I was reloading 240 swc polymer coated bullets from Acme for my .44 mag. Resources are scarce so I was using some AA#7.
I have the reloading info for 240 gr swc lead bullets from Western Powder, but they use a Montana Bullet Company projectile seated to 1.560" OAL. The charges they use are also way below other info I saw elsewhere for 240 grain lead bullets seated to the same OAL. Like more than a grain below what I see from Lee, which suggests a 1.560" min OAL.
Anyhow, these Acme bullets have a crimp groove that puts them closer to 1.610" or even a few thousandths longer. But . . . something inside of me stirred. To heck with the crime groove. I wanted to seat a bullet to 1.560". So I seated just two of them to 1.560" and moved to the crimp groove for the rest.
I've attached a pic. I'm more than a grain below the max load. The length is exactly what is given as the min OAL for a 240 gr lead bullet in two different sources AND I am using the most conservative load data I found. The case is not very full, but that bullet is *deep*.
TLDR: Is it safe?
I have the reloading info for 240 gr swc lead bullets from Western Powder, but they use a Montana Bullet Company projectile seated to 1.560" OAL. The charges they use are also way below other info I saw elsewhere for 240 grain lead bullets seated to the same OAL. Like more than a grain below what I see from Lee, which suggests a 1.560" min OAL.
Anyhow, these Acme bullets have a crimp groove that puts them closer to 1.610" or even a few thousandths longer. But . . . something inside of me stirred. To heck with the crime groove. I wanted to seat a bullet to 1.560". So I seated just two of them to 1.560" and moved to the crimp groove for the rest.
I've attached a pic. I'm more than a grain below the max load. The length is exactly what is given as the min OAL for a 240 gr lead bullet in two different sources AND I am using the most conservative load data I found. The case is not very full, but that bullet is *deep*.
TLDR: Is it safe?