This ought to finish the posting. I prime in a Forster Co-Ax, one at a time. Seat just below flush, and not more. For powder charging, I drop the first amount with the Lee Powder dipper that comes closest to the final amount, then trickle up. About 0.2-0.3 gr. below the target amount, press down gently on the edge of the powder pan, and "float" the bar, without smacking it against the stops at the top or bottom. Then add powder a bit at a time, floating the bar until it's within 1/2 of a tenth either high or low. To test whether this is repeatable, you can take the pan off the scale, put it back on, and float the bar again. If the indicator settles exactly back where it was before, your measuring process is GTG. To test further, you can add 1 or 2 kernels of extruded powder, then float the scale again, and you should see the indicator settle an appropriate amount higher than before. Usually, 2 kernels is roughly 1/2 of a tenth, for the most common powders. Before seating a bullet, shine a light into each case, and be sure the cases have the same apparent amount of powder.
Now to bullet seating. After reading this, you're going to love me forever. I use JLK bullets, but others are excellent: Sierra, Barnes, Berger, Hornady. I use JLK because the ogives are dang near perfect, and BTO is primo. (And I can get them.) I use the Forster (or other chamber seater) and seat long by about 7-10 thousandths. The seating process starts with squaring the die to the press ram, as with the sizing die. You can seat to a solid stop, but I use the spring-loaded part at the bottom to square. If you set the die up to make a hard stop on the press ram, this is the only step you need. Seating short, however, permits you to assess the bullet ogive for consistency. Here's how that works: the Forster die stem presses on a particular datum line along the ogive, based on its contact point. When I seat long, I check the base-to-ogive using my caliper and Hornady tool. They should all come out within +/- 0.0005" (half a thousandth). When seating the first portion of the bullet, barely press the bullet into the neck, then turn the cartridge in the case holder, and seat about 0.1-0.2", which feels like just a little bit more; then seat all the way, turning 2 or 3 times. The turning makes sure the seater stem makes contact with the entire circumference of the ogive. Next, put in the Lee Dead Length Bullet Seating die, squaring it to the shell holder with the press ram firmly against it. I usually set the die ring so the press handle is about horizontal when the ram makes contact with the bottom of the seating die. Go ahead and seat the bullet all the way to the chosen depth. Turn the cartridge case 2-3 times, so the seater stem again makes contact with the entire circumference of the bullet ogive. Check each one. They should all be within +/- 0.0005", just like they were when they were seated long. This seater stem is pressing against a slightly different datum line on the bullet ogive than the seater stem on the Forster die, so doing it this way checks the ogive consistency to a certain extent. I use JLK bullets, since the base-to-ogive is always this consistent. Others can be very close. This is just a way to verify the precision of my process. Assess the seating pressure of each bullet. If it's significantly different, find the explanation, or don't use that cartridge for competition. You could take the cartridge apart with an impact bullet puller used very gently; then resize the neck with the Lee collet/mandrel die, and see if the seating pressure is appropriate.
As before, reloaders must assume responsibility for what they do, so evaluate these methods to your own satisfaction, or do it a different way; but make sure that whatever you do is safe first and foremost.
Now to bullet seating. After reading this, you're going to love me forever. I use JLK bullets, but others are excellent: Sierra, Barnes, Berger, Hornady. I use JLK because the ogives are dang near perfect, and BTO is primo. (And I can get them.) I use the Forster (or other chamber seater) and seat long by about 7-10 thousandths. The seating process starts with squaring the die to the press ram, as with the sizing die. You can seat to a solid stop, but I use the spring-loaded part at the bottom to square. If you set the die up to make a hard stop on the press ram, this is the only step you need. Seating short, however, permits you to assess the bullet ogive for consistency. Here's how that works: the Forster die stem presses on a particular datum line along the ogive, based on its contact point. When I seat long, I check the base-to-ogive using my caliper and Hornady tool. They should all come out within +/- 0.0005" (half a thousandth). When seating the first portion of the bullet, barely press the bullet into the neck, then turn the cartridge in the case holder, and seat about 0.1-0.2", which feels like just a little bit more; then seat all the way, turning 2 or 3 times. The turning makes sure the seater stem makes contact with the entire circumference of the ogive. Next, put in the Lee Dead Length Bullet Seating die, squaring it to the shell holder with the press ram firmly against it. I usually set the die ring so the press handle is about horizontal when the ram makes contact with the bottom of the seating die. Go ahead and seat the bullet all the way to the chosen depth. Turn the cartridge case 2-3 times, so the seater stem again makes contact with the entire circumference of the bullet ogive. Check each one. They should all be within +/- 0.0005", just like they were when they were seated long. This seater stem is pressing against a slightly different datum line on the bullet ogive than the seater stem on the Forster die, so doing it this way checks the ogive consistency to a certain extent. I use JLK bullets, since the base-to-ogive is always this consistent. Others can be very close. This is just a way to verify the precision of my process. Assess the seating pressure of each bullet. If it's significantly different, find the explanation, or don't use that cartridge for competition. You could take the cartridge apart with an impact bullet puller used very gently; then resize the neck with the Lee collet/mandrel die, and see if the seating pressure is appropriate.
As before, reloaders must assume responsibility for what they do, so evaluate these methods to your own satisfaction, or do it a different way; but make sure that whatever you do is safe first and foremost.
My bad. When I read it, my thinking was regarding the beginning of the ogive at the bearing surface, as that's the references to the ogive typically made. But I get it, now.
