Poor man micrometer die

I started doing this a couple weeks ago. I am using a feeler gauge to adjust my RCBS seating die. Now this is the regular die without the micrometer. So this is what I am doing.

I set a bullet about .010 shorter than my coal goal and tight the die nut allen screw to set the depth.

Depending on the bullet quality I will back out the die until I can insert a feeler gauge measuring a bit over the .010 difference. Now, some bullets you can just go .002 over the .010, some cheaper bullets you will have to seat longer. This is because the cheaper bullets ogive dimension is not going to be as close tolerance as the better quality bullets. That will give you different bullet seating numbers. You might have to play with that, find the average and note it down.

Now I start seating bullets taking measurement every now and then to make sure the bullets are seating whiting the tolerance I want or longer than what they are supposed to, it is easy to fix a bullet that is seated long as short seated bullets might present a problem as you will have to pull them out of the shell which probably make your bullets not be seating in the brass as tight as a bullet that have not been pull. If the bullet measures right I put it on the tray or box but if it is longer that the tolerance I want I put then in a chart. Once I am done seating all the bullets I check the ones I did not check previously and also either put them in the ok/ready tray/box or seat them on top of the chart according to the measurement. In this case I am looking for 2.700 +- .001

Measuring bullet:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...701_234555.jpg

Chart(ignore the decimal point, i now it is .00X but this is a multiuse chart) with the bullet that is .006" longer:
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...701_235857.jpg

Once I have all the bullets measured I will start adjusting the die to get to the right size.
In my actual example I use .028 as the start gauge. since this bullet is .006 longer than my 2.700 I need to adjust for that difference.
.028 (initial seating gauge) - .006(difference between 2.706(actual coal) and 2.700(desired coal)) =.022, I always like to substract .001 from the result as it tend to give me a better average seating size... So I would end up using a .021" gauge

Gauge changed from .028 to .021. Keep the location of the gauge constant. I actually have it marked down with marker where is the gauges supposed to lay... Tight the die, not too hard, also be constant on that.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...701_234453.jpg

Now I have bullet seated to the desired coal of 2.700 +-.001.
http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...701_234737.jpg


In my case I use that same seating die to reload 4 types bullets so I have to find a happy medium when setting the die seating depth nut so that will work for all bullets. So far it is working for me...


Thanks for your time, if the Spanglish is too thick let me know, I will try to clean it up. Hope this helps someone.

I use depth mics off the thimble on my hornandy dies

Very interesting BUT all my seating dies are RCBS Competition Dies just went with them insted

Interesting way to do things in a pinch, do you have anything test runout?

Nice post nandy. Have you compared the before and after results? What are some of the other things you are doing to promote accuracy and have you tested the outcome of those changes as well?

http://www.sinclairintl.com/reloadin...prod33197.aspx

I have foster with the micrometer but these rcbs came in the lot when I got the reloading stuff. I have good results but since I am adding new bullets for the 30-06 I find this easier to set up.
I seen the run-out tools and made my own version but it did not seem to work too well. So far I am just shooting up to 200 yds for hunting so I am not too worried about it but I have thought to someday upgrade to a die with a micrometer.
stangfish, for some time I did many things but since I cant find a place to shoot over 200 yds im no longer weighting components and the such. So far I keep my components withing my not so tight standards, try to keep everything constant and I get really good numbers in paper but the test will come if I ever start shooting 300 and over.

Cool, the reason I asked was that with some bullets .005 may not make that much difference. Good case prep and inspection. Consistent neck tension, good primers and closely weighed charges have served me well.

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Originally Posted by stangfish

Cool, the reason I asked was that with some bullets .005 may not make that much difference. Good case prep and inspection. Consistent neck tension, good primers and closely weighed charges have served me well.

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Same here . I find variations up to .005 - .007 with Nosler & Sierra bullets I use. A constant neck tension, accurate measure on the powder & a calm day do it for me. Usually.

Except for the .257 / 117gr Hornady SST's I've tried. I really don't think my barrel likes them....

I seat my bullets right against the lands for all the loads I have for exception of the bergers. I have read that if you jam the bullet into the lands you do run a chance of the bullet jamming in the barrel if you eject the shell. That will be a little problematic if you are hunting and will end the hunt for that time. I am not sure how much will it take for my bullets to get jammed so get a little excited about long bullets and might be unnecessary but it really dont bother me to do this. I have yet to experience this but I dont want to risk it.

And cleaning the powder out of the rifle is always a treat. The first time I did that I taught my wife & neighbors 2 new curse words.

Nandy, do you shoot SMK's? If so do you put them on the lands as well?

Currently I only shoot nosler, core lokts and Barnes ttsx. All touching the lands.

So what your saying is you dont bother to run a seating test to fine tune your loads?

How do you determine your touching lands? Calipers off Ogive or marker on the bullet?

I found my rifle extremely inconstant with vlds touching. My rifle shoots them best .010 off the rifling

Quote:

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Originally Posted by limige

So what your saying is you dont bother to run a seating test to fine tune your loads?

How do you determine your touching lands? Calipers off Ogive or marker on the bullet?

I found my rifle extremely inconstant with vlds touching. My rifle shoots them best .010 off the rifling

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Not sure how you got to that conclusion. The only bullet I have not test for bullet seating is the barnes ttsx just because they are a temporary replacement to what I shot and they are double the pride of what I generally pay. In all reality it seems I will be shooting core lokts instead of barnes. better grouping and ever deer I have hit in the past with core lokts been dead in their tracks...

Well respected 82boy I believe it was who taught me to find my most accurate load touching the lands. Then back it off till I found the tightest group. Has worked for me.

Stang, Right now my 7mm rem mag shooting berger 150 is nothing but a ragged hole, the remington core lokts on 165 for the 30-06are doing about the same and ditto for the nosler ctbt 150 for the 30-06. The only one is not that tight is the barnes which it generally manages 2 shots out of 3 touching. I need a longer range than 100 yards to see more detailed changes when trying bullet seating...

They are all hunting loads to take deer under 300 yds for the 7mm and under 150 yds for the 30-06 so they are more than fine... for now...