Seating Depth Question

[Mykal]

I am new to reloading and loaded my first patch of 30-30 last night. I was using a bullet with a cannelure in it, and I was unsure of the seating depth. I was loading a Speer 130 grain FL-SP. I will be shooting this ammo in a Winchester 94. Not being sure, I seating the bullet with the cannelure below the case mouth by about 2 or 3mm and crimped it. After doing some research on the web today, I see that most opinion was that the bullet should be seated right on the cannelure. Should I reload this ammo or is it okay to shoot? What is the story of bulled seating depth with regard to cannelures? I have read some varying opinions, some even suggesting that crimping isn’t necessary. What are your thoughts? Thanks for the help.

[Patrick Sweeney]

Crimp in the cannelure.  Yes, you can get by without a crimp, but onlyif your neck tnesion is tight enough.  The 30-30 in particular needs a tight crimp or tight neck tension (better to have both) from the direct impact of the rounds on the bullet nose in the tube.  Needless to say, no ponted bullets, or the points resting directly on the primers can cause a detonation.

Shoot those and load better in the future.

[benos]

Double ditto on the Mondo Shotgun(/Rifle/Pistol) Wizard.

be

[1badmagnum]

you should be able to see a hair of the cannullure above the case mouth.set your seating die first,making sure your cases are uniform in size.if your case lengh varries this can change the col resulting in the firing pin not contacting the primer causing a misfire,or making the cartridge too long for your chamber.after you get the seat debth correct you can use the complete throw of the handle to finish the round with a good crimp.it takes a little practice to feel when the bullet is seated and the crimping process has begun and finished.I use the rock chucker for forming cases because of the strengh of the single stage press.I use the piggyback conversion for loading the rounds after forming them on the rock chucker.most progressives have some play because your performing a number of actions at the same time.

[Alan550]

1badmagnum wrote "if your case lengh varries this can change the col resulting in the firing pin not contacting the primer causing a misfire,"  and this isn't correct on a 30.30, since they headspace on the rim.  It is important that the cases be the same length in order to get a consistant crimp, but short cases won't misfire.  They just won't have much, or any, crimp which could lead to the bullet being driven further into the case when contact from another cartridge in the magazine sets it deeper during firing, and cycling the action.  That will send pressures through the roof!

[Mykal]

Thanks, everyone for the info. Practice makes perfect. --Mykal