Oh....
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Minimum overall length
- Thread starter Monsterman
- Start date
What Kind of Dies are you using? RCBS, LEE, Dillon or ?
I'd been following the manual up to the bullet seating and then read in the small manual that comes with the press and it says to pull the lever down until it is all the way down and screw the die in until it touches the case holder and then back it out 3/4 to 1 full turn back out. So that's what I did.
RCBS for my 30-06. Lee for everything else once I start loading them.
I have the second edition. I double checked and under 30-06, 180 grain jacketed bullet, IMR4064, start grains 42.9, never exceed 44.7, MOAL 3.340.
What you describe is how you set up the resizing die, not the seating die. (But 3/4 to 1 full turn is typically too much.) Study the instruction for the seating die and learn to set that up properly.
Setting the die up in the press sets it up for the brass. There is another part that is adjusted separately for seating the bullet. First you set the die in the press, then adjust seating depth of the bullet. You will see this adjustment extending out of the top of the die. It will be threaded. Read your manual and die instructions more closely and you will understand the process. Right now, you don't and that's dangerous. You're lucky you didn't crush the case.
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There is something very wrong here. You should not have been able to do a full press stroke with an RCBS seating die set up the way you describe. It would be set WAY to deep in the press and you would have crushed the hell out of the case just trying to get a full stroke. Did you actually only get a partial stroke?
I'm glad I missed the initial posts in this thread.
Reading the instructions for each type die is very important. I've been loading for more than 25 years and I still read the directions when I get any type die I haven't used before.
As Bear stated, using a standard RCBS seating die adjusted the way you described would have crushed the brass.
For most standard seating dies that can crimp your first step is unscrewing the seater insert several turns. The next is placing a case in the shellholder and then bring the ram to the top of it stroke. Screw the die body down until it touches the case mouth. At this point is when you back the die body out a half turn or so and lock it.
Then with a charged case and the seater insert backed out start the process of aquiring the desired seating depth by gradually turning the seater insert clockwise and measuring. Lock the insert once your desired length is attained.
I won't get into adjusting for crimp, but it's in the directions included with die set or at the RCBS website.
The devil's in the details!
Reading the instructions for each type die is very important. I've been loading for more than 25 years and I still read the directions when I get any type die I haven't used before.
As Bear stated, using a standard RCBS seating die adjusted the way you described would have crushed the brass.
For most standard seating dies that can crimp your first step is unscrewing the seater insert several turns. The next is placing a case in the shellholder and then bring the ram to the top of it stroke. Screw the die body down until it touches the case mouth. At this point is when you back the die body out a half turn or so and lock it.
Then with a charged case and the seater insert backed out start the process of aquiring the desired seating depth by gradually turning the seater insert clockwise and measuring. Lock the insert once your desired length is attained.
I won't get into adjusting for crimp, but it's in the directions included with die set or at the RCBS website.
The devil's in the details!
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Strange that they'd be so different, especially since I also have the second edition.
Hodgdon shows the same data I have. It is also a good reference to have!
http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp
