Bullet damage!

[Motoshooter]

Im starting 204 reloads and have a weird problem. The bullets come out damaged from the press - pictured.

Im trying to work out whats going on. Heres what I know,
- new RCBS neck sizer dies, cleaned and prepped.
- once fired Winchester brass
- Nosler bt 32 grainers
- inside case neck 50,1mm after resize
- bullet 51,8mm
- case deburred after sizing.

So I press the bullet with seating die, all feels normal and COL is good.
However, every other time the bullet comes out scraped where the case/bullet touch. Im not interested in getting this crap into my barrel. Looking into the seating die it seems ok.
Any ideas gentlemen?

[Rick in Oregon]

Moto: This is a common problem when the case mouth is not properly beveled/chamfered to enable the bullet to enter the case without scraping the jacket material.

Most reloaders use a 45* chamfering tool, those in the know use a VLD tool to give even more of a bevel to allow smooth bullet entry into the case. You will also want to use the opposite end to chamfer the outside neck of the case....it needs to be smooth also or other problems will arise. After trimming, this is even more important to remove the burrs caused by the trimming cutter. It appears the case in the pic was neither inside or outside chamfered, thereby giving the jacket shaving shown.

Once you start this process, go slowly and don't make a "cookie cutter" out of your case neck......just remove the burrs.

By your question, I'm assuming you're a novice reloader. All reloading manuals go through this step for beginning handloaders....you DID read that section, right?

[Bill K]

As Rick said, plus.. Go back to your reloading manual and read the section on case prep.. Get a Wilson or other brand chamfering tool and use is very sparingly.. Just enough to remove the burr/roughness on the case mouth. You will end your problem of shaving brass from the case mouth and side of your bullet, during the seating procedure. Bill K

[Grendel]

Agreed, inside neck is too sharp, needs a very slight bevel/champher.

[RAMOS]

Completely agree with all of the above. I would finish the case mouth with "OOOO" steel wool or similar to give that edge a super smooth surface.

On Edit: Great that you included some decent pic's with your post. Made the issue easy to spot.

[Motoshooter]

Novice?!
More like a wetbehindtheearsbeginner.

Id like to thank you guys for taking time to shed some wisdom. Point taken. Brewing some coffee now and heading for my reloading bench. Time to practice. I keep U posted.

[Bill K]

Novice?!
More like a wetbehindtheearsbeginner.

Id like to thank you guys for taking time to shed some wisdom. Point taken. Brewing some coffee now and heading for my reloading bench. Time to practice. I keep U posted.

We all had to learn and are still learning, unless we are dead.. Just be sure and read all you can and go slow, sane and safely. Bill K

[Rick in Oregon]

Moto: Not the best pic to illustrate a properly machined case neck ('cause they're loaded), but this shot shows loaded 32gr NBT's in 20VT cases on the bench during a rat shoot. Even though the cases are loaded, you can see the nice fresh machined edge on the mouth of the cases done by hand with the tools previously discussed.



As Bill mentioned, go slow until you get the feel of it, and just remove the burrs with a nice even cut, inside and out.

[Bill K]

One thing I have found with the chamfering tool. ( see what others say also) I do the outside first and the inside last, this way the mouth is not pushed inward and maybe cause a edge to catch the bullet entry on seating. Bill K

[Motoshooter]

Again - thanks.

Just finished working on the brass and my coffee.
Seems to work better to seat the bullets, had two cases scrape the bullet though

One question, is it possible the neck is too tight because I used too much force when resizing?

[TwentyBore]

No, the neck diameter is set by the internal dimensions of the die, not by your force. Now, the *internal* dimension of the neck is determined by the combination of the internal dimension of the die, *AND* the thickness of the brass in the neck of the cartridge. If your brass is particularly thick, that will result in a smaller internal diameter.

That being said, you still shouldn't have shaving if the brass is properly chamfered.

One more possibility: Does your seating die crimp while seating? If so, try either performing seating and crimping as two separate steps, or not crimping at all.

[Motoshooter]

Im so new I cant really tell if the die crimps or not. ITs RCBS model 10302. Ill look it up when I get home, but for the record would you explain a little what this crimping is about?

[TwentyBore]

Im so new I cant really tell if the die crimps or not. ITs RCBS model 10302. Ill look it up when I get home, but for the record would you explain a little what this crimping is about?

If it is crimping, it squeezes the top of the case in a tiny bit, in an effort to hold the bullet more securely. Crimping is not necessary for a bolt action, and is only sometimes of any benefit. But, even if it *IS* of benefit, squeezing the case mouth in while the bullet is moving makes it more prone to shaving some copper. Thus, if you DO want to crimp, it's best to do it as a separate step, and NOT combine it with the seating.

As per RCBS's instructions (http://www.rcbs.com/downloads/instructi ... ctions.pdf), it can crimp or not crimp, depending on how you have the die adjusted. Make sure that you are adjusting the die as per the section "Bullet Seating Without Crimping".

[Bill K]

Motoshooter... If you are not seeing this part of the operation in using your dies. Back your seating die off about 1/4 turn, from touching the shell holder in it's upward position. Adjust the seating depth of your bullet with the center seat adjustment. If your die is all the way down (touching your shellholder) it could be making the crimp and be part of the problem, as mentioned. See if that does not help you stop shaving brass/bullet. Also make sure your case mouth is round and chamfered nice and smooth. In time this will work out and you will not have this problem. Bill K

[Motoshooter]

Owe you all a cold drink. Thanks.