SmallCaliberCentral

Hey everyone!

I'm 4 bullets into a new box of 40gr V-Max bullets and am seeing some troubling issues. I'm setting my OAL per the book - 2.245". I have a basic Redding die set. I set the first bullet to 2.245". Thank goodness I measured the 2nd one - it was 2.265"! Thinking it was a fluke, I turn it in another 0.020" to get that one set correctly. The 3rd bullets seats fine. Then I get to the 4th bullet, and it's 2.225" now...0.020" under!

Unfortunately I don't have a comparator gauge, but I've never seen a variance this bad with any of the BKs I've loaded. Should I call Hornady on this? Or is the variance all in the tip?

On a related note, anyone got any good tips on what to/not to do when using a bullet puller on a loaded round? I'm working up this batch of rounds for load development. Then again, if the bullets are wonky, do I event want to use the 4 I've got loaded?

Please help!

Thanks!
John

The trend for OAL on 204 seems to be 0.040 to 0.050" off of the lands.

Use the short round for a fouling shot.

If you have a fired case, lightly dimple the neck, insert a bullet, insert dummy round in action, close the bolt, and remove your new OAL gauge.

Hi acloco,

At this point I'm not trying to find the perfect OAL. The problem is that from one bullet to the next they are seating differently! With no changes to the seating die there is about 0.020" difference from bullet to bullet.

Thanks!
John

John,

Are these fired cases? If so, have you brushed the inside of the necks?

If I get lazy and skip this step bullets will seat to different OAL.

I chuck up a 22 or worn out 243 brush in a drill and run the case in and out.

It sounds to me like you're having mechanical trouble with your set up. Bullets in the same box (and usually Lot#) will have variations in length from ogive to tip. Typically this variation is 0.001 to 0.002, which is acceptable for a varmint rifle, 0.020 is DEFINITELY not acceptable. I am almost positive that a box of bullets CAN NOT vary 0.020.
Now, because you are getting the right setting right after you have adjusted, then not on the second seating, leads me to beleive something is not tight on either your press or your die. I actually just did this the other day, I was seating with an arbour press and a Wilson die. I kept finding variations in my seating depth, they kept getting longer. So I would adjust my mic on my die and get the proper reading for a bullet or tow then it would go out. Stupid me found that the seating cap was loose from the stem and pushing up when I seated a bullet, even though my mic stayed the same .
Check everything!!! Make sure everything is tight. Also, make sure everything is clean, especially your shellholder. Take the time now to make sure everything is spotless, tight, and lubed where it needs to be. Take you die apart to and clean it up with solvent, being just a little lazy when cleaning wax off cases after sizing may lead to wax build up in your seater. Any spent primer residue or brass shavings in you shellholder will easily through out a seating 0.020.
Once you're done this try again. If it still seats with 0.020 variation , you have two options:
1. Toss your die and buy a Redding Competition.
2. Try another batch of bullets (as I said above, I HIGHLY doubt a box will vary 20 thou)
Joe had a good suggestion, make sure you clean your case necks, and I'll add chamfered. When I seat bullets, and this is just me, I roll each one around in my clamy hand just to give them a LITTLE BIT of lube from my skin before I seat them.
Keep us posted

Thanks for all the input, guys...

These are fired brass - came as factory loaded ammo. I cleaned them up, brushed out the neck, trimmed them to 1.840", chamferred and deburred them. I had actually prepped 40 brass the same way with the intent of loading 20 with BKs, and 20 with V-Maxes. I had all 40 charged, and had no issues loading the BKs. I did the BKs first since they are my usual load and the seating die didn't need any adjustments (I did check it, though, as always to make sure it's still correct). This is actually the first time I've loaded V-Maxes.

After seating the first batch of 20 BKs , I backed the seater off a bit to adjust to the V-Max. I got it set using the first bullet, then it was the 2nd and 3rd that were noticeably longer. The 4th bullet, which was closer to the 1st, was when I stopped.

I've double & triple checked the lengths of the first 20 BK rounds - all are within 0.003" of each other. I've checked the shell holder and it looked pretty clean - no visible blockages.

I called Hornady this morning and they asked me to send the box back to them. I'm going to find another box from a different lot to try out in the mean time. Hopefully I'll hear from them what the issue was.

Thanks!
John

You're welcome, John, although you already had all the bases covered. This one is a head scratcher.

Let us know what Hornady comes up with.

Joe

I agree!

Maybe Hornady is letting some bad batches out of the factory .

One of these would help you lots right now, keep us updated.

jazz: Have you taken ten or so of those V-Max's and measured their overall length individually right from the box? After reading all the above, that's the first thing I'd do with a good dial or digital caliper.

Be sure to let us know how this one shakes out.

We recently had a post with the same exact problem. 40 V-maxs with .020 variations in seating depths.
As I recall it was traced back to bad lot of Hornady pills. Could be wrong on that though.
If I get a chance I'll try to go back and find it for you. Start measuring those bullets in the mean time.

edit
Look on page 2 of this forum for the post "differences in COAL"
The original poster determined it was the bullets fault. Could very well be Hornady has a bullet die thats pretty far off and is getting the batches mixed.
I would like to believe they're in the process of phasing out one die and starting a new one and just getting sloppy in the hopper. That way this problem would at least be temporary.
I saw variations like this from Berger 35's some years back though they were not mixed in the same lot.
The 35's have been quite stable ever since.

Hey Everyone -

jo: I completely missed that other post...that's the exact same problem...right down to the hundredths of the inch!

jo & rick: Before I sent the box back to Hornady, I only measured a few of the bullets in the box. Just measuring the bullets from base to tip, there was ~0.003" difference between the few that I measured. I'll bet if I had measured more I would have found the 2 batches that Tadunga found in his box over here.

kyle: One of those comparators is going into the box next time I order from Midway.

Thanks for all the input, everyone! I'll post any updates from Hornady.
John

This is exactly the problem I am having with Hornady 32 gr Vmax. I have even bought a new seating die to see if it helps. I invested in a comparator and will try to load to the ogive value rather than overall length.

ruger shooter

Now thats discouraging news.
When you get your comparator I'd measure those pills and see if you can find two different lengths.
If so segregating them into "hopefully" just two lots would be your best bet.
I can understand not wanting to ship bullets across the pond$$$
If the 32's are mixed sizes I'd call Hornady and see what they might do for you.

On this side of the pond Bergers are still worth the extra money.