.25-06 Seating Woes

DannoBoone

DannoBoone

Active member
I can easily get .22-250 and .243 loads within .003 of COAL but
the .25-06 is another story, sometimes as far out as .008". I
have tried with different seater dies with the same results.
This is driving me nuts. Is it possible the bullet ogives are
inconsistent where the die stem meets them? It doesn't matter
the weight or make of bullet....same story.

The last batch was new brass, neck sized, and they all felt the
same pressure to be seated.
 
Probably used the wrong term of case over all length. I'm
actually measuring off the ogive just ahead of the bearing
surface.
 
"Is it possible the bullet ogives are
inconsistent"

What bullet you using?

When I really want accuracy/consistency in seating I will sort bullets by weight and length.

You may be surprised seating .020+ off the lands can be as or more accurate.

YMMV
 
Originally Posted By: arky65"Is it possible the bullet ogives are
inconsistent"

What bullet you using?

When I really want accuracy/consistency in seating I will sort bullets by weight and length.

You may be surprised seating .020+ off the lands can be as or more accurate.
YMMV

Attempting to make up 10-round loads while breaking in a new
barrel.

Bullets are Nosler, Hornady and Berger. This craziness is
happening with each.

I always start out with the other calibers with bearing
surface .015 off the lands.
 
If you have a comparator and .25 bushing try measuring each bullet for any inconsistency from bullet to bullet.

Compartors are not all created equal either. Could be a problem there also. Try some jewelers rouge on the bearing surface ID of the comparator.

I have never seen big inconsistency with Berger, or Lapua. Sierra, Nosler, Hornady I have found .020 variance in 500 count boxes.

ps

Check your shellholder for sloppiness.
 
Some seating stems don't play well with tipped bullets. I have not seen 0.020 differences in CBTO( cartridge base to ogive) with any of my seating stems, 0.005 to 0.008 is possible. Usually I can setup for 4-0.005 short and adjust each to +,- 0.001. BIBS and Barts bullets trend to have tighter BTO (bullet base to give) tolerance. I haven't modified any of my seating stems, if I had one certain bullet I probably would polish and bed the stem for the bullet.
 
Originally Posted By: DannoBooneI can easily get .22-250 and .243 loads within .003 of COAL but
Is it possible the bullet ogives are
inconsistent where the die stem meets them?


Very possible! But I don't think 0.008 is gonna make any difference.
 
Can you shoot five shot sub minute groups every time you shoot?

The problem with reloading is that there is so much b s out there you don't know what to believe anymore.
If you're on the edge of an moa group all the time seating depth might be an issue.
If you can't shoot sub minute groups why chase something that is not going to change anything.

We tend to try to buy our way out of a problem instead of practicing our way out it.

For example I'm having an point of impact issue with moa targets at six hundred and beyond. Same point of aim. I might hit the target and then the next shot be high the next one might be low. Now I'm chasing a problem and spending money on things that should be spent on practice.
 
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