help with consistent seating depth ?

[rebs]

I am reloading for my Tikka 223 bolt gun using a Redding bushing die to size the case and neck. I am using an RCBS competition seating die to seat the bullets. I have-not been able to get consistent seating depth. I am loading Berger 80.5 full bore bullets and some 80 gr SMK's. The seating depth will vary by about .005 with both. I am only bumping the shoulder by .001 to .002. I have read that the Redding bushing die does not size the entire neck, could that be a problem ? Could another problem be the brass not being trimmed to the proper length ?
Is there anything you guys could suggest for me to be doing ?
I forgot to mention I am using Lapua once fired brass. Some have been fired 4 times and some 6 times

 

[JEFFPPC]

I am reloading for my Tikka 223 bolt gun using a Redding bushing die to size the case and neck. I am using an RCBS competition seating die to seat the bullets. I have-not been able to get consistent seating depth. I am loading Berger 80.5 full bore bullets and some 80 gr SMK's. The seating depth will vary by about .005 with both. I am only bumping the shoulder by .001 to .002. I have read that the Redding bushing die does not size the entire neck, could that be a problem ? Could another problem be the brass not being trimmed to the proper length ?
Is there anything you guys could suggest for me to be doing ?

Sort the bullets. Are the bullets crushing powder? First 2 things I would address.

 

[rebs]

Sort the bullets. Are the bullets crushing powder? First 2 things I would address.

I have not sorted the bullets and I don't believe they are crushing the powder

 

[Old Navy]

Your bullet tips might be bottoming out in the seating stem. Others here have had that problem.

 

[6Creed73]

A couple things can help with this. First, make sure you are chamfering and deburring. Another thing I do that really helps with consistent seating depth is I use an expander mandrel rather than an expander ball. But I don't use the mandrel until I'm ready to seat bullets. If you size your brass and let it sit, the brass will change shape over time. Using the mandrel as the last step ensures the neck is consistent.

 

[AlNyhus]

Where are you finding the .005 variance? Overall length with a caliper or case head to ogive with a comparator?

 

[JEFFPPC]

I have not sorted the bullets and I don't believe they are crushing the powder

You will never get consistent seating with unsorted bullets.

 

[Rook 6]

On top of everything said, how are you measuring? Base to tip? Base to ogive?

 

[JEFFPPC]

A couple things can help with this. First, make sure you are chamfering and deburring. Another thing I do that really helps with consistent seating depth is I use an expander mandrel rather than an expander ball. But I don't use the mandrel until I'm ready to seat bullets. If you size your brass and let it sit, the brass will change shape over time. Using the mandrel as the last step ensures the neck is consistent.

No, no, and no.

 

[Rook 6]

Where are you finding the .005 variance? Overall length with a caliper or case head to ogive with a comparator?

Beat me to it!

 

[Bill Norris]

As mentioned above make sure the bullet tip is not bottoming out in the seating die. If the bullet is touching the powder when seating it you will find more consistent measurements by allowing dwell time at the bottom of the press stroke.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

You will never get consistent seating with unsorted bullets.

If he doesn’t want to sort all of them, setting the die to a middle of the road bullet length will help some.

 

[6Creed73]

You will never get consistent seating with unsorted bullets.

Incorrect. I only sort my precision rifle rounds and I get consistent seating depth with everything I load. And precision rifle I sort by weight, which will have no affect on seating depth.

Even if you sort your bullets by ogive to base, the tool you used to measure is not going to contact the bullet at the same spot that the seating stem will. Even between different dies and stems, they won't contact the bullet in the exact same spot.

First step to consistent seating depth is brass prep. If you have different neck tension from case to case or the neck is rough from trimming, it absolutely will affect seating depth.

 

[Webster]

I am reloading for my Tikka 223 bolt gun using a Redding bushing die to size the case and neck. I am using an RCBS competition seating die to seat the bullets. I have-not been able to get consistent seating depth. I am loading Berger 80.5 full bore bullets and some 80 gr SMK's. The seating depth will vary by about .005 with both. I am only bumping the shoulder by .001 to .002. I have read that the Redding bushing die does not size the entire neck, could that be a problem ? Could another problem be the brass not being trimmed to the proper length ?
Is there anything you guys could suggest for me to be doing ?
I forgot to mention I am using Lapua once fired brass. Some have been fired 4 times and some 6 times

If you are not shooting in competition don't worry about it. You probably will never see a problem with group size.

