Reloading frustration.

[swampratt]

Lee case trimmers get them right on the money every time.
Pretty quick also.
Just a tiny chamfer on the mouth's..just enough that you can barely see it and it allows the bullet to seat easy without
removing any copper from it..

A nice thing to do after case mouth chamfer is to take a 7/16 nut driver and pack it with 0000 steel wool and spin this on the case mouth to deburr and slick things up.

 

[Dozermonkey]

Thanks! May have to find a Lee trimmer. Will try the steel wool too.

 

[Bandit656]

Are you sizing before you trim? I always size first, then trim. Agreed with aviator41, once fired brass I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Dozermonkey]

Are you sizing before you trim? I always size first, then trim. Agreed with aviator41, once fired brass I wouldn't worry about it.

Yes, I am. That's what's puzzling. So much of this brass I've had for 17 years. No way to recall what's virgin brass or not. From what I understand , shouldn't I trim if I want to crimp to the cannelure ? To be more consistent ?

 

[Shadowrider]

Hey guys. I'm new to reloading. I've got 17 years of 223 brass to load. Soo...I bought a used progressive from a friend of mine. I'm using it as a single stage so to speak, just loading one case in the turrent at a time. My frustration is 1) my case trimming is not coming out consistently at 1.750. I'm using the lock rings and a known case size as an constant. My OVERALL CASE LENGTH is always just under 2.200.

I'm missing something. What are you talking about? OAL case length or OAL of your loaded rounds? Sounds like you are getting variance of your loaded rounds. That's normal. It comes from variance in each bullet and a little from the shell plate on your progressive. If your loaded rounds are within .010" of each other you are doing it right.

 

[Dozermonkey]

Sorry for the confusion. OAL loaded , completed round. Some measure 2.186 , then some will come in 2.212. To me this is a large spread. But this is new to me and still have the learning curve of what's a go / no go. Thanks for y'all's patience!

 

[swampratt]

Yes that is a large spread..It could be that the powder is compressed and not enough neck tension to keep the bullet down .
Could be just the way that particular bullet is.
Like was stated 10thousandths or less is good..The old lot of 165gamekings i had i could keep way under .010"
This new batch is more like .020" and accuracy is not the same...Quality controll issues with the bullet.

I just loaded about 45 bullets of a different brand 168A-Max and all are within .002" when seated most are right on or .001" max varience..But a couple .002" snuck in and i noticed the tip is a little dinked on those.

 

[Dozermonkey]

These are the 223 Hornady 55 gr fmj bt from H&H. My buddy uses the same bullets with no prob ,but he's reloaded for 30 + years. I've never seen him mic a round after loading. Me , I check every one being the noob that I am.

 

[Shadowrider]

That's what I thought. I really like Hornady seating dies, they mimic the outstanding Redding seating dies. Could be that something is causing the bullet to engage the seating punch differently. Check to see that it's clean and somewhat matches the bullet profile. Other than that I'd have to wonder about a compressed load also. Compressed loads are OK if everything is right and the powder doesn't mind, but if it's pushing bullets out that's a sign that you may be out of whack on your reload data. (wrong bullet, OAL, scale calibration, misread scale...something)

 

[ASP785]

I have used the Hornady bullets before. While perfectly functional, they vary drastically from bullet to bullet. You are seeing this in your reloading. I have seen them vary by up to .030" bullet to bullet. Thats actually a little more than you are reporting, and makes it very challenging to seat to the canellure consistently. Measuring the OAL length dimension from the case head to the tip of the bullet is really a poor way to measure though. I only measure this way to confirm magazine length fitment. Even Sierra Matchking's will vary by a few thousands or more in overall bullet length. The consistent dimension you really need to be measuring off of is the ogive. For the most accuracy, measuring from the case head to the ogive will give you repeatable results in your setup. It may not matter to you just yet while you are new, but when you begin wanting to squeeze the most accuracy out of your loaded rounds, this is the preferred method.

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