.308 bdx bullet/reloading issue

canuck75

canuck75

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Hi all,

rookie reloading issue here. I bought 1000 of the 150 grain EMJ flat points from Canadian BDX, and just tried to start reloading them for plinking use in my M-305. What I get when I go to seat them is an indent all around the nose of the bullet. This indent is about .112" deep. I am using a Hornady .308 winchester "custom grade new dimension die". I cannot attach pics, so that doesn't help me give you any more info. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
 
I now have a link to an admittedly crappy photo of my problem. I hope this will clear up any confusion. Thanks again...
<a href="http://s249.photobucket.com/albums/gg239/canuck2875/?action=view&current=308bdxbullet.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg239/canuck2875/308bdxbullet.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
 
May I be of assistance?

308bdxbullet.jpg
 
BTW, what is the actual diameter of those bullets? If they are slightly oversize and the neck of the brass comes out of your size die on the tight side, the seating die may be pushing quite hard on the bullet. Because those bullets look like they have a non-standard profile, all the pressure of seating may be concentrated on the area where the denting occurs.

Measure the bullets. Measure the expander in your size die. Gather more data for us. Are they an actual jacketed bullet or are they plated? Any other bullets do this for you?
 
the following is from Kurt, the helpful guy over at BDX from our original e-mail: "Yes, .308 is 30 cal. the extra 008 thou is for the rifling lands and grooves." They describe their bullets as "These plated bullets are built from an swaged alloy core, 10 thousand undersized, then cold electroplating is applied evenly, then they are completly swaged again to the final size/form to ensure a completly uniform bullet. Very consistent in weight, diamater, shape, appearance, and best of all, the plating is pliable and bonded to the core, not brittle like many others." As for my setup, the bdx bullets measure at .307", the expander decap retainer comes in at .306". However i have reloaded Hornady and speer bullets previously, and those were .307" as well, and they were problem free. I am using a c.o.l. of 2.49" (based on a 150 gr rn sp in my speer reloading manual. I hope this is enough info...
 
Ahhh.

the plating is pliable
Click to expand...

I think this combined with the seating plug not fitting the nose profile of the bullet, is causing the indent. I wouldn't worry about it anyway, you won't likely see any effect on accuracy caused by the indent. I've had an indent on some jacketed bullets before, only not as severe as yours. They shot fine.

Load 'em up and shoot 'em. I for one, am curious as to how well these plated bullets shoot as I have looked at them in the past and wondered how they would shoot.
 
joe-nwt said:
Ahhh.



I think this combined with the seating plug not fitting the nose profile of the bullet, is causing the indent. I wouldn't worry about it anyway, you won't likely see any effect on accuracy caused by the indent. I've had an indent on some jacketed bullets before, only not as severe as yours. They shot fine.

Load 'em up and shoot 'em. I for one, am curious as to how well these plated bullets shoot as I have looked at them in the past and wondered how they would shoot.
Click to expand...


Agree, this is the problem.

If you want to fix this you can get a spare seating plug, and put some valve grinding compound on one of your bullets, place it in a drill or drill press and place the spare plug in a vice.

Force the bullet into the plug with moderate pressue and run the drill until the plug is lapped to fit the profile of the bullet ogive, you will likely need to do this with a couple of bullets as the bullets will grind down faster thatn the plug. At the end clean the compound out of the plug and label it, you will have a seating plug that is perfectly profiled for the ogive of these bullets.
 
"...the seating plug not fitting the nose profile of the bullet..." Exactly. Contact Hornady for a 'spitzer' seating plug. Most dies sets usually come with more than one though. Usually a round nose and a spitzer.
 
thank you all for your help. I just got off the phone with a Hornady tech guy, and he just told me to mail them 2 or 3 of the bullets in question, and that they would build me a custom feed stem, my cost, $7. I'm pretty happy with that as I have 1000 of these things lying around. Thanks again...
 
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