Bullet seating for .223 rem.

JROD82 · March 8, 2009, 03:21 PM

Just wanted to see if anyone can give me some advice. I read a thread earlier from pa-pa2506 and found it helpful, but the seating problem I'm facing seems to excessive...I'm fairly new to this also. I'm reloading a .223 round with a 62gr. ss109 (pulled) bullet with very little pull marks if none at all, so I know accuracy is shot to hell. I've adjusted the RCBS seater die to seat right at 2.250. I'll load a batch of 5 and have one or two at 2.250 oal, one at 2.245 one at 2.256 and one 2.260. The dies and seating plunger are tight and the primers are seated perfect. I know you might get +/- on oal but this seems to excessive. like I said; accuracy is shot to hell so I'm mainly loading bulk for a rainy day. If someone could help me out with this I thank you.

bullspotter · March 8, 2009, 07:12 PM

thats only .015 differance, im getting about the same with some cheap 224 bullets. I seat mine a bit deeper though so the ones that end up a tad longer wont have problems in my mag. Variance in the shape of the bullet will cause this, as the seater dosnt press on the tip of the bullet, also check your seating die and make sure its clean.

rg1 · March 8, 2009, 08:08 PM

You'll find that the sharper tips will be the longest while the ones with a blunter tip will be shorter. It's all in the tip shape. Also, it seems the cannelure is located off the tip of the military surplus bullets and the cannelure will be either deeper or shallower inside the case neck. Like mentioned your seating die locates off the taper of the bullet and not the tip.

JROD82 · March 8, 2009, 11:11 PM

I'm really not to worried about the oal being a tad over 2.250 say no more than 2.255, but thats ok. I am mainly concerned about the seating depth being too far under say 2.248 because of creating higher chamber pressure, mainly on the higher powder charges. My pet loads are h335, 22.8gr., 23.0 gr., 23.5gr., 24.0gr., 24.5gr. Rather be safe than sorry. I'm new to reloading and have a few questions. Thanks alot guys

1goodshot · March 9, 2009, 07:49 AM

You need to make a dummy round and make sure it cycles if you want to load your ammo to 2.250.I had problems with some 55grs bullets that where seated around 2.250 and they wouldnt fit.

March 8, 2009, 03:21 PM	#1
JROD82 Junior Member Join Date: March 8, 2009 Location: Lake Jackson, Tx Posts: 12	Bullet seating for .223 rem. Just wanted to see if anyone can give me some advice. I read a thread earlier from pa-pa2506 and found it helpful, but the seating problem I'm facing seems to excessive...I'm fairly new to this also. I'm reloading a .223 round with a 62gr. ss109 (pulled) bullet with very little pull marks if none at all, so I know accuracy is shot to hell. I've adjusted the RCBS seater die to seat right at 2.250. I'll load a batch of 5 and have one or two at 2.250 oal, one at 2.245 one at 2.256 and one 2.260. The dies and seating plunger are tight and the primers are seated perfect. I know you might get +/- on oal but this seems to excessive. like I said; accuracy is shot to hell so I'm mainly loading bulk for a rainy day. If someone could help me out with this I thank you.

March 8, 2009, 07:12 PM	#2
bullspotter Senior Member Join Date: November 2, 2008 Location: Montana Posts: 308	thats only .015 differance, im getting about the same with some cheap 224 bullets. I seat mine a bit deeper though so the ones that end up a tad longer wont have problems in my mag. Variance in the shape of the bullet will cause this, as the seater dosnt press on the tip of the bullet, also check your seating die and make sure its clean.

March 8, 2009, 08:08 PM	#3
rg1 Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2001 Posts: 1,131	You'll find that the sharper tips will be the longest while the ones with a blunter tip will be shorter. It's all in the tip shape. Also, it seems the cannelure is located off the tip of the military surplus bullets and the cannelure will be either deeper or shallower inside the case neck. Like mentioned your seating die locates off the taper of the bullet and not the tip.

March 8, 2009, 11:11 PM	#4
JROD82 Junior Member Join Date: March 8, 2009 Location: Lake Jackson, Tx Posts: 12	I'm really not to worried about the oal being a tad over 2.250 say no more than 2.255, but thats ok. I am mainly concerned about the seating depth being too far under say 2.248 because of creating higher chamber pressure, mainly on the higher powder charges. My pet loads are h335, 22.8gr., 23.0 gr., 23.5gr., 24.0gr., 24.5gr. Rather be safe than sorry. I'm new to reloading and have a few questions. Thanks alot guys

March 9, 2009, 07:49 AM	#5
1goodshot Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 2001 Location: chandler,az Posts: 931	You need to make a dummy round and make sure it cycles if you want to load your ammo to 2.250.I had problems with some 55grs bullets that where seated around 2.250 and they wouldnt fit.