Consistent seathing deph?

[Raufoss]

My first time with berger hybrid and i find they have ALOT of variation in lenght.

How do make sure all you bullet are seated to the same lenght?

Exemple:
Using redding type-s competition seater
I want to be at 2.902
But i have bullet that mesure 1.408 to 1.415

How i make sure that i'm always at 2.902?

I have a hornady comparator.

 

[mdmp5]

FYI, there is no type s seater. Type s refers to bushing sizing dies. There is just a competition seating die.

The only way to seat bullets to either the same OAL or base to ogive/land engagement is to:
1. seat the bullet longer than desired
2. measure OAL or base to ogive/lands
3. make necessary adjustment on the seating micrometer
4. seat again
5. measure seating depth again for confirmation

The competition seating die is not a set and forget tool. The micrometer was made to be dynamically adjusted. It can be a real pain in the ass, but the way I do it is with a T7 turret press with an instant indicator mounted in the station next to the seating die. That way I can go back and forth until I get the right depth. It takes me about 10 seconds to get the right depth per round this way. If you are using calipers, it may take about double that time.

 

[agbm]

FYI, there is no type s seater. Type s refers to bushing sizing dies. There is just a competition seating die.

The only way to seat bullets to either the same OAL or base to ogive/land engagement is to:
1. seat the bullet longer than desired
2. measure OAL or base to ogive/lands
3. make necessary adjustment on the seating micrometer
4. seat again
5. measure seating depth again for confirmation

The competition seating die is not a set and forget tool. The micrometer was made to be dynamically adjusted. It can be a real pain in the ass, but the way I do it is with a T7 turret press with an instant indicator mounted in the station next to the seating die. That way I can go back and forth until I get the right depth. It takes me about 10 seconds to get the right depth per round this way. If you are using calipers, it may take about double that time.

Hello, could you post a picture of your setup?

 

[918v]

My first time with berger hybrid and i find they have ALOT of variation in lenght.

How do make sure all you bullet are seated to the same lenght?

Exemple:
Using redding type-s competition seater
I want to be at 2.902
But i have bullet that mesure 1.408 to 1.415

How i make sure that i'm always at 2.902?

I have a hornady comparator.

You can't. Even the best, most consistent benchrest grade bullets hand-made on a single die by one anal retentive man will show a +/-.001" variance in seating depth. That's .003" and you are complaining about .007' with mass produced bullets?

 

[anarchist]

Measure the seating depth using the ogive with your comparator. Set your seating die and go to work. Measuring off the meplat will cause you to do insane (ask me how I know). As previously stated, there are going to be dimensional differences on each bullet. As my shooting coach used to say, "Accept the wobble." Ogive is more consistent than meplat.

 

[gstaylorg]

You can't. Even the best, most consistent benchrest grade bullets hand-made on a single die by one anal retentive man will show a +/-.001" variance in seating depth. That's .003" and you are complaining about .007' with mass produced bullets?

Agreed. That's why COAL is not as useful number as cartridge base to ogive length. Within reason, COAL doesn't matter much as long as CBTO is held as consistent as possible. Same thing is true for measuring bullets because noses/meplats can vary quite a bit. You want the distance the between the cartridge base and the point on the bullet ogive where it first contacts the lands to be consistent round to round. Unless the .007" length variance is localized specifically to the region of the bullet between where the comparator tool insert contacts the ogive and where the seater stem contacts the ogive, it's unlikely you'll ever see nearly that much variation in seating depth. I'd first simply do a few dummy rounds to adjust the seating depth (mic), then load some rounds and measure how much their seating depth actually varies. It may not be nearly as much as your bullet OAL measurement variance might suggest. If not, then you're GTG.

If the CBTO variation is still too much for you, you can measure, tweak your seating die mic, then measure, for every round you load. Of course, you'd better purposely start them all out long because that won't work if you've accidentally seated them in too far. Alternatively, you can buy yourself one of these and sort bullets into different lots based on the specific ogive variance that causes seating depth issues BEFORE you actually seat them:

Bob Green New Products

This tool can minimize the number of times you have to change the seating die mic setting to how many different lots of bullets you sorted. The maximum variation you decide on for lot sorting is directly comparable to the seating depth variation you'll end up with. It's not an inexpensive tool, but then again, time is money.

 

[mdmp5]

Hello, could you post a picture of your setup?

I'm away from home, but I may actually make a video when I get home.

 

[Raufoss]

Thanks for all the info.

I understand what you mean by going insane....
Really berger you suck at bullet lengt uniformity...

 

[918v]

u think sierra or hornady is any better?

 

[JByrd]

berger makes the greatest 6mm bullet known to man and some of the greatest 6.5s , they have also ramped up production dramatically to keep us all supplied during the current component climate......they do not suck. they are doing purdy dern good in my opinion. their bullets are ridiculiously accurate.

as you keep reloading and testing results its amazing how some stuff you think matters , doesnt matter at all. and vice versa.

 

[Raufoss]

Still they are terrible inconsisteny in lenght no matter if you think they are the best.
For the price paid i don't expect .015 deviation

I don't want to ear excuse when i buy product like:
Oh sorry we have crank the production but we have forgot to install a brake pedale in your car...

Oh and hornady and sierra dont cost as much so i dont have the same expectation.

 

[918v]

What you're paying for is cutting edge ballistic technology.

You cant expect Berger to give you the highest possible BC with the highest possible consistency at that price. Besides, you won't notice it on paper.

 

[Unknown]

I have found that trying to get uniform overall cartridge length is MUCH more difficult than getting an average overall length. So I use the depth to ogive as my primary length determinator, and the overall length is simply to make sure the rounds will fit into my magazine.

Seating to ogive length is much easier than seating to overall length.

 

[ZiaHunter]

I have sorted by base to ogive a great number of Berger VLD and hybrids and actually found them to be quite consistent if from the same lot number. Same with Scenars. If you really want to get anal, you can meplat trim the bullets and point them which will give you the same ogive to tip measurement generally within .001. Bergers are my bullets of choice for 6.5 and 308 calibers although with current lack of availability of Bergers I have been shooting Scenars and very pleased with their performance.

 

[JByrd]

i know why your results are inconsistent. two reasons at least.

no excuses here

 

[secondofangle]

Careful you don't shoot that dog! How far is thar group?