.243 Load Issues

steelrat · March 9, 2008, 12:29 AM

Can anyone here tell me what is going on with these loads? I started to load .243 100gn Hornady BTSP with 42gn of RL-22. 20 of them seem to be okay, but 5 of them had some issues?

After seeing these, I decided to stop and get some input. Thanks.

Scorch · March 9, 2008, 12:40 AM

Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like you buckled the necks.

mniesen89 · March 9, 2008, 12:42 AM

used to much lube on the neck? looks like you started to mushroom the case..

steelrat · March 9, 2008, 12:45 AM

Well there was no lube on the neck or any part of the case at all. All of this happened while seating the bullet...

rwilson452 · March 9, 2008, 06:07 AM

it could be you have your seating die too low. The seating die should not touch the neck. back out the seating die and reset it. Did you trim your cases?

saudst · March 9, 2008, 08:30 AM

Most of the time too much lube will leave dents in the shoulder. I see a crimp groove and the case mouth is short of reaching the groove. Did you try to crimp? I,ve done this on a 30/30.

mrawesome22 · March 9, 2008, 12:24 PM

Extremely compressed powder charge?

dakotashooter2 · March 9, 2008, 02:03 PM

Too much crimp or crimp/seating die too low. Possibly due to a slight variation in case length. A couple of things should help.

Trim all cases to the same length. Lee makes a hand trimmer that can be chucked in a drill that is reasonably inexpensive.

Seat and crimp in separate steps. Basically what is happening is the crimp is tightening while you are still pushing the bullet into the case. Something has to give so the caseneck or shoulder buckles. Back off your die and turn down your seating stem and seat all your bullets. Then back off the seating stem and turn the die back down to perform the crimp function. The other option is to pick up a Lee factory crimp (FCD) die and just use your regular die to seat the bullet and finish them with the FCD. Case length is not an issue with the FCD.

Actually if you back off your crimp just a hair you can probably get buy with what you have.

Smokey Joe · March 9, 2008, 08:31 PM

Steel Rat--The above posters have nailed it IMHO. Looks to be a seating die adjustment issue. Are you trying to crimp these bullets into the case neck? If you're loading for a bolt action or a single-shot, no need to crimp.

Hope you get the problem solved! Good luck.

steelrat · March 10, 2008, 03:55 PM

After reading the reiviews, and looking at the set up, looks like my die was down too low trying to put a very slight crimp on them, I thought I backed the die off a turn but may have not. After playing with the depth, everything seems to be good now. Thanks for everyones help.

T. O'Heir · March 11, 2008, 08:17 PM

The die is down too far. The bottom of the die should just kiss the shell holder with the ram all the way up. Set it up again(including the seating depth) and make sure the locking ring is tight. Pull those 5 and pitch 'em. You'll have no headspace if you try to fire form them.

March 9, 2008, 12:40 AM	#2
Scorch Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2006 Location: Washington state Posts: 15,248	Hard to tell from the pics, but it looks like you buckled the necks. __________________ Never try to educate someone who resists knowledge at all costs. But what do I know? Summit Arms Services

March 9, 2008, 08:31 PM	#9
Smokey Joe Senior Member Join Date: July 14, 2001 Location: State of Confusion Posts: 2,106	You've got it... Steel Rat--The above posters have nailed it IMHO. Looks to be a seating die adjustment issue. Are you trying to crimp these bullets into the case neck? If you're loading for a bolt action or a single-shot, no need to crimp. Hope you get the problem solved! Good luck. __________________ God Bless America --Smokey Joe

March 11, 2008, 08:17 PM	#11
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	The die is down too far. The bottom of the die should just kiss the shell holder with the ram all the way up. Set it up again(including the seating depth) and make sure the locking ring is tight. Pull those 5 and pitch 'em. You'll have no headspace if you try to fire form them. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

March 9, 2008, 12:42 AM	#3
mniesen89 Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: deland,fl Posts: 238	used to much lube on the neck? looks like you started to mushroom the case..

March 9, 2008, 12:45 AM	#4
steelrat Member Join Date: February 8, 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 66	Well there was no lube on the neck or any part of the case at all. All of this happened while seating the bullet...

March 9, 2008, 06:07 AM	#5
rwilson452 Senior Member Join Date: June 10, 2004 Location: Tioga co. PA Posts: 2,647	it could be you have your seating die too low. The seating die should not touch the neck. back out the seating die and reset it. Did you trim your cases?

March 9, 2008, 08:30 AM	#6
saudst Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2008 Location: Central Wisconsin Posts: 184	Most of the time too much lube will leave dents in the shoulder. I see a crimp groove and the case mouth is short of reaching the groove. Did you try to crimp? I,ve done this on a 30/30.

March 9, 2008, 12:24 PM	#7
mrawesome22 Senior Member Join Date: November 9, 2005 Location: Ohio, Appalachia's foothills. Posts: 3,779	Extremely compressed powder charge?

March 9, 2008, 02:03 PM	#8
dakotashooter2 Senior Member Join Date: January 13, 2005 Posts: 498	Too much crimp or crimp/seating die too low. Possibly due to a slight variation in case length. A couple of things should help. Trim all cases to the same length. Lee makes a hand trimmer that can be chucked in a drill that is reasonably inexpensive. Seat and crimp in separate steps. Basically what is happening is the crimp is tightening while you are still pushing the bullet into the case. Something has to give so the caseneck or shoulder buckles. Back off your die and turn down your seating stem and seat all your bullets. Then back off the seating stem and turn the die back down to perform the crimp function. The other option is to pick up a Lee factory crimp (FCD) die and just use your regular die to seat the bullet and finish them with the FCD. Case length is not an issue with the FCD. Actually if you back off your crimp just a hair you can probably get buy with what you have.

March 10, 2008, 03:55 PM	#10
steelrat Member Join Date: February 8, 2007 Location: Utah Posts: 66	After reading the reiviews, and looking at the set up, looks like my die was down too low trying to put a very slight crimp on them, I thought I backed the die off a turn but may have not. After playing with the depth, everything seems to be good now. Thanks for everyones help.