seating bullets deeper after the fact?

[Potsy]

I loaded a batch of .223's about a year ago.
55 Hdy. soft point, 25 grains of H-335.
It's my "plinker" load but it'd be quite capable inside the limits of it's stubby bullet.
Anyhoo, I seated them at 2.270" so they just clear a Magpul magazine, but they're a bit too long, especially to try to cram into 30 rounders (I usually shoot 10's).
Is there any harm in seating them deeper at this point? Any magical seal that gets broken? I'm talking about just bumping them in another .025"-.040" or so.
Maybe a dumb question, I've pondered it before, this is just the first time I've run into it as an actual issue.
Thanks!

 

[lightman]

Seating them deeper won't hurt anything unless you crimped them. And unless you roll crimped them into a cannelure it probably still won't hurt anything. Just go slow, easy and gentle.

Oh yeah, Not a dumb question.

 

[Bullspotter]

I agree 100% with lightman. I have done it several times myself. No problems.

 

[Mr Tibbs]

Seating depth is a variable , if the seating depth is reduced that will increase pressure. To Be safe reduce the powder charge by at least .5 grains.

 

[supercorndogs]

Pushing the bullets back to sami length of 2.25 or a little shorter is not going to raise the pressure in any appreciable manner.

 

[Tokay444]

Seating depth is a variable , if the seating depth is reduced that will increase pressure. To Be safe reduce the powder charge by at least .5 grains.

How do you reduce the powder charge on loaded rounds?
OP, seating them a little deeper will likely make them shoot better ES. The longer copper and brass mingle, the more cold welding occurs. I get my most consistent velocity spreads when I load right at the line.

 

[IPoutdoors]

I don’t see an issue. Unless you are moving it a lot

 

[Huskydriver]

Seating depth is a variable , if the seating depth is reduced that will increase pressure. To Be safe reduce the powder charge by at least .5 grains.

Wut?

 

[Tokay444]

Seating your bullet deeper will reduce pressure until you begin compressing the powder stack. Giving the bullet a head start before engaging the lands reduces pressure.

 

[nightman89]

25g of H335 under a 55g bullet has been a go-to load for a lot of people. Depth is usually 2.250, so I see no reason why a bump down of .02 would affect anything. I would absolutely do it.

 

[Mr Tibbs]

How do you reduce the powder charge on loaded rounds?
OP, seating them a little deeper will likely make them shoot better ES. The longer copper and brass mingle, the more cold welding occurs. I get my most consistent velocity spreads when I load right at the line.

How can the OP seat the bullet deeper if the neck tension or crimp is already set ?

 

[Huskydriver]

How can the OP seat the bullet deeper if the neck tension or crimp is already set ?

Uhhh u screw the seating die in a tad more or turn your micrometer down a hair more and rerun the round through seating die....

 

[Matches Malone]

How can the OP seat the bullet deeper if the neck tension or crimp is already set ?

Where does the OP state that neck tension is a concern or that a crimp exist?

 

[Potsy]

I had them seated pretty long, running them in ASC mags. Figured out they were a touch to long Magpul mags, bumped them down to where the case mouth is at the bottoms edge of the crimp groove. I’ve never bothered crimping any bottlenecked rifle round.
Haven’t bothered measuring them, but they do fit much better in a Magpul 30 rounder now.

 

[Rocketmandb]

How can the OP seat the bullet deeper if the neck tension or crimp is already set ?

When I'm doing seating depth tests, I seat all the rounds long, take my K&M arbor press to the range (with the appropriate die, of course), and set the final depth while at the range. This lets me do the test, then validate with a bunch of rounds.

 

[Tokay444]

How can the OP seat the bullet deeper if the neck tension or crimp is already set ?

If you’re really this new, you should refrain from offering, “advice”. Don’t talk. Just read.

 

[Tokay444]

If seating a bullet into a sized neck had a detrimental effect on, “set tension”, how would we ever load ammo at all?