Armory Sponsor
Posted: 4/5/2009 2:33:45 PM EDT
|
Although I have been reloading pistol ammo for over 15 years, I have recently revisited my (only somewhat successful) attempts at loading rifle ammo.
I have noticed what I think as an excessive amount of variation in seating depth, and I'm a little curious as to why. Bullets are 62 gr. FMJ-BT bullets that I bought from Graf & Sons 5 or 6 years ago. The bullets bear the Graf name, so I'm not sure who the actual manufacturer is. While it is possible that the difference may be related to bullet selection, I would think the make of seating die and press would have some effect on finished OAL. I am not using a "competition" seating die. However, while these make precise adjustments easier, the physical method of seating is no different than that of a standard die. After seeing the difference in OAL I tried some variations and then measured a couple of factory loads to compare mine against. My findings were as follows, with a sample size of 20 for each lot. Horniday seating die on Dillon XL-650 Ave OAL: 2.242" max-min: .023" SD: .007 RCBS seating die on Dillon XL-650 Ave OAL: 2.256" max-min:.063" SD:.012 RCBS seating die on Rock Chucker Ave OAL: 2.250" max-min:.015 SD:.005 Winchester 55gr. FMJ factory load USA223R1 Ave OAL: 2.206 max-min:.011" SD:.009 Black Hills 69 gr. SMK factory load - Red Box Ave OAL: 2.246" max-min:.009" SD:.003 Maybe it's just that the progressive press has a harder time holding the same tolerances that a single-stage press can. Or maybe I need to check the Horniday die on the single-stage press. Or maybe a different bullet would give better result. Maybe I'm making a big deal over nothing, as at least one of my loads was better than the "blaster" factory ammo, and nearly as consistent as the more expensive "target" ammo. Any thoughts? Suggestions? |
|
Why am I getting various COAL measurements? http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=276032 Aloha, Mark |
Armory Sponsor