 

[Toptom]

As stated above I use to experience the same thing with my 6.5 creed with redding setup. Biggest thing that help me was switching to a expander mandrel instead of the ball in sizing die. Just seem smoother force while seating and more consistent lengths base to ogive.

 

[Straightshooter1]

I am reloading for my Tikka 223 bolt gun using a Redding bushing die to size the case and neck. I am using an RCBS competition seating die to seat the bullets. I have-not been able to get consistent seating depth. I am loading Berger 80.5 full bore bullets and some 80 gr SMK's. The seating depth will vary by about .005 with both. I am only bumping the shoulder by .001 to .002. I have read that the Redding bushing die does not size the entire neck, could that be a problem ? Could another problem be the brass not being trimmed to the proper length ?
Is there anything you guys could suggest for me to be doing ?
I forgot to mention I am using Lapua once fired brass. Some have been fired 4 times and some 6 times

First, I feel one needs to be clear about what "seating depth" is. It's how deed the base of the bullet is into the case effecting case capacity. . . . not having anything to do with any ogive measurement. However, what does effect "seating depth" is any variation in the distance between the base of the bullet and where the seating stem makes contact on the ogive. There for, go get consistent "seating depths", I sort my bullets from bullets base to my seating stem's contact point on the bullet's ogive. Yes, that means the comparator I use is much smaller than the typical one that's used to measure distance to the lands.

There are usually differences in the distance from that seating stem contact point and where the typical comparator makes contact. Which means, when I sort by seating stem contact point, there will be some differences in distance to the lands. This difference is not an issue for me as I don't load my cartridges where they touch or are jammed into the lands and the throat is always eroding anyway, which is another reason I don't care about this issue.

There are other issues than can cause variances in seating depth, like: a lot of neck tension, uneven chamfer's, touching the donut, seating stem not suited to the bullet tip . . . for example.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Incorrect. I only sort my precision rifle rounds and I get consistent seating depth with everything I load. And precision rifle I sort by weight, which will have no affect on seating depth.

Even if you sort your bullets by ogive to base, the tool you used to measure is not going to contact the bullet at the same spot that the seating stem will. Even between different dies and stems, they won't contact the bullet in the exact same spot.

First step to consistent seating depth is brass prep. If you have different neck tension from case to case or the neck is rough from trimming, it absolutely will affect seating depth.

I don’t think it’s incorrect if he’s using run of the mill bullets like Hornady, Sierra or Nosler CC.

 

[Dave M.]

I am reloading for my Tikka 223 bolt gun using a Redding bushing die to size the case and neck. I am using an RCBS competition seating die to seat the bullets. I have-not been able to get consistent seating depth. I am loading Berger 80.5 full bore bullets and some 80 gr SMK's. The seating depth will vary by about .005 with both. I am only bumping the shoulder by .001 to .002. I have read that the Redding bushing die does not size the entire neck, could that be a problem ? Could another problem be the brass not being trimmed to the proper length ?
Is there anything you guys could suggest for me to be doing ?
I forgot to mention I am using Lapua once fired brass. Some have been fired 4 times and some 6 times

No full length bushing die sizes the entire neck. Just a couple of suggestions:
1. Make sure the seating die is not touching the tip of the bullet
2. Perhaps look at using a Wilson hand die and arbor press to seat bullets
3. How are you measuring the .005 variance? Are all primers set under flush to the brass so as not to affect the measurement. You should be measuring cartridge base to ogive and not overall length.
4. Make sure you are not crushing the powder (ie compressed loads). This will push the bullets back out over time.

Dave

 

[rebs]

Where are you finding the .005 variance? Overall length with a caliper or case head to ogive with a comparator?

case head to ogive with comparator on my caliper

 

[rebs]

If you are not shooting in competition don't worry about it. You probably will never see a problem with group size.

I shoot 300 yd benchrest matches at our club