Making up some hunting ammunition, 300WinMag, Nosler 180 gr Accubonds. Load some using standard Redding dies. AOL same all rounds. Got a Forster completion seater die and loaded up some rounds. AOL varies up to 0.035". I know that's not much and I guess reflects variations in bullet dimensions. Going to test the 2 batches later today. For an old coot having hunting rounds all the same length seems more comforting than knowing the length to the ogive is same. Can one of you knowledgable fellows talk me down. Leaving on moose hunt in two days. I was happy till I started measuring things so much.... if it grouped well I was happy. Ah, for simpler times!
redding vs Forster seating issue
- Thread starter kujuak
- Start date
.035 is a lot. Length to the ogive is where the bullet meets the barrel and it is what matters most. The only thing oal matters is if it will fit in a magazine. Have you measured the bullets them selves to see if they are the source of your deviation? Could you have it low enough that you're bottoming out the sleeve and possibly deforming the brass itself?
The die in the press. If it's so low that the sleeve bottoms out it would basically be a poor fitting sizing die. That's why the instructions say to screw it in until it bottoms out on the shell holder and then back it out a half turn or something so that you never go past its limits. You can lower the seating stem enough so that you shouldn't have the worry about the die body being too high. You would feel it though as you max the press out compared to normal seating I would imagine. My coax with hornady 300bo dies are so close to the limits that I only get 1/2 of the actual press stroke before the sleeve maxes out and it actually buckles the shoulders inverting them inside of the case walls. Your large rounds shouldn't have that issue unless they are improperly set up.
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So is it correct if the length to Ogive is the same, there is no need or point to measuring AOL once one establishes the round fits magazine?I will measure some of the Accubands and se if they vary that much. Given their cost, if they do, that's abit disappointing.
Yes, consistency in CBTO (case base to ogive) is what you're trying to achieve. There will still be some small variation with plated bullets usually, it's just the nature of manufacturing that nothing is perfect but the variation should be minimal, normally just a few thousandths if that. But WAY better than .035!! And yes, OAL is basically meaningless other than for how the round will fit in a magazine.
