Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Bullet Seating Technique

What do you trust more for consistent OAL...a hornady OAL gauge or your reloading press and seating die?

Recently, when reloading for my .308 (150 grain Nosler BT), even if I applied the same amount of pressure on the press each time, I could measure the OAL with the Hornady gauge and come up with variances of up to 10 thousandths. For my set up, I'm using a Redding Big Boss II press, with the Redding competition seating die.

Do you set the press/die to the proper OAL, and leave it for all rounds you load in that sitting...or do you measure the OAL of each round with the OAL gauge and make minor adjustments to the seating die to get each round consistent per the OAL gauge? Which is more accurate...using the OAL gauge or set it and forget it?

Thanks...

Is your seater stem kissing tips or ogives?

Easy to pass on NBT's anyhow.................

If measuring OAL from the bullet tips you will get variance under normal circumstances, bent/crushed tip or for the BT not all plastic tips are exactly the same length or shape, if measuring w/the Hornady tool from the olgive you should not get any variance in OAL unless your bullets are seconds or something is funky w/how your die is contacting the bullet e.g. on the tip and not on the olgive.


As far as technique, not much too it assuming you have your press locked down on a solid bench, press the bullet in a smooth steady stroke until the press bottoms out.

I should add that all this assumes your press is not messed up in any way that would account for the variance.

Have fun and don't over obsess on the small stuff. ( I need to learn that trick )

I check the OAL after every few cartridges. Long as I'm within .005 I keep 'rollin. The Redding is great press, but those Nosler plastic tips can vary quite a bit. Just keep loading.

ANY bullet tip can vary .010" very easily. Get a bullet comparator of some sort, I like the Sinclair version, and measure the COAL on the ogive rather than the tip. I think you'll see your variance severely decline or disappear.

Rifles care, a little, at what point the bullets make contact with the lands. Rifles couldn't care less where a bullet's meplat hangs in space.

Set your OAL for the ogive contact you want and load 'em, the small variations you see are trivial.

Also make sure that your dies are firmly bottomed out against the press. A die backing out will change OAL just a bit

Sumptin' to really watch for on a Dillon................

Stick, do you use a dremel to open up seaters? Do you ever modify in another way to hit the bullet contour?

I think it would be cool schit if a bullet company supplied an exact ogive seater for a perticular bullet. Dumb? Hell, it would only cost them a few cents prolly.

Are you using a compressed charge? I've found my Redding comp seater doesn't like that too much.

Drive Redding,tell 'em whatcha want/load and they'll hook you up...............

I have all Redding Dies, but never thought to ask. Thanks.

All Redding seater stems are marked numerically,upon their top's.

Hint..............

Among others *grin*

I like to clang & bang my 550B purty good and have made dies walk upon it. That will never happen again,as they are all but fused to their plates now.................

Gotta get out and take the welder for a walk every now and again, I 'spose.

ChanneLocks are a great invent...but I like the way you think...............(grin)

Check your bullets with the hornady oal comparator, before seating them and see what variation you get with them.

Yes. Measure overall length for about 2 dozen of your bare bones slugs, and see what the range and variation is.

Ok I'm a little slow/new to reloading.. So what's this number tell me?