0.227 bullets instead of 0.224
- Thread starter hmr-hound
- Start date
In case you missed this - Hell no!
The .227 bullets are for the Savage .22 High Power cartridge not most other 22 calibre centrefire cartridges.
- Location
- The Orion Arm
- Location
- chilliwack BC.
not for a min and I saying that its ok to do this, but how in the hell is 0.003 that big a deal? Isn't that inside manufacturing tolerances?
I am still new to reloading.
or, is the bullet not just larger, but differently shaped?
I am still new to reloading.
or, is the bullet not just larger, but differently shaped?
if loaded in 223, the case might not even chamber and if it somehow wedges into the chamber it will most likely grip the bullet so hard the pressure will spike beyond my comfort zone.
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No .003" is certainly not within manufacturing tolerances. Even .001" off spec is too much. Most dies are set up to provide .002" to .003" of neck tension, and it would be very difficult to seat bullets that are .003" oversize.
Take a 223 bearing and try to drive it onto a 227 outside diameter shaft. Same reason. Tight barrels for long range 308 target rifles that can over pressure are .3075. This would be like fitting a 303 British bullet into a 303 Savage or 308. Ka boom.
Seating oversized bullets is an old way of necking up cases without special equipment, or tapered expander balls. I ram .338 300 SMKs into .300 RUM cases all the time to make .338 Edges. It saves the stress on the decapping rod of jamming the expander ball through the neckand they aren't any worse than those done on the ball. Fireforming straightens everything right out. Seating a .458 pointed bullet upside down in a .375 is an easy way to expand them for .458 Lotts.
I wouldn't shoot .228 bullets in a .224 barrel, but it wouldn't surprise me much if they chambered in a typically sloppy SAAMI chamber.
With a tough boat tailed bullet like the Matchking that might work, but the 70 grain Hornady bullets are flat based and they are fairly soft. Those factors would make it much more difficult to seat those .227" bullets in a case neck sized for a 224" bullet.
True, but its only an extra .003" is stead of .030" as in the case of the .338 Edge example. As long as the bullet edge doesn't snag its going to go, and between chamfer and a bit of bevel it shouldn't snag.
It might go, but what it looks like afterward is another matter. The 129gr Accubond LR that I an loading in my 6.5x55 can get noticeably distorted with careful chamfering, and only .002" of neck tension. And that is a bullet with a long boat tail. I don't even want to think what they would look like with another .003" of neck tension.
I've shot hard cast lead bullets as large as .005" above standard diameter. A soft Hornady jacket over a pure lead core will swage down in the throat of the barrel pretty easily; easier than hard cast lead actually. Every rifle I've ever loaded cast for except one 308 with a very tight (possibly match) chamber will easily take bullets .003" to .004" larger than normal with standard neck thickness on the brass (didn't have to turn it down thinner). I don't usually run into problems until I'm .006" or more above normal bullet diameter (I load dummy rounds with oversized bullets to see chamber neck dimensions just out of curiosity). A decent neck flare from something like a Lee universal neck expanding die will easily allow a .227" bullets to go into a neck designed for a .224". I load .314" cast pistol bullets into .308" brass all the time for plinking loads and all it takes is a healthy neck flare. Whenever I have to pull cast bullets, I usually try to remember to mic them just to see if they swaged down at all during seating when they expanded the case necks. So far none of them have moved at all.
If the load was reduced, the throat on the rifle wasn't too short, and the chamber wasn't match-cut, it would likely work if there was no other option.
I wouldn't try it and don't recommend it except in some sort of real emergency. .224" bullets (FMJ, SP, BTHP, etc.) are pretty easily to find. I'm just saying I see no reason why it would be even close to as catastrophic or impossible as some people seem to think it would be.
If the load was reduced, the throat on the rifle wasn't too short, and the chamber wasn't match-cut, it would likely work if there was no other option.
I wouldn't try it and don't recommend it except in some sort of real emergency. .224" bullets (FMJ, SP, BTHP, etc.) are pretty easily to find. I'm just saying I see no reason why it would be even close to as catastrophic or impossible as some people seem to think it would be.
I do put a flare on the cases when loading cast bullets for my handguns, and then I crimp the bullets in place and remove the flare. However, I don't flare cases to load jacketed bullets for my .224" caliber rifles, and I don't crimp them either. The dies for my .224" caliber cartridges don't even include a flaring plug, and I doubt that the OP, who thought that .003" was within the manufacturing tolerances for bullets, would think of flaring the case mouths, let alone have a flaring plug, in order to seat the .227" bullets he is asking about.
You need a better fitting seating stem.
It arrived today
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1274961-Accubond-LR-Seating-Issues
That being said , the original seating plug works fine on the 142gr Matchking, which is shaped very similar. The Accubond LR appears to be much softer near the tip than the Matchking, or any other bullet that I have loaded for . I can understand why it has the lowest suggested minimum impact velocity(1300fps) that I have seen for a big game hunting bullet.
My comment wasn't directed right at you. It was more of a general comment about how to get .227" bullets to seat well. I'm not sure where crimping came in.
I very rarely flare for jacketed rifle rounds either except for certain .30-30 bullets with sharp edges on the base that sometimes crumple the neck.
I was more commenting towards the people who seem to think rifles will explode at the drop of a hat.
Also you seem to be mixing up who said what.
OP is hmr-hound
The manufacturing tolerances comment was JR Hartman
Correct you are. That being said, I doubt that either one would have a flaring plug for .224" case mouths, or would even think of flaring. As for crimping, if you flare a case mouth to any degree to start an oversize bullet, you should eliminate the flare before using the cartridges.
And I do realize that bullets are soft, and will swage down. Then again, some people just pick a maximum load from a manual and load it, with no load development, which could complicate things.
