Ok. I know this has been asked a ton of times. I have redding comp dies FL bushing, Giraud trimmer, redding shell holder. I have taken the seating die apart and cleaned it. Brass has max .003 runout. Ok here is my problem. When seating the bullet if it is not perfectly straight my runout goes to hell. I know they have to be somewhat straight to seat. But I thought the redding seating die was supposed to center up the bullet. Any ideas what to do to fix my problem? I'm reloading .308 win 175gr SMKs.
Bullet runout problem
- Thread starter Jrb572
- Start date
Re: Bullet runout problem
How are you placeing the projectile on the caseing.
1: are you just placeing it, and letting the die straighten it for you
2: are you holding it straight till the die dam near catches your finger.
If you start it crooked it will finish crooked.
Also what kind of runout gauge are you usein?
How are you placeing the projectile on the caseing.
1: are you just placeing it, and letting the die straighten it for you
2: are you holding it straight till the die dam near catches your finger.
If you start it crooked it will finish crooked.
Also what kind of runout gauge are you usein?
Re: Bullet runout problem
Start it straight, as mentioned...and do the seating in 3 or 4 short strokes instead of one long one, rotating the case 33 or 90 degrees each stroke. And, make sure your case is going straight into the die as well, IOW, squarely set in the shell holder, not partially.....trust me.
'Course, your die could be fucked up........
Start it straight, as mentioned...and do the seating in 3 or 4 short strokes instead of one long one, rotating the case 33 or 90 degrees each stroke. And, make sure your case is going straight into the die as well, IOW, squarely set in the shell holder, not partially.....trust me.
'Course, your die could be fucked up........
Re: Bullet runout problem
Sinclair runout tool. I hold the bullet as square as possible till I get to the top. If it is a touch of to one side it does not seat them correctly. I have been doing the rotating trick. It works but seems if I'm a bit off it still does not help much. Can a new seater steam be purchased?
Sinclair runout tool. I hold the bullet as square as possible till I get to the top. If it is a touch of to one side it does not seat them correctly. I have been doing the rotating trick. It works but seems if I'm a bit off it still does not help much. Can a new seater steam be purchased?
Re: Bullet runout problem
Redding comp dies have you dropping the bullet into a slot so it rides in a better position. Might serve you a bit better.
Now while you gave us a number on the brass runout, just how many thousands is 'all to hell' these days?
My bud uses the Redding dies, I use Lee. I forget if it was last year or the year before but an Aussie who shoots with us before going to Perry gifted us a runout deal.
I can't recall the values but we were the same, and inside what the instructions said works for comp ammo.
I never got to onboard with alot of the anal part of reloading. Never could quantify the added value of alot of it.
Good Luck
Redding comp dies have you dropping the bullet into a slot so it rides in a better position. Might serve you a bit better.
Now while you gave us a number on the brass runout, just how many thousands is 'all to hell' these days?
My bud uses the Redding dies, I use Lee. I forget if it was last year or the year before but an Aussie who shoots with us before going to Perry gifted us a runout deal.
I can't recall the values but we were the same, and inside what the instructions said works for comp ammo.
I never got to onboard with alot of the anal part of reloading. Never could quantify the added value of alot of it.
Good Luck
Re: Bullet runout problem
What kind of brass?
I had better luck with a Forster seater. Left the Redding in the box.
What kind of brass?
I had better luck with a Forster seater. Left the Redding in the box.
Re: Bullet runout problem
Wow.
I load my precision ammo on a Dillon 650 with a sliding sleeve Forster, with the o-ring mod. My runout is never worse than .002, and I pay zero attention to the orientation of the bullet as its going up into the seater, nor do I rotate the case, or seat wuth multiple small strokes.
Wow.
I load my precision ammo on a Dillon 650 with a sliding sleeve Forster, with the o-ring mod. My runout is never worse than .002, and I pay zero attention to the orientation of the bullet as its going up into the seater, nor do I rotate the case, or seat wuth multiple small strokes.
Re: Bullet runout problem
I suggest you take run out readings at every stage of your brass prep that works the brass, clean fired brass should be zero in the body and neck, if it's not you will always have run out, step sizing the neck in .003-.005 helps a little, brushing the powder residue out of your neck is a must, but after all this anything else everybody has said will not matter if your necks have excessive thickness differences, and eliminating the expander only moves those differences to the inside of the neck which you guessed it gives bullet run out, the only cure is neck turning.
