can run it without undue drag. If loose, it will allow the plate to tip slightly and vary your seating depth.

[bobmysterious]

If it is loose, try lubing the inside of the bolt hole (at least on a 550, I use Slide Glide) and generally you can tighten up the shell plate and still move it easily.

[Cheesewhiz]

Is this a progressive press? If it is you should always set the length with all stations having a case, deflection from decapping/sizing die can cause this if you set the length with nothing in that station. When you then put a case in that station the plate moves and the set length goes off elsewhere.

[chinook]

I use a Lee Precision reloader. I reload one bullet at a time. My target OAL is 1.125. I get the followin results:

Below 1.120 -10%

From 1.120-1.130 -80%

Above 1.130 -10%

Is this an acceptable range?

[md66948]

trying to seat the bullets at 1.160oal but out of 20 there is 2-3 different oal's like (1.170-1.180)

Mitch, you might have the wrong shaped seater -

there's one for round noses and one for flat???

I am having OAl problems in my 650 with Redding Dies. I did not see an extra seater. Could the one in the seating die be reversible?

Dane

[constable79]

Ray,

With the Redding Competition Seating die you will typically see a larger OAL variance when measuring with calipers from cartridge base to bullet tip. The reason for this is that the competition seating die seats off the ogive and not the bullet tip. If your bullet lenght varies then the ogive contact will be in a different place for each bullet. My last case of MG bullets had a variance of .010 in a batch of 100 I measured. If you measure with a bullet comparator you will see a much smaller OAL because the comparator measures from Ogive to bullet base. If you use a seating die which seats off the bullet tip then the calipers will give a better OAL variation and the comparator will give you a larger OAL variance..

When I use my RCSD in 9mm I get +/- .005 OAL when using the caliper measuring method. When using the Dillon seating die I typically get +/- .002 when using the caliper measuring method.

In theory, the RCSD is supposed to provide better accuracy because the distance from Ogive to land engagement is more uniform.

At my skill level I cannot see any difference between rounds loaded with my RCSD and my Dillon seating die.

Hope this helps.

timestamp='1335123931' post='1688338']

I have not been able to get the OAL variation below +/-.005" on my Lee Loadmaster. I have a Redding

Competition seating die and have added "C" clamps to the toolhead to prevent verticle movement.

Even when I segregate the ammo produced from each shellplate hole I still get variations of +/- .004".

Although this drives me bats, I calculate a difference of .010" OAL only makes a ~1.3% difference in case volume.

So, forgeddabouit ...

Ray

[Guest]

For the 124 MG JHP I get more consistent OALs with the round nose seater, not the flat nose seater.

I load it in 38 super on a 550B to 1.235 and get about a .004 variance about 95% of the time, with an occasional excursion (usually because I screwed up somewhere or loaded the round without the shell plate full).

In general I find that:

1) lubing cases (one shot)

2) having the shell plate as snug as it can be while still rotating smoothly

3) operating the machine consistently

4) taking the measurement of case OAL from cases that were loaded with the shell plate full.

All help to get a consistent OAL. BTW - The 124g MG JHP is a good bullet and worth the effort to figure out how to load it.

[tac_driver]

I have the turbo bearing

http://www.uniquetek.com/site/696296/product/T1281

and the RCSD my varation is +-.003

I tighten the shellplate down so there is no play.

when setting OAL it helps to have a case in every station.

however even with my LCT with lee dies i still get +-.003

using win brass all same headstamp and case in all stations.

speer 147 and 124 gold dots have a varation +-.015

[Sin-ster]

I must be the luckiest son of a gun alive...

With sorted brass, MG 124 JHPs, a Redding Competition Seating Die and Hornady One Shot, I get an ES of .003, with an SD in the realm of .0015 on my 650.

I did run the shellplate down as far as it would go without drag; I have never taken the press apart for a full cleaning, though... and I've had it for probably... wow... 75k rounds now? (I basically clean and lube things as they start to stick/stutter/make noise/give issues.)

I blink when I batch-mic 5 out of every 200 and find one that's .004 off; it's always a piece of brass with a different headstamp than I'm using. (Speer, Remington and WIN all seem to mic the same; FC and PMC tend to be shorter.)