COAL Minimum?

tim629 · Nov 8, 2013

so what is a safe way to determine the minimum coal of a loaded round?

I ended up screwing up setting up my seating die yesterday and pushed the necks in, hard to close the bolt but fireformed right back out. today I figured out I was pushing the necks in while seating and that is why the bolt was harder to close but figured this out after loading one round tonight and playing with seating depth

so now I have a round with a neck that is pushed down, a bullet seated too deep, and a new lesson learned

Lesson learned: lower seating die down onto a primed case then back it off 1/4 turn, found that suggestion on another forum's archive and it worked so going with it.

stupid new reloader mistake just don't want to mess up the rifle/myself if the load is too short

BD1 · Nov 8, 2013

You didn't mention what you are loading for or whether you need to use a crimped or no crimp procedure. To make sure that I'm following you correctly, when you are seating a bullet the case is bottoming out in the seating die and you running the brass up into the crimp portion of the seater and are collapsing the neck? If this is the issue, you need to check your case OAL's to make sure they are all within length spec and adjust your seating die out. Rule of thumb for most seating dies when you are not crimping and/or using bullets without a crimping cannelure is to run the ram w/shell holder in place all the way up, screw the seating die in until it touches the shell holder and then back it out one full turn so the case will not engage the crimping portion in the seater.
If you are using the crimp in your seater and cannelured bullets, the setup procedure is different and the uniformity of your cases length is very important. It will affect how tightly the case is crimped to the bullet and in some cases if they are too far apart in their uniformity you can crimp the necks ok on some and collapse the shoulders on others.
Are you loading for a bolt, lever, pump, or semi-automatic? Different rifles can and do have different needs.

Hope this helps,
BD

tim629 · Nov 9, 2013

it is a 280AI round for a bolt action, didn't crimp, just pushed the 40degree shoulder flat, I will measure the oal that it is pushed to

and sorry that I made it confusing to understand but you were following me correctly (minus the crimp) but yes I just had the die set too low (thinking I set it off of the sizing die vs the seating die instructions) all of my current rounds but 1 are good just don't know if I should put it in and pull the trigger find someone with a bullet puller and then load it with a fireforming charge to get the case back where it should be

rick smith · Nov 9, 2013

Die setting instructions are not specific for your rifle. BD1 gave you the method for seating the bullet without a crimp. You need not FL the cases after every firing if you have a neck sizing die, use that until the cases get snug to bolt closure and then set the FL die to size your case just enough to fit your rifle, called PFL, partial full length sizing. You cannot neck size with a FL die no matter what the instructions say about that or what others will tell you. Your case normally will not have reached it's full size on the first few loadings so set the fl die so that the shoulder is not being set back. I am sure this method has been discussed before so a search should give yo the method or PM me and I will explain it to you. Rick.