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Old November 14, 2006, 01:22 PM   #1
NFACurious
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ogive smushing on hornady bullets.

I've been trying to load some 60gr vmax and 68gr hpbt match hornady bullets in .223. I'm using 26.0 and 25.3 grs or Varget. When i seat the bullets, the part where the bullet seater die touches the bullet, it leaves a little imprint. well actually its a pretty decent imprint, i tried to take some photos, but the only digital camera i have is on my cell phone. I'll upload the best of what i took which are still kinda blurry. Anybody have a clue whats going on and how i can fix it?
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Old November 14, 2006, 01:24 PM   #2
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What brand of die? Are you chamfering the inside of the case neck?

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Old November 14, 2006, 01:33 PM   #3
NFACurious
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RCBS die, and yes pretty heavy chamfers too.

heres the links i promised. sorry about the blurr

http://webpages.charter.net/gigarad/IMAGE_00049.bmp.http://webpages.charter.net/gigarad/IMAGE_00040.jpg

Last edited by NFACurious; November 14, 2006 at 01:34 PM. Reason: whoops
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Old November 14, 2006, 02:04 PM   #4
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Try a different seating stem.
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Old November 14, 2006, 02:07 PM   #5
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Measure the OD of a sized case and compare to the same case with the bullet seated. The difference probably should be no more than a few mils, so if it's quite different, maybe your sizing die is oversizing the necks.

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Old November 14, 2006, 02:11 PM   #6
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yea.. not much difference. but the same stem functions flawlessly for sierra nosler barnes and speer bullets. Do hornadys just have really soft skins or something?
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Old November 14, 2006, 04:39 PM   #7
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I agree with Edward429451. You may not be using the right seater stem. If it is the correct one, try a different one to see if it does not mark the bullet.
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Old November 14, 2006, 05:02 PM   #8
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Both v-max and target bullets have relatively thin skins, in the first case to promote disintegration on varmints, in the second case because thinner jackets are easier to make uniform enough for match bullet consistency.

Try puting a little bit of dry caseneck lube inside the casenecks, then run the cases up into the sizing die just far enough to go on and off the expander ball, and repeat that a second time before you load them. This will burnish the edge of the chamfer, which will be sharp and more resistant than a burnished one. It will slightly expand the neck on the ball. It will also leave traces of the neck lube behind to help the bullets in.

FYI, Varget does not seem to have the same temperature independent performance in .223 that it does in .308. I found IMR 3031 and 748 actually do better in mine.

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Old November 14, 2006, 08:53 PM   #9
Edward429451
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Quote:
but the same stem functions flawlessly for sierra nosler barnes and speer bullets.
So Hornady must have a slightly different ojive (curvature) than those brands. Some guys I've read about have modified existing stems with epoxy or JB Weld inside the stem so it didn't leave a ring. I've never tried that. IIRC, RCBS will make custom seater stems that wont mark if you send them a few sample bullets that you'll be using.

Last edited by Edward429451; November 15, 2006 at 11:03 PM.
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Old November 14, 2006, 10:00 PM   #10
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Thank you all for the good advice. Right now i'm not exactly married to Hornady bullets, in fact so far it seems nosler barnes and sierra perfom better out of my barrel. But if it turns out to be something else.. i'll try your suggestions.

Unclenick, that is quite interesting, i'll have to do some experiments with that, i have notice that 748 seems to be very temperature sensative in my rifle (actually just got back from the range) i'll try IMR 3031. Thanks again.
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Old November 14, 2006, 10:14 PM   #11
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The bad news is that you'll probably see some embossing on Hornady V and A max bullets from the seater no matter what you do. I had the same problem and never really got rid of it except that I don't use Honady match bullets and the ones I had were just to test. The good news is that seaters are not designed to work the on ogive, and do not really need to.
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Old November 15, 2006, 09:00 PM   #12
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Call the company that made your dies and tell them your problem. If they are Lee dies, you can send them back, including one of your bullets, & for about $5.00 (last I heard) they will match your die for that particular bullet.
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Old November 15, 2006, 09:11 PM   #13
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Re-check your die adjustment.
I've shot Hornady, Sierra, Winchester & Speer. I like the 52 gr Hornady FMJFB & 55 gr Winchester FMJBT the best. The Speer seems to have the thinnest skin, so watch your crimp (if using crimp die). H335 powder works best in my gun.
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Old November 16, 2006, 12:21 AM   #14
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Thanks toolman, most of the speer bullets i have used have been in a different caliber. H335 is your suggestion for .223 huh? i'll have to test that too. Thanks again. I might have to start a thread for "favorite powders for .223". But i imagine that has been done already so i'll go a searching before i do. Thanks again everyone for your help.
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Old November 16, 2006, 03:55 PM   #15
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Try Sierra Game King Boat tail spitzers. Their jacket is a bit thicker, and price is decent at 13.99/box. Very semetric bullets, and hence the name, the jackets are thicker. I drove one clean through a steel T-Post. (cut the T-Post in half.) w/ a 22-250.
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