Press Technique ... Newbie Revelation

[rustyinbend]

There I was ... (it's how all great stories start) ... loading my 6.5 Creedmoor shells with a ladder of Accurate 4350 and Berger 153.5 LRT Hybrids. And as I measured seating depth on each completed round, some were spot-on my target, others were slightly long. I didn't "feel" like I was doing anything different, but long-story-short ... I was. At the top of the stroke (bottom of the lever), sometimes I paused, and sometimes I didn't. So I tried a test.

• No Pause - Measure
• Pause - Measure
• Rinse and repeat ... see if there's a trend

There was. Pausing allowed the powder to compress with no bullet "bounce back" resulting in perfect seating to my target depth. Not pausing almost always came out slightly long. Mystery solved.

You veterans will almost certainly say "No shit, Sherlock" ... but this was an epiphany for me on my "Newbie Journey of Learning". Figured I'd share.

 

[MtnCreek]

Sounds odd to me.

If this is a slightly compressed load, try tapping the funnel with the powder pan to help it consolidate.

 

[BuLLet]

And using a longer drop tube for the funnel, it'll pack in the kernels better allowing more powder. In your case less compression.

Sounds odd to me.

If this is a slightly compressed load, try tapping the funnel with the powder pan to help it consolidate.

 

[rustyinbend]

Sounds odd to me.

If this is a slightly compressed load, try tapping the funnel with the powder pan to help it consolidate.

That's what I thought too, then I remembered I'd watched a YouTube video a while back where a very experienced reloader brought up the "Pause at the bottom" thing ... saying some powders and cartridges seated more accurately with a pause at the base of the stroke. My test showed that to be the case, at least for me and my stuff.

 

[MCHOG]

I had variations in seating depth of relatively long 6.5 bullets (147 gr ELD-M) and chased that for a while until someone here suggested it was a compressed load. I did some measuring and was shocked to find that it was compressed with only 41.1 gr of H4350. Since your bullet is longer, it is something you should verify.

 

[Cascade Hemi]

Compressed load COAL can grow over time too. The solution is avoiding compressed loads.

 

[Romeo458]

If its a compressed load I'll do that, but I give the case a light couple taps to help settle the powder also. May just help in my head, but in theory it makes sense.

 

[Holliday]

There I was ... (it's how all great stories start) ... loading my 6.5 Creedmoor shells with a ladder of Accurate 4350 and Berger 153.5 LRT Hybrids. And as I measured seating depth on each completed round, some were spot-on my target, others were slightly long. I didn't "feel" like I was doing anything different, but long-story-short ... I was. At the top of the stroke (bottom of the lever), sometimes I paused, and sometimes I didn't. So I tried a test.

• No Pause - Measure
• Pause - Measure
• Rinse and repeat ... see if there's a trend

There was. Pausing allowed the powder to compress with no bullet "bounce back" resulting in perfect seating to my target depth. Not pausing almost always came out slightly long. Mystery solved.

You veterans will almost certainly say "No shit, Sherlock" ... but this was an epiphany for me on my "Newbie Journey of Learning". Figured I'd share.

I always pause compressed load or not. I am letting the brass relax to its new size and shape. Same with sizing and mandrel.

 

[nn8734]

There I was ... (it's how all great stories start) ... loading my 6.5 Creedmoor shells with a ladder of Accurate 4350 and Berger 153.5 LRT Hybrids. And as I measured seating depth on each completed round, some were spot-on my target, others were slightly long. I didn't "feel" like I was doing anything different, but long-story-short ... I was. At the top of the stroke (bottom of the lever), sometimes I paused, and sometimes I didn't. So I tried a test.

• No Pause - Measure
• Pause - Measure
• Rinse and repeat ... see if there's a trend

There was. Pausing allowed the powder to compress with no bullet "bounce back" resulting in perfect seating to my target depth. Not pausing almost always came out slightly long. Mystery solved.

You veterans will almost certainly say "No shit, Sherlock" ... but this was an epiphany for me on my "Newbie Journey of Learning". Figured I'd share.

How long is “slightly long” relative to your target seating depth? Have you done any live fire comparisons?

If no, keep your two test samples of rounds separated then take them to the range. Shoot them at whatever distance (100yards, 500 etc) over your chrono or LabRadar and let us know what differences you observe in MV, POI, group size, etc.

My guess is that there will be little to none, esp if these are jumping by more than .040” and the seating depth difference is less than .010” between your two samples. Ideally you won’t see a difference and thus having some “a little long” won’t matter.

 

[rustyinbend]

How long is “slightly long” relative to your target seating depth? Have you done any live fire comparisons?

If no, keep your two test samples of rounds separated then take them to the range. Shoot them at whatever distance (100yards, 500 etc) over your chrono or LabRadar and let us know what differences you observe in MV, POI, group size, etc.

My guess is that there will be little to none, esp if these are jumping by more than .040” and the seating depth difference is less than .010” between your two samples. Ideally you won’t see a difference and thus having some “a little long” won’t matter.

Good suggestion ... will do. Seating depth shortfall was usually between .01 and .02.