I suggest you take run out readings at every stage of your brass prep that works the brass, clean fired brass should be zero in the body and neck, if it's not you will always have run out, step sizing the neck in .003-.005 helps a little, brushing the powder residue out of your neck is a must, but after all this anything else everybody has said will not matter if your necks have excessive thickness differences, and eliminating the expander only moves those differences to the inside of the neck which you guessed it gives bullet run out, the only cure is neck turning.
Re: Bullet runout problem
Almost all of my once fired brass has a max of .002 or less. If it has more than .004-.005 I toss it or keep for sighting in. I use SS media to clean brass.
What would cause there to be runout in a case if the brass is clean and fired and not worked yet?
Almost all of my once fired brass has a max of .002 or less. If it has more than .004-.005 I toss it or keep for sighting in. I use SS media to clean brass.
What would cause there to be runout in a case if the brass is clean and fired and not worked yet?
Re: Bullet runout problem
Runout on a just fired case is due to a rifle chamber problem. Bad chambering job, bolt face not square with the bore...all part of the precision rifle thing. If you have a lug not bearing, that can give you a fired case with one side longer than the other. What press and shell holder are you using? Are you sizing the brass and then dragging the neck back thru the bushing with the bushing tightly seated and not floating? That can deform the case. Lots of reasons come to mind. Good luck.
Runout on a just fired case is due to a rifle chamber problem. Bad chambering job, bolt face not square with the bore...all part of the precision rifle thing. If you have a lug not bearing, that can give you a fired case with one side longer than the other. What press and shell holder are you using? Are you sizing the brass and then dragging the neck back thru the bushing with the bushing tightly seated and not floating? That can deform the case. Lots of reasons come to mind. Good luck.
Re: Bullet runout problem
I had same problem and cured it using rubber 0 rings under dies and leaving both sizer and seater a bit loose. My fired brass all was .001 or under but was getting .005+ after loading. With the 0 ring, semi loose dies and paying attention I'm able to get .001-.002. I spin case per other posts while seating but only twice 180 and go slow. I also step down bushing's 'intermediate' and final with Redding bush die in lieu of getting it all with one size.
I had same problem and cured it using rubber 0 rings under dies and leaving both sizer and seater a bit loose. My fired brass all was .001 or under but was getting .005+ after loading. With the 0 ring, semi loose dies and paying attention I'm able to get .001-.002. I spin case per other posts while seating but only twice 180 and go slow. I also step down bushing's 'intermediate' and final with Redding bush die in lieu of getting it all with one size.
Re: Bullet runout problem
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body">No seater can seat straight in a bad case neck and that's where most runout comes from. </div></div>
Right on, the last batch of new Winchester I checked averaged .007 some as bad as .012, and of course necks all beat to hell. Shame a person has to fire form new brass to get decent run out.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fuzzball</div><div class="ubbcode-body">No seater can seat straight in a bad case neck and that's where most runout comes from. </div></div>
Right on, the last batch of new Winchester I checked averaged .007 some as bad as .012, and of course necks all beat to hell. Shame a person has to fire form new brass to get decent run out.
Re: Bullet runout problem
"Shame a person has to fire form new brass to get decent run out."
"Fire forming" doesn't bother me> What does is the neck inside and outside not being on the same axis, varying thickness, necks bent by expanders pulling out unevenly, necks being too small (too much "tension") to allow bullets to seat without tilting on the way in.
Want good necks? Select the best necks you have for consistant thickness, lightly skim turn them to remove the worst of the remaining variation and then use a good sizer that gives no more than 2 thou of 'tension', 1 thou is better. I prefer Lee's collet neck sizers and then use a body die when I need to "FL" the cases; that's cut my average runout by about half no matter the brand of cases I use.
I frequently read suggestions to seat part-way, stop and turn before completing but that's never done anything for me. Few, if any, seater plugs are tightly fitted enough to force any correction to a tilted bullet and once it starts off axis it's not likely to change much.
"Shame a person has to fire form new brass to get decent run out."
"Fire forming" doesn't bother me> What does is the neck inside and outside not being on the same axis, varying thickness, necks bent by expanders pulling out unevenly, necks being too small (too much "tension") to allow bullets to seat without tilting on the way in.
Want good necks? Select the best necks you have for consistant thickness, lightly skim turn them to remove the worst of the remaining variation and then use a good sizer that gives no more than 2 thou of 'tension', 1 thou is better. I prefer Lee's collet neck sizers and then use a body die when I need to "FL" the cases; that's cut my average runout by about half no matter the brand of cases I use.
I frequently read suggestions to seat part-way, stop and turn before completing but that's never done anything for me. Few, if any, seater plugs are tightly fitted enough to force any correction to a tilted bullet and once it starts off axis it's not likely to change much.
