Thread: Seating tests for 147gn ELDM

Had a go at the ubiquitous seating test. Its not perfect, on targets 3B i seem to have decided to shoot back on target A [facepalm].
Ah well. Crap happens
But it appears despite my mistake that my rifle likes 0.02".
I seem to see the same widening of groups on the halfway measures eh? The last target is a little meh due to the mirage i had going / or my eyes packing it in.

I like 5A and B better. If it was me I would play around with that.

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You could be right there. I should redo the test but just try .03 first and then .02 second.

Interesting factoid is that i havent annealed this set of brass at all in 5 firings. They were FL resized everytime, and i did the dies up tight (i was finding it difficult to set the depth exactly)
Things i did do this time:
-Neck turning
-Mandrel neck tension each firing
-Wet tumbled each firing
*flashholes deburred before first firing.

Note i regularly hand my rifle to others only to watch them make tighter groups than me (sigh). Is there anyone else beginning to see trends in reloading that arent actually adding precision to the fall of shot? Are there some steps that you guys have abandoned?
Am wondering if projectile sorting is worth looking into (bearing surface)

Only thing on your list that I dont do is neck turn.
I do anneal every firing and dip my brass in graphite prior to charging and seating. If I feel anything iffy during seating I put the cartridge aside and try and find out why.
Annealing imo shows results on the chrony more than it will on paper at zeroing distances.
Who cares if other people shoot smaller groups with your rifle, and to be fair it cant be by much looking at what you have posted. Its you and your rifle you are loading for.



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I'm pretty new to reloading and am currently attempting to work up some loads for my 7mm08 with 16" barrel.

How much of a change in COAL actually makes a difference? I'm loading at 2.800" and was accepting anything +/- 0.005 but that's based on frustration/convenience rather than knowledge of what it actually acceptable/ideal.

It can make a big difference.

If you load up a batch and seat 5 projectiles at 10, 20, 30, 40 etc thou off the lands you will see big differences on paper over the range of seating depths.

Best to work a promising load with different charge weights (working up) then play with seating depth than try to alter both at the same time. Too many variables can get complicated and frustrating.

You can also load up test loads at a set charge weight and shoot groups at different depths then alter charge weight slightly either side to see if you can tighten groups up.
Lots of ways to do it.

Enjoy and good luck.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

It can make a big difference.

If you load up a batch and seat 5 projectiles at 10, 20, 30, 40 etc thou off the lands you will see big differences on paper over the range of seating depths.

Best to work a promising load with different charge weights (working up) then play with seating depth than try to alter both at the same time. Too many variables can get complicated and frustrating.

You can also load up test loads at a set charge weight and shoot groups at different depths then alter charge weight slightly either side to see if you can tighten groups up.
Lots of ways to do it.

Enjoy and good luck.

Good info, thanks @Spitfire!

Any tips on getting extreme consistency out of the seating die? I was getting some at 2.810 COAL so was putting them back through, but most +/- 0.003" (3 thou).

I've started by getting some OK groups at 100m at different charges, and am now considering fiddling with seating depth.

If it was me I would use a larger number of shots to "prove" the better groups. Its too easy to drop one shot in ( or out ) of a small 3 shot group. All good for conserving ammo, but once you have decided on a couple of the tighter 3 shot groups see what happens on 5 shots ( you could always try the OCW method at the same time.)

Originally Posted by Edunn

Good info, thanks @Spitfire!

Any tips on getting extreme consistency out of the seating die? I was getting some at 2.810 COAL so was putting them back through, but most +/- 0.003" (3 thou).

I've started by getting some OK groups at 100m at different charges, and am now considering fiddling with seating depth.

Depending on your projectiles they could vary that much themselves, a more accurate method is to measure to the ogive as that is the critical dimension to get consistent, ogive to lands.

Other than that use all the same brass with the same number of fireings, annealing will help with consistent neck tension and hence seating depth.

Targets 1A & b look good to me at 10” I’d shoot them again and maybe try 5” as well.

This is an interesting article from Berger https://bergerbullets.com/getting-th...in-your-rifle/

I’ve used it on other bullet types to find where a bullet likes to be seated

Originally Posted by Edunn

Good info, thanks @Spitfire!

Any tips on getting extreme consistency out of the seating die? I was getting some at 2.810 COAL so was putting them back through, but most +/- 0.003" (3 thou).

I've started by getting some OK groups at 100m at different charges, and am now considering fiddling with seating depth.

A good micrometer seating die is a help. I use Redding Competition seaters which adjust to 1 thou. Also good to set your die so that the press cams over a touch, which gives consistent seating depth. Measure the first couple then the odd one as you go.

And measure from the ogive, not the tip, as mentioned above. Much less variation there.

Cheers

Thanks fellas for the input! Its always really helpful to scour through these tips and try everything. Im going to put 20 across 600y on sunday at Akarana so that will test if things are improving with regards to general scoring / POI consistency. I want to crack 60points if i can

Im really keen to see if sorted bearing surface does factor in when you're using the optimum seat distance.

Out of interest what 6.5 cartridge are you using for your tests?

You can adjust your FL die to just bump the case shoulder back .001". Wouldn't bother with neck turning unless you have a tight neck chamber.

I prefer neck and FL bushing dies (Redding and Wilson) and seating dies in those brands too. However, with my 6.5 CM I've found Wilson neck bushing hand die and seating die using an arbor press I get the least run-out of all. Anneal every firing on an AMP annealer.

Originally Posted by Spitfire

Also good to set your die so that the press cams over a touch, which gives consistent seating depth.

Cheers

Sorry to hijack the thread a little bit.
@Spitfire - I set the seating die by winding down onto an empty case until it gets finger tight, as that's what I was taught to do. Do you mean wind down to that point, then half a turn further, or similar?

The first load I did all lengths were suuuper consistent and have not been able to get as consistent since then. Still generally within 5 thou so I have been leaning towards seating further out and incrementally adjusting. It's a particularly frustrating process though.

Thanks again for the help and apologies for the q's.