A question about overall length.

[sar4937]

I have a Dillon 650 and I am loading 45acp. I have recently added a Redding competition die to let me control the overall length more precisely. My recent batch has been 230g Ranier Ballistic FMJ RN. I have been trying to hit a target length of 1.250 and zero my die at that number. But my overall lengths vary from 1.243-1.251, averaging 1.247. The Ranier's come out of the box .660-.663, there is a little movement in the die plate and I have purchased but not yet installed a kit that bolts the plate in solid. And I measure the tip of the bullet installed, while the seating die measures off a point some where down the taper. What should I be realistically be expecting to achieve? My comp. gun doesn't seem to care, but I have other 45's that are finicky as to length.

 

[sar4937]

I have a Dillon 650 and I am loading 45acp. I have recently added a Redding competition die to let me control the overall length more precisely. My recent batch has been 230g Ranier Ballistic FMJ RN. I have been trying to hit a target length of 1.250 and zero my die at that number. But my overall lengths vary from 1.243-1.251, averaging 1.247. The Ranier's come out of the box .660-.663, there is a little movement in the die plate and I have purchased but not yet installed a kit that bolts the plate in solid. And I measure the tip of the bullet installed, while the seating die measures off a point some where down the taper. What should I be realistically be expecting to achieve? My comp. gun doesn't seem to care, but I have other 45's that are finicky as to length.

 

[Skip Sackett]

control the overall length more precisely.

I think you mean adjust the length more precisely.
There is a difference.

In order for this "spring loaded die" to work correctly, everything under it has to be at the same tolerance. Think about it like this, wall thickness, material hardness, bullets size all can have an affect on how that bullet "fits" into the case.

Here is a blurb from their website:
"The precision fitting seating stem is allowed to move well down into the chamber of the die to accomplish early bullet contact. The spring loading of the seating stem provides the positive alignment bias between its tapered nose and the bullet ogive. This spring loading and bullet alignment are maintained as the bullet and cartridge case move upward until the actual seating of the bullet begins."

If one is relying on the tension of the spring to do the loading, you will get a bunch of different lengths, at least in my mind.


Here is a test. Take your old seating die, run 10 rounds and check the length. Now do the same for the Redding die. I would almost bet, and I'm not a gambling man, that the Redding is less consistent.

p.s. I load on an XL650 too. I'll check my rounds and see what variance is. Try this too, send only one round through at a time and see what happens to OAL.
FWIW

 

[sar4937]

I was having problems with the original Dillon seating die. I had hoped to fix the problem with the Redding set-up. When I initially set up the Redding die I was trying to seat bullets into empty brass to get the die in position. Nearly every attempt resulted in a deeply seated bullet regardless of how I set the die. Redding said I could remove the spring from above the seat, and that I did not have interference fit between the bullet and brass. So I understand what you are saying. I can raise and lower the aversge with the micrometer. I guess my question is whether the bullet QC, and movement of the die plate is causing my error. And are you able to hold to exact length, refering to handgun reloads only (I have some mixed brass in the group). It will be a couple of days before I'm able to reload.

 

[Sgt Preston]

Sgt Preston here. I load on a Dillon 550 & use their dies. I also get some variation + or -.004 on the overall length. I load a variety of old "range brass". I am somewhat of a perfectionist & would like them all to fall into the + or - .001 range. But to be be honest they all feed up the feed ramp, go into the chamber, fire & "print" exactly where I saw them go off & expect them to be. I also find that do I have to make minor 20-30 degree turns to the bullet seating die from time to time as my reloading session goes on. To me reloading seems to be a process, where we continuously measure our results & tweak the adjusting screws for time to time during the process. I inspect my powder weight about every 10th round. Every time I add 100 primers I do a full inspection of the last round. I check for overall length, crimp diameter & drop it in a "case gage". I also make spot checks during the process using a good set of dial calipers. As I add additional powder, I have also found that I may have to increase or decrease the volume screw a "smidgeon" (RCH) or two to hit my target. Hope this helps. Sgt Preston USMC LLA