lee bullet seating probs!!?!?!?

[rwilson452]

2.200 is a min. COAL

[Kato_Guy]

so what would you suggest starting at for a lenght 2.240", 2.230", 2.21"?? Or do you suggest buying oal gauge?? If I were not to buy an oal gauge would any range between 2.20" and 2.26" be good as long as the bullet isn't on the edge of the case on the max length??

Maybe I will measure some factory ammo and go from there!!

thanks for your help!!

Why do some books have the min oal and some have the max oal and some have none at all????

[rwilson452]

Generally it depends on what I'm loading for. in a bolt action rifle I start at Sammi max spec and go out looking for the sweet spot after finding the best powder load at sammi max.. For something with a box mag it's as long as It can get and still function in the Mag. or mags. For an auto pistol I use the barrel as a case guage and it's as long as will function. sometimes you have mag. issue this way then you fall back to working with the mag. Longer ammo seems to shoot more accurately Most of the time. I have a 22-250 that has such a long leade that a 52 gr bullet cannot be set anywhere near the lands and still have enough in the case to hold neck tension.

When Max length is stated in the manual it will be sammi max. settin gto this kust insures the round will chamber in any gun chambered to SAMMI Spec.
Min length tell you the min length before you lower case volume to the extent you could exceed max pressure at max load.

Regardless of what anyone tells you to the contrary loading from accuracy is an art. A lot of science up front but in the end it's an art.

so what would you suggest starting at for a lenght 2.240", 2.230", 2.21"?? Or do you suggest buying oal gauge?? If I were not to buy an oal gauge would any range between 2.20" and 2.26" be good as long as the bullet isn't on the edge of the case on the max length??

Maybe I will measure some factory ammo and go from there!!

thanks for your help!!

Why do some books have the min oal and some have the max oal and some have none at all????
Kato_Guy is offline Report Post

Why do some people write better books than others?

Better why don't they list both?

[Varmitzapper]

Since you are loading for a bolt gun.
I've always tried to find out where the rifling starts, then seat the bullet
.010" deeper in the case.

Try loading a dummy round "no primer or powder" ink up the bullet, "Sharpie"
works great. Seat the bullet way long, Measure the OAL, then chamber the round. Gently try closing the bolt. if it closes it need to be longer. Not sure if you can get there with a 40gr bullet.

Rule of thumb is 1 1/2 times the bullet diameter, is what you should be holding on to the bullet with, "case to bullet contact". If the bolt dosen't close adjust the die's seating plug about 1/4 turn deeper, re-seat the bullet.
Measure again. then try to close the bolt.
Just keep repeating this until the bolt closes. Write down the OAL with that profile bullet, as it will be different with each style, brand, and weight bullet.

Take dummy round #2, Adjust the seater plug up about 1/4 turn. Try seating the bullet .010" taller than the OAL dim. from step one. Re-ink, then chamber it and see if you can see where the rifling lands touch the ogive on the bullet. Now you fine tune the seater plug down 1/8 turn or less at a time.
You are looking for the bullet to be Approx .010" tenthousands of an inch from touching the lands. I've been doing this with my reloads since the early80's
Good luck, go slow, be safe.

[Kato_Guy]

yea you are right the 40gr bullet will not come to the lands. I loaded it at 2.260" (that is looking pretty close in my box mag) So I am thinking I might load it up around 2.25" Would be nice to know around where factory ammo is.

But my 40 gr bullet is away from the lands (no marks on the sharpie) fits in the mag I think I might load some up

[Unclenick]

Loading a bullet out near the lands improves bullet tip alignment, but usually has to be single-loaded and won't feed through a magazine. This goes double if the chamber was cut to NATO specs to accept surplus ammunition. Your model 70 Stealth has such a chamber. The military has so many bullet types and configurations, they like a long throat. Your gun's 10" twist is a little slow for the heavier bullets, but a shorter heavy, like the Sierra 77 grain MK may just shoot OK in it, especially in thinner air (altitude or warm weather). That's a bullet you should be able to reach near the lands with, if singly loaded accuracy rounds are what you are after?

If you are planning to have your rounds feed from the magazine, remember that when the bullet nose hits the feed ramp during chambering, it tends to get bumped out of alignment. For that reason, rounds intended for magazine loading need to be seated deeply enough into the neck that they are well anchored. Even at 2.200" overall length, you won't have a lot of neck hanging on. For that reason, you may discover with that light bullet that your gun likes it best when you use the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It puts a slight indentation in the bullet, but gets it to hang on better for that reason. I would not be trying to seat your short 40 grains bullets further out if you are going to use the magazine. You will have to try these things and see what works best, accuracy-wise, for your gun?