This is a test!

[Nalgi]

We are all here to learn. After 40 years of reloading I learned something last night!
Here are the facts:

1. friend gave me a box of .270 Win. bullets.
2. loaded a couple of boxes with no problem.
3. loaded some last night and had the following issues:
a. sized brass, chambered fine
b. when seating the bullet, some were fine, some wouldn't chamber and some cases were crushed!

Checked dies, cleaned them, re set them per factory instructions.
All case measurements were to spec

What was going on?

I'll post the solution Monday :-\

 

[BoydAllen]

Some rifle dies have a crimp option in the seater that requires that it be set some distance above the shell holder to inactivate that feature. If your brass varied in length, and your seater was set low enough that the crimp feature came in contact with case mouths, some may not have been touched, while others may have been crimped to the point where the case bulged to interfere with chambering, and the longest ones might have been crushed. find your longest remaining case, put it in the shell holder, raise the ram to its highest position, and screw the die down carefully till you feel something touch, then look to see what the gap between the bottom of the die and the shell holder looks like. Let us know.

 

[jonbearman]

Wrong size bullets by chance?

 

[Keith Glasscock]

Did you check the case length?

 

[Nalgi]

Yes, as stated above all brass was to specs

 

[DennisH]

<------------ Waiting on Monday 8)

 

[brxbrad]

Seating die set to low in the press possibly?......Try setting the base of the die approx 1/8 of an inch above the shell holder then adjust the seating depth....

 

[Milo 2.0]

Ok, it's Monday

 

[Nalgi]

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Bearman was right!

after crushing cases and not being able to chamber rounds, I finally thought it had to be the bullets!

I started measuring and what did I find????

About 1/2 the bullets were 7MM!!!!! and 1/2 were .277!

So lesson learned. If it ain't working it might be the bullet, not you!

 

[Jay Christopherson]

Re: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Bearman was right!

after crushing cases and not being able to chamber rounds, I finally thought it had to be the bullets!

I started measuring and what did I find????

About 1/2 the bullets were 7MM!!!!! and 1/2 were .277!

So lesson learned. If it ain't working it might be the bullet, not you!

I dunno, I think the lesson here would be "trust, but verify". Someone hands me an open box of some type of reloading component, I'm going through it with a fine tooth comb...

 

[Minesweeper3433]

I have done this exact same thing with some old hornady 30 bullets. Turns out some were 311 spire points mixed in. Glad I caught it before blowing up a rifle.

 

[Nalgi]

Yea, I gave him a load of it after I figured it out

 

[Patch700]

...Proof yet again that a good set of dies does a much nicer job when necking up as opposed to a boat tail lol... Glad no serious damage occurred

 

[Nalgi]

Actually, after looking at the picture for a while I think that crimp is a thing of beauty!!!!