Ok I've posted in this forum quite a few times, usually about my 30-06. Well, here we go again. So I had brand new brass, found a awesome load. Just resized, trimmed and loaded it up for round 2 last night. Here's where things get interesting. My oal in the new brass was 2.310-2.312 in the once fired I loaded up last night, I tried to go to 3.315. I never touched my dies, why is it now longer all the sudden considering the brass was full length sized and trimmed back to 2.484? Is this normal? I did turn the seating stem back to 2.312. now they range from 2.311 to 2.13. The Hornady interlock round nose bullets are pretty forgiving with accuracy though.
getting angry at 30-06 reloading
- Thread starter trapoholic
- Start date
Your seating die pushed the bullet in by pushing on the bullet ogive. The distance from case head to the ogive will be quite consistent. Because of the way bullets are made, the bullet dimension from ogive to bullet tip will vary 10thou (Hornady) to 20 thou (Sierra). This variation means nothing.
You want to make a device that sits on the bullet shoulder, so you can measure.
Made from a 1" piece of rifle barrel
You want to make a device that sits on the bullet shoulder, so you can measure.
Made from a 1" piece of rifle barrel
The only thing COAL, (Cartridge Over All Length), measured from the bottom of the case to the bullet tip, is good for is to be sure you can fit them into the magazine. You need the CBTO (Cartridge Base To Ogive), indicated by Ganderite's photos and measured with a tool from Hornady or others, to be pretty consistent - within a thou or so for repeatably consistent accurate ammo. The distance from the bullet ogive to the lands of your rifle is one of the important 'where the rubber meets the road' parts about building your own ammo. Others are powder type, burn rate, powder charge, bullet selection, case resizing techniques. Other more minor issues exist as well but getting the main ones right is necessary.
It seems the oal is different is what i gather from it. But oal doesnt matter thats just for fitting in a mag. The bullet may be a little more point then the last. Hes only talking a few thou.
But i believe he thinks the oal is being changed by the brass length. I also think he puts some "2"'s where there should be "3"'s in the inch spot of his numbers ( the 2.31x numbers should be 3.31x)
- Location
- Muskoka Ontario
If the bullets were loaded to a near full or compressed powder recipe and/or if there was very little neck tension - the bullet can "grow" to a longer COL dimension.
Over trimming the OD of the neck will also prevent proper seating/crimp pressure from the case to the bullet
Over trimming the OD of the neck will also prevent proper seating/crimp pressure from the case to the bullet
Yep that's what I think is happening. A couple thou on COAL is nothing to fret about (other than feeding into the mag well and maybe overall smooth feeding of the cartridge but that is not typically an issue...), while the measurement to the ogive is more important...
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so it's still seated where they were on the new brass? Just more lead on the tips? And where do I find them neat gadgets you got there?Your seating die pushed the bullet in by pushing on the bullet ogive. The distance from case head to the ogive will be quite consistent. Because of the way bullets are made, the bullet dimension from ogive to bullet tip will vary 10thou (Hornady) to 20 thou (Sierra). This variation means nothing.
You want to make a device that sits on the bullet shoulder, so you can measure.
Made from a 1" piece of rifle barrel
Negative sir
new brass was 3.310 once fired is telling me my oal is 3.314
Correct on the numbers, my bad thanks man
Negative on compressed load. I do crimp though
So basically a 3.09 is gonna shoot the same as a 3.14 is what you're saying? If so I feel better
The bottom one is a piece of 30 cal rifle barrel. I measure from the top of the tool to the case head.
Ask your gunsmith to make you one. He has scrap barrels laying around.
Stop crimping. Not needed, unless it is a semi-auto.
Ask your gunsmith to make you one. He has scrap barrels laying around.
Stop crimping. Not needed, unless it is a semi-auto.
Will do my good sir!
If you're just setting your seating die once and expecting it to be consistent from one use to the next.... It won't be. Not unless you're torquing it to a very specific ft-lb amount and making everything spotlessly clean. Most dies are 7/8" 14 tpi. That is a huge variation in seating depth if not torqued the same. When I put in a seating die from last use I set it in pretty hand snug and then back off the micrometer around 20 thou and seat a bullet. Then measure on the ogive and then adjust the micrometer to the proper length for my rifle.
- Location
- Calgary, AB
So you are loading the Hornady 180 RN (#3075), correct?
Its not unusual for dies to "drift open" through a round of reloading. It can happen if the various adjusting nuts are not snug. There is a good chance your die was giving you a longer COAL at the end of your previous reloading session - you just happened to notice it at the beginning of the following session.
Yes I am, why?
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Have you tried it at 3.210? Also, what is the max length the mag will take?
The mag will take it way longer than you can seat the rn out. I've probably got my numbers confused I'll look tomorrow. I loaded the first bunch per Hornady manual specs for them my notes and reloading gear is elsewhere, hard to do it here at the house with my son being foreman constantly
