Bullet seating to deep...

[tx_shooter]

First, the specs:
Loading .300 Win Mag Federal Cases that are on their 3rd load. I haven't loaded them over 80% and they show no signs of stress.

Now the problem:
Loading a set of rounds for testing last night I had three bullets drop all the way into the case when I tried to seat them. I placed the bullet at the mouth - and it fell all the way in to the powder! This only happened to 3 cases out of 50. They are all Federal cases. They were all preped exactly the same way.

I've searched/ read the forum quite a bit and seen nothing that I thought was related - but I stand to be corrected.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm just a long range shooter hoping to glean some knowledge from the Benchrest Crowd.

Thanks

 

[coupalr]

What kind of a dies are you using? If they are bushing and you are not pulling an expander back through I would say those cases have thinner necks than the rest or they are getting harder and springing back, maybe it is time to anneal.

 

[tx_shooter]

I'm using the basic Lee sizing die on them - shoulder sizing only though. I have the expander set to not fully go all the way in and back out. Should I adjust this?

Sorry - I'm still learning at reloading.

As for annealing - I've read up on it some, not alot though.

 

[rayjay]

The expander has to go all the way in, I don't think there is any way to have it not go all the way in. The neck portion of the die reduces the neck of the case and then the expander comes is drawn back through the neck and expands it to some dimension, hopefully .002" smaller than the dia of the bullet. In this case about .306".

If you adjust the die up above the shellholder then only the top portion of the neck gets sized. The body of the remains as fired.

You should think about upgrading to a bushing die. Std dies really overwork the neck of the case.

 

[BigJim]

Two things,1) make sure you are using the correct heads it is easy to mix up .270 and .308 heads.,2) Run your resizing die down to the case holder on your ram. Bring the ram all the way up with the case holder inserted them bring your die all the way down till it touches the case holder. Then back your die off the case holder 1/2 turn. That should give you about .04" clearance between your die and the case holder. This will insure that the neck is resized properly and should eleminated your problem with the head falling into the case.

The only time I really could not correct this problem was when I was loading 7.62 X 39 and using a .309 punch instead of the .308 punch. If you dieset came with 2 punches check to see,printed on the punch) which size you are using.

Good luck

Big Jim

 

[tx_shooter]

Thanks for the pointers BigJim... I'll check it all tonight and see what I get. I have 45 cases to clean and prep after my trip to the range Wednesday.