I am new to reloading and not sure about the consistency of bullets. I was loading some 7 WSM rounds last night and started measuring every round as I removed it from the shell holder. I was having a tough time keeping a consistent OAL. I looked at the tips of the SMKs and saw they are not that uniform, so i figured that could be part of it. So, i installed my 7mm insert in my Sinclair's bullet comparator and bolted it to my caliper. I then remeasured the rounds and still not very consistent. I was expecting to keep them all within about +/- .002 and was way off on many of the rounds. So, now i am trying to figure out what i have screwed up and i can rule out everything with the brass (full length sized and trimmed all within +/- .001). I re-tightened everything down and tried to figure out if something was loose on my press and dies, everything was good. Then i started measuring bullets and it got interesting. I measured total length and length to the ogive. I just pulled out about 10 or 12 bullets to measure and was very surprised to find that there was well over .005 difference in just that small sample. This got me thinking i didn't really do anything wrong and the bullets are the issue. Is this normal? Have i missed anything that i should check again? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I did shoot some prior with the die set up the same and it shot well at 100 yards (.3-.4" 5 shot groups) Will this hurt accuracy as i stretch it out to some real distances? Oh, and i didn't measure all of them like this time, i was just excited to shoot my new (to me) rifle and see what she would do.
7mm 175gr SMK
- Thread starter Backspace
- Start date
Re: 7mm 175gr SMK
Read the getting started in reloading threads at the top of the reloading section and your questions well be answered grasshopper.
Read the getting started in reloading threads at the top of the reloading section and your questions well be answered grasshopper.
Re: 7mm 175gr SMK
Thanks for the heads up. I read through the bullet sorting section and found what you were talking about. I guess my next question is ... Is this common to have more than a +/- .006 difference in the same box for the SMKs or did i just get a box that was a little less consistent than normal? I guess that it probably helps to get a few boxes and sort all at once then load them in lots to avoid having just a handful of oddballs.
Thanks for the heads up. I read through the bullet sorting section and found what you were talking about. I guess my next question is ... Is this common to have more than a +/- .006 difference in the same box for the SMKs or did i just get a box that was a little less consistent than normal? I guess that it probably helps to get a few boxes and sort all at once then load them in lots to avoid having just a handful of oddballs.
Re: 7mm 175gr SMK
I found them to be more consistent then the 162 Amax although both shoot great out of my 7mm08. I finally just caved in and settled on the Amax since they were cheaper. As long as I'm consistent with the jump their accuracy seems consistent.
I found them to be more consistent then the 162 Amax although both shoot great out of my 7mm08. I finally just caved in and settled on the Amax since they were cheaper. As long as I'm consistent with the jump their accuracy seems consistent.
Re: 7mm 175gr SMK
The only time COAL is important to me is if i am trying to fit rounds in a mag. Other than that, Use the ogive as your guide as it is much more consistent
The only time COAL is important to me is if i am trying to fit rounds in a mag. Other than that, Use the ogive as your guide as it is much more consistent
