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Posted: 6/6/2012 4:55:45 AM EDT
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Yesterday I was loading my first rifle reloads (been doing pistol for some time) on a Lee Breech Lock Challenger press using a Lee seating die. Now I had neck sized the cases with an RCBS die as they were all shot from my rifle, and I trimmed them to an exact length. I measured a dozen or so of the Sierra Matchking's that I was using and they were +/- .009" but within 0.1gr of eachother. The thing is that my rounds were coming out +/- .010 different in OAL. Each round I had to tweak the seating die to get them within .005 of eachother. I didn't apply any crimp at all, had the die backed out 1/2 turn from the case mouth. Any ideas on this?
Also, I noticed that these neck sized cases were kinda tight in my chamber. I know that is kinda the idea, but they were a little hard to cycle, and I imagine that once they are fired that the bolt is going to be a pain to move. Maybe I didn't have the die run down far enough? Thanks for any help! |
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First of what caliber? Details please. And what rifle are you going to fire them in? Chambers can vary between the manufacturers.
You did measure from the ogive... right? OAL lengths of bullets can be off by the amount you are saying. And did you lube the neck with mica or anything? I would partial resize the cases so they chamber easier, just doing the necks doesn't always work well |
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Back up a few steps. First thing is to set your sizing die so your cases will chamber. Sounds like you have some bullets to pull and rounds to take down. Install sizing die, lube case and size. Wipe off lube and try to chamber sized case in rifle. Adjust die so that there is a little "Feel" when you close the bolt. Just a slight increase in force needed to close the bolt. Thing about Lee dies is the lack of a locknut. The o ring will not keep your hard won adjustment. You will need to buy real lock rings, I like the Hornady best.  Or you can modify the Lee nuts into lock rings. Modified Lee die on the right.  Drill, tap.  10x32x3/8 set screw. Piece of lead shot to protect the threads, between the set screw and die threads. |
| I agree with the locknut issue, I'll get to modifying mine before the next use. As far as sizing, I see what you are saying, I guess I assumed that since the brass was fire formed in my chamber that resizing the neck to provide tension for the bullet was all that was needed for the first couple of loadings. |
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once you get your sizing down I don't get too fancy with oal.
I set it so the longest cartridges are at the max desired oal and leave my seating die at that setting for all the rest of those projectiles. This should give you the most consistent length to ogive as that is where the bullets are seated from. |
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Quoted:
I set it so the longest cartridges are at the max desired oal and leave my seating die at that setting for all the rest of those projectiles. That's how I handled it. I am going to trying running my neck sizer down a little further on some other fire formed brass and see if that helps. |
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Quoted:
How do I measure the ogive?. http://www.sinclairintl.com/.aspx/pid=34262/Product/Sinclair-Hex-Style-Bullet-Comparators I don't know if anyone makes one for the Mosin round. But the .30 hole should work ok for measurements. On the right side of the link is a video showing how the "tool" is used. And you will need to full length resize, some surplus rifles are kinda chambered generously / sloppy. ( The military doesn't need to reload those cases, they want the ammo to chamber , always, under some pretty bad conditions. ) |
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If the cartidges have to fit in your magazine, then measuring OAL from the case head to the tip of the bullet is the proper measurement to make. If this is your need, measuring to the ogive is not what you want when setting up the seating die.
Knowing that hollow point bullets vary quite a bit in their length, what you have to do is seat the bullets deep enough so that even the longest finished cartridge still fits in the magazine. It's best to seat them a bit deeper than that, too, so you have some margin for error. For example, when you get a bullet that is exceptionally long. Another instance is when a cratridge gets tipped in the magazine, you don't want it to wedge itself in there. I'd say 0.030" shorter than the length of your magazine is about right. |
| When the bullet is sitting on the lands it is COAL 3.053, so I figured 3.040 which is also the absolute max for the magazine. I loaded these to 3.035" max without considering that they might tip in the mag causing them to bind. I will reload them to 3.020" max to give me a little more wiggle room. I had been told by Lee that they will custom make the neck sizer if I send them a fired case and two bullets, would this be a better situation than having the generic RCBS neck sizer? Brass for this caliber is limited and pricy which is why I wanted to neck size as much as possible to add some longevity to the cases. |
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I'd say don't get too fancy on the conventional dies.
If you do want to control neck tension, get a Redding Type S FL Sizing die. It uses neck sizing bushings, so if your next batch of brass is different (neck wall thickness) or you change barrels (different chambering reamer) or find more or less tension works better for you, all you have to do is change the little bushing. |
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