Bullet seating depth

[beast556]

So I loaded some 223 last night for the first time and couldn't get consistent bullet seating depth. I'm using hornady dies, I was using hornady 68gr bthp match bullets and couldn't get them to seat at the same depth consistently. I also used Sierra 69gr smk and they were a lot more consistent but still coulnt get them all the same length. When I load 45acp I can get 99% seated at the same depth. Super confused, any help would be much appreciated.

[Irving]

Maybe a silly question, but are the tips getting squished in the seating die at all? I have some rounds where almost none of them come out of the die unscathed.

[Jamnanc]

Are you crimping? If you back off your crimp it may help. Are you loading progressive or single stage?

[jreifsch80]

Measuring off the tips wont always be exact from one round to the next. If you want a more precise measurement measure of the ogive

https://www.hornady.com/reloading/precision-measuring/precision-tools-and-gauges/lock-n-load-bullet-comparator#!/

[beast556]

The tips are not making contact and look perfect. I'm not crimping these ones they will be ran through bolt guns. I'm using a hornady single stage lock n load press. The bushing is turned in all the way and dosent have any play that I can tell.
Yea I was doing some research and looks like I'm gonna have to get the hornady comparator set.

[Jamnanc]

All the same brass as well?

[beast556]

Yea all LC brass, full length sized and trimmed to the same length.

[Irving]

Have you shot any of it yet? If it patterns the way you want, maybe it won't matter. I suspect that's not the case, like if it were 9mm, but worth a shot just to have more info

[C Ward]

BTHP match bullets because of the construction will have a variable length from when the tip is spun closed , measure to the ogive on the bullet not the tip .

The anal bench rest reloading practices are mostly a waste of time on gas guns , the ammo you load in your magazine is most definitely not what goes down range. After slamming back and forth in the magazine , being smashed in to the feed ramps at an angle and the forcibly squished in the chamber your lovingly load 1 at a time to NASA tolerance ammo is no longer the same length or straight anymore .

[Little Dutch]

Sounds like ogive troubles. The seating stem is likely making contact on the bullet at slightly different distances from the tip. If you need them to all be an exact depth you can try a few different seating stems to find a shape that works better.

[DenverGP]

So I know Lee offers a service for their bullet seating die to custom make a bullet seating plug that will give more consistent seating/OAL.

https://leeprecision.com/custom-bullet-seating-plug.html

I'd imagine the same thing is available for other reloading brands.

[beast556]

The anal bench rest reloading practices are mostly a waste of time on gas guns , the ammo you load in your magazine is most definitely not what goes down range. After slamming back and forth in the magazine , being smashed in to the feed ramps at an angle and the forcibly squished in the chamber your lovingly load 1 at a time to NASA tolerance ammo is no longer the same length or straight anymore .

The rounds are for bolt guns not a ar. I'm gonna go to sportsmans tonight and get the hornady comparator. I'm just hoping I havent over set them to far. Irving I will be shooting them this weekend and hoping all goes well and they shoot at least as good a fgmm does.

[beast556]

So I know Lee offers a service for their bullet seating die to custom make a bullet seating plug that will give more consistent seating/OAL.

https://leeprecision.com/custom-bullet-seating-plug.html

I'd imagine the same thing is available for other reloading brands.

I will look in to this if the comparator doesn't give me the results I'm looking for. Thank you for the info.


The thing is I'm not shooting anything out of the ordinary. 69gr otm bullets are pretty standard fair.

[Little Dutch]

I will look in to this if the comparator doesn't give me the results I'm looking for. Thank you for the info.


The thing is I'm not shooting anything out of the ordinary. 69gr otm bullets are pretty standard fair.

I didn't find it made much difference when I was shooting .223 for groups with 69g Hornady match bullets. I made a guess that was because the distance from ogive to rifling remains constant if seated based on the ogive instead of OAL.

[C Ward]

The 69 SMK is very jump tolerant and seating depth shouldn't be an issue , find a load pushing them 2800 - 2900 and they should shoot fine .

[powerstroke79]

When you take your measurements are you putting the caliper over the primmer. Primers might not be seated all the same depth.

[beast556]

Got the hornady comparator set last night. It's the way to go got all my loads loaded consistently to the same depth. I was curious and checked a bunch of factory loaded fgmm, hornady,blackhills, winchester there seating depths were all over the place. I feel a lot better knowing that factory match ammo has quite a bit variances in it. Thank you to all who replyed.