[imajeep]

i'm working up some loads for my 1-9 ar 20" heavy....

using 69 gr bthp hornady.

made 5 of each, 23.0, 23.2, 23.5, 23.8, 24 gr of benchmark.

my issue is oal, and bullet seating... im keeping my oal as long as possible.

the bullet seating is what is scaring me... in my rcbs die, my projectiles are getting a little ring dented into them, about 1/16 from the end.
must be the shape of the seating die head is contacting them.

the ring is very faint, but none the less, there. anyone have any thoughts..?

anyone have this issue before.?

 

[unclenick]

Have had that and seen it on commercial ammo occasionally. It is of no consequence other than cosmetic. Indeed, you can take a file and actually put an angle across the nose of a bullet and it will open the group much less than you'd expect. This is because the air pressure trying to push the bullet off course gets applied around the full 360° with each bullet rotation, which neutralizes the net change in trajectory direction. It makes the tip describe a helix around the trajectory and it reduces ballistic coefficient by keeping the bullet slightly tilted into the air stream, which increases drag, so it deteriorates long range performance, but it doesn't create gigantic groups by itself. You actually have a fair amount of leeway with nose deformities. Also, figure any indentation much shallower than a golf ball dimple is shallower than the air boundary layer and won't have any significant effect. The boundary layer will shield it.

The base is another matter. Even the smallest asymmetry in the bullet base can open a group substantially. As Harry Pope once said, the base steers the bullet.

If you want, you can take the seater apart and fill the recess with JB Weld, then insert a well-waxed bullet into it until it sets up. You have to keep the seater and bullet coaxial, but if you can do that you end up with a seater customized for that particular bullet profile. I don't bother because I know the ogive profiles change slightly, tooling set to tooling set, so the next lot of bullets I buy may not fit perfectly. But I thought I'd mention it. You can also take a Dremel tool and a felt bob loaded with polishing compound and just slightly round the edges of the seater as it is. That will take the sharp edge off the mark.

 

[kdub]

Yup, a slight presssure point from the seating plug. Absolutely nothing to worry about, unless the bullet gets hung up in the plug and pulls back out of the case. Never had that happen, but do get a slight impression ring on jacketed bullets of certain shape when seating.

 

[imajeep]

thank you oh so much,,,, i was paranoid

 

[UnCruel]

Some of my seating dies have come with very rough plugs, and many leave rings on the bullets. The worst one bit into the jacket and would require some force to pull it loose, and I was worried that it would back some of the bullets out a little. As a result, I have polished many of them. Take the plug out of the die and chuck it up in a drill. Roll up a bit of fine sandpaper and stuff it up inside the plug while the drill is rotating it. It will be smooth in no time.

 

[flashhole]

I've seen the "ring" from both Hornady and Forster dies. It doesn't take much effort to get rid of the sharp ridge that contacts the bullet. I use 1200 grit emery paper.

 

[Marshal Kane]

I've seen the "ring" from both Hornady and Forster dies. It doesn't take much effort to get rid of the sharp ridge that contacts the bullet. I use 1200 grit emery paper.

What all the others have said . . . just polish out the sharp edge a little on the seater plug and your bullets will look much better.