Seating Accubond and Balistic Tip Bullets. Please Help

[cody19]

Hey guys I am pretty new to reloading and this is my first time on this site. I currently load cartridges for my Tikka T3 300 win. I have been loading Hornady Interbond with great results but i figured that i would try the other side of the fence by trying some Ballistic Tip and AccuBond bullets. The problem that I am having is that in order to get the cartridge to fit into my magazine i have to seat the bullet right on the very brink where it starts to taper towards the front. After cycling through the magazine or a slight push on the tip of the bullet it turtles back into the neck of the case. I tried adjusting my sizing die and still the same results. I think its where the Interbond bullets had less taper that they were able to hold in the neck of the case better. I am a big fan of AccuBond bullets and have seen what they can do on Moose at long ranges which i hunt here in Newfoundland. IMO the Interbond doesn't perform nearly as well. I would really like to be able to fire these from mt Tikka. If anyone could help or point me in a direction it would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks
Cody :grin:

 

[rick smith]

Welcome to the board.
The case neck holds the bullet on the shank part, not the tapered part. I would measure the diameter of your expander ball in your sizer. Try sizing without the expander ball, seat a bullet(no powder or primer necessary), measure the OD of the case neck. After sizing, the neck should be 0.002" smaller than that.
If you are FL or PFL sizing, after the first firing, set your sizing die to headspace on the shoulder and not the belt. You must have a very short mag box, short throat or are shooting the heaviest bullets.Rick.

 

[JD338]

cody19

Welcome to the forum.

We need a little more information to help. Are you shooting a 300 Win Mag or 300 WSM?
What is your COL? If you are loading to the SAAMI spec, you can seat the bullets farther out which will make them longer. You can load to just under the length of the magazine, which will still be off the lands.

JD338

 

[bullet]

If you are seating your bullet (AccuBond) just a tad shorter than your mag length you should not have any trouble with the bullet staying in the neck nor with it being to short. I had a Ruger Mk II 300Win and the best accuracy for that rifle was a 165gr AccuBond and second was a 180gr AccuBond.

As JD338 has mentioned, give us more detail. In fact give us a picture if you could of a loaded round with the AccuBond. Now the AccuBond is to long in some cartridges like the 225gr does not work with the 358Win but the AccuBond for the 300win has no problem at all.

 

[cody19]

Ok so i am loading for a .300 win mag. Im pretty new to this so i might be a bit slow. There was a lot of abbreviations above that just blew well over my head. I have a lee tool that cuts the cartridge to the proper length for a .300 win mag. In order for me to fit the AccuBond bullets into my magazine they seem to be seated too far for the neck of the case to firmly hold the bullet. Sorry for the blurry pictures i only had a cell phone at the time to capture them. Thanks again for your help.

This one is of a seated bullet

This one shows that the OAL is at its maximum length for the magazine

This last picture show the bullet shoved back into the case neck after a shove on the tip.

 

[cody19]

I also went to spec according to instructions with my Lee reloading kit on placement of the sizing die in the press. I have had no problems with the other hornady bullets that i have been loading as they remain firmly in the case when loaded to fit into the magazine.

 

[cody19]

bullets are 180 grain

 

[bullet]

I can't see you pictures, all I got was little boxes with red dots. :grin:

 

[cody19]

Should be able to see em now. Let me know if they still aren't visible 8)

 

[bullet]

Should be able to see em now. Let me know if they still aren't visible 8)

I can see them, and the initial picture looks fine. Then you say all you did was push on the end of the bullet and it went down into the case easily????

 

[cody19]

yes sir. Even if its the second bullet in the magazine the pressure from the top cartridge coming out of the magazine and going up into the chamber. That often happens to the following round. I would imagine firing a cartridge like that to be not the safest?

Thanks again for everyone's help. I am really impressed with how quick everyone is to reply.

 

[rick smith]

Looking at your first picture, you have plenty of bullet shank to hold it in place. Something is amiss in your sizing. Did you try sizing without the expander ball? Measure the expander ball? When you withdraw the case from the sizing die do you feel the expander ball drag inside the neck? Are you full length sizing, FL, partial full length sizing, PFL, or neck sizing? Measure the OD, outside diameter, of a fired case neck, a sized case neck and the case neck with a bullet seated.Rick.

 

[hardpan]

Seems to me that either the bullets are incorrect, or the die is faulty. Have you tried a different die?
HP

 

[300SaUltraMag]

The neck don't seem completely resized... Maybe a question of Die adjustment ???

 

[DrMike]

Clearly, the neck is sized improperly. Address the expander ball and/or die itself to resolve the deficiency.

 

[cody19]

Looking at your first picture, you have plenty of bullet shank to hold it in place. Something is amiss in your sizing. Did you try sizing without the expander ball? Measure the expander ball? When you withdraw the case from the sizing die do you feel the expander ball drag inside the neck? Are you full length sizing, FL, partial full length sizing, PFL, or neck sizing? Measure the OD, outside diameter, of a fired case neck, a sized case neck and the case neck with a bullet seated.Rick.

Yes i could feel the expander ball dragging on the inside of the case when I would lower the ram. I just tried a few without the expander ball(which is all one piece with the decapper) and it seems to be working fine. Now it just have an extra step remove the primer with the expander/decapper then remove them from the resizing die and run it through again. Is it safe to do this, by sizing without the expander ball? My die is a full length sizer. The bullet seems to seat smoothly in the neck just firmer than before.

Once again thanks a lot for everyone's help and for having patience with me lol

 

[rick smith]

Sizing w/o the expanderball in place is fine. Better yet reduce the OD of the expanderball. Have you measured the OD of the ball? If it is too large, contact the die manufacturer. You can reduce the size with some emory paper and a hand drill motor.Rick.

 

[cody19]

I got a set of calipers on the way so that i can measure the expander lol Thanks