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Trouble loading flat based bullet


George Post

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I got some Remington .224 55gn. FMJ with cannelure on sale. Before this I have only

loaded FMJ Boat tails. I had some cases that I had slightly over done the chamfer on and

thought it would be a good match. When placing the bullet on the case they could hardly

stand up but if I went slow it was OK. Then as I was seating the bullet it started out

feeling the same as the boat tail then got real easy. It got easy as the beginning of the

cannelure started to pass the case mouth.

After a few I stopped and gave them the thumb pressure test against the side of loading

bench, they pushed right in. Tried same cases with boat tails and they passed, tried

different cases with flat based bullets and they failed. I remeasured the bullets and they

were .224 same as the boat tails. I did this all this testing before crimping. But I’m not

feeling to good about just crimping and running these through my AR 15.

Any help to understand or suggestions welcome.

George

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I'm wondering if the necks are buckling as you're trying to seat a .224 bullet down a case mouth that's sized down smaller.

I added a Lee Univ Flaring Die to my setup for two reasons: it irons out any interior burrs after trimming with a Dillon trimmer, and it puts a tiny flare on the mouth which aids seating, especially with FB bullets.

I have it adjusted to just "kiss" the mouth. Not a large flare at all, but enough so a FB bullet will sit standing up and not tip over.

If you're bullets are .224, they ought to seat the same. If you are finding they aren't passing your pressure test, I'd look at your resizing operation, and maybe polish the exp ball a tad to gain a bit more neck tension.

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  • 1 month later...

Try a Lee Collet Die after you've loaded them, see if you can still push them in as in your thumb test. And/ or Lee's factory crimp die works wonders (just don't over do it, you can really mash the hell out of your reload if you wanted too) And maybe one of those VLD brass chamfer gizmos.

Let us know how things turn out!

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I had the same thing with some Speer 52 varmit flatbase bullets. I could not push them, too easily,

with my thumb but against a table they would go in. I just shot them gone !!! :mellow:

I even had some that crushed the case on the way in. There's got to be a specific technique for a flat base..

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Every week I sit at my bench to load, I see that tray of ammo. I grab another round and

push it against the bench.

I haven’t done any rifle loading since then. Just a little discouraged. I did measure the case

mouth on some cases, before loading inside diameter was .22 and after pushing the head

inside the measurement was .23 inches

I only have 500 of these bullets ($40) so rather then buy yet an other die I may just go back to boat tail.

Thanks for helping

George

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I've loaded flat base Remington's for years, with no problems. I always chamfer the case mouth when trimming. Well, now I have a Gracey and it trims and chamfers at the same time. My dies are RCBS standard dies. Maybe I just load slower, but, neck tension is fine, and no crushed shoulders. I do load on a single stage press too. I don't crimp rifle ammo either.

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Don't get discouraged, all of us reloaders have had "setbacks". The Lee Factory Crimp Die" is pretty darn cheap, I use mine just for peace of mind on the "screwing around ammo". I know the bullet won't push farther into the case. I load for an AR so that extra insurance is worth it to me. Its completely adjustable on the amount of "tension" you apply. I'll only give a little crimp on my "match/expense bullet rounds". I know you'll hear how you aren't suppose to crimp match rounds.... but.... It makes me happy.

BTW have you tried a different brand of case?, it may just be that brand doesn't like that bullet. And what kind of rifle, case are are you using? And whose brand of dies?

Edited by Para 16
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i was trying to load some flat base 308 remington 165's in Dillon power trimmed cases and none would seat without crushing the neck until i chamfered the inside of the neck with one of those VLD chamfering tools.....

on a side note my accuracy was not good so i removed my Lee FCD and accuracy improved....D I C K

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  • 1 month later...

If I were starting from scratch, I'd likely buy a Gracey or Giraud trimmer tool. Since I already had a Dillon trimmer I was hand chamfering all of my rifle cases.. until I started loading in lots of greater than 100. I went ahead and bought the RCBS chamfer tool and while it still takes time to chamfer cases, it's a lot better than doing it completely by hand. My only complaint about the RCBS tool is that the motor turns too slow. It does a nice job of chamfering the mouth of the case and also has the opposite for an outside chamfer. You can get other attachements for primer crimp removal and primer pocket cleaning but I'm happy with what I use it for, for now. I have the Dillon swage tool for decrimping small rifle brass.. and need only get the attachments for doing large rifle brass.

I have a fair number of these flat based bullets.. and they can be annoying to seat. In fact, that was the reason I sold my TC 223 rem barrel many year ago.. now I wish I hadn't..

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