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AlHunt · 09-08-2021, 09:13 PM

OK, guys ... life kept me away from the reloading bench for a while but it was worth it. I'm back to it.

[Executive Summary: Seating deeper to get the case mouth above the bearing surface, then running the finished round back through the sizing die gives me a round that passes the case gauge]

I came back to it today with fresh eyes, set everything I had done aside and started anew.

I grabbed a few cases, checked length, sized them and case gauged them. They all gauged.

I also had a factory round on the bench as a standard.

I grabbed some of my sized bullets and made a couple of dummy rounds. I took my OAL down to 1.200, trying to get above the bearing surface. I had measured the factory bullet just above the case mouth and it was below .451. Maybe .445? I succeeded in getting the cast bullet to about that diameter right above the case mouth.

Taper crimped. They would not drop all the way in. FCD'd. Would still not pass the cage gauge. Measurements up and down the dummy round and the factory round were ballpark close.

Attached are a few pics, probably out of order. The round with the primer is the factory round, the empty primer pocket sticking up is the dummy round.

So, I colored the offending round with a sharpie, dropped it back in and spun it. You can see the mark a bit below the case mouth. That area on the factory round is .4685 and the reload is .4720. I ran it back through the sizing die (with the decapping pin removed) and Voila! .4675 at the mark and it case gauges just fine.

I'm not sure I like having to run the finished rounds back into the sizing die. All I'm doing is swaging my bullets down.

But, I'll make up a few rounds and function check. If they function (and I think they will), I'll make up some to test for accuracy.

Thank you to all who have contributed to my little dilemma. I'll update this in a few days once I have time to test things out.

As a footnote, I have my eye peeled for a 180 to 230 grain mold.