Bullet seating depth: what's an acceptable variance?

[BigJ]

Hey guys.

I'm seeing a variance in seating depth out of my Lee Ultimate Dead Length Bullet seating die of somewhere around +- .002" (as measured at the ogive). Is that to be expected out of this die?

If so, is that a big deal? Are there better dies out there that minimize that variance?

If that's not to be expected out of this die, what could be affecting how deep it seats otherwise?

Thanks for your time.

[mark501w]

Don't sweat it.

[XDRoX]

Sometimes when I think my OCD is bad calguns always makes me feel better.

[OCD41911]

Sometimes when I think my OCD is bad calguns always makes me feel better.

I resemble that remark.... To the OP, a variance of .002 is great news. No worries at all.

[BigJ]

Sometimes when I think my OCD is bad calguns always makes me feel better.

[reckoner]

Tagged. I'm curious to know how much variation is too much.

Hope I'm not thread jacking here, but I was loading some .223 last night, and most of the rounds had OALs of 2.220-2.223", but every now and then I'd get the odd round at 2.235" or so. Same brass as the shorter ones.

I'm wondering if this is normal, or if something in my setup or my process is causing these random, longer rounds.

[cpatbay]

I think if you are getting close to +/- 0.01", you should start to look at it. But again, if you are not pushing max charge, there is no safety concern. How much that variant affects accuracy is something that would be hard to measure.

[repomanNWP]

Please teach me how to get such good variance. With my equipment, .005 is typical in a batch of 100 and I don't worry a thing about it.

[LynnJr]

+_ 0.002 would be 0.004 of variation.With factory bullets that is exceptional as most custom hand swaged bullets won't do that.
I seat my benchrest bullets 0.010 long and measure each round with a comparator then adjust each one as necessary.
On a good bench gun you can see 0.003 variation at 100 yards.
I had a lot# of Berger bullets with 0.023 variation before seating so I sold 2200 bullets at a loss to get rid of them.

[Pauliedad]

Not a big deal.
To address one of your questions, brass tension will be different, smoothness of your stroke when seating, if a progressive press, weather or not other stations are being used or not. All of those and more will cause variations.
I like to flair pistol rounds as little as possible so seating the bullet has enough tension to be almost hard but not so much as to scrape the bullet.

As others have said, if you're not close to max loads then not an issue.

[EL_NinO619]

+- .005 is acceptable for rifle when measuring from bullet tip. You really need to measure from the ogive to get a accurate reading. I use a Hornady bullet comparator and with my redding dies I get +-.001. For pistol I am usually +- .002

[mark501w]

Quit worrying about the minutia , reload go shooting.

[reckoner]

Tagged. I'm curious to know how much variation is too much.

Hope I'm not thread jacking here, but I was loading some .223 last night, and most of the rounds had OALs of 2.220-2.223", but every now and then I'd get the odd round at 2.235" or so. Same brass as the shorter ones.

I'm wondering if this is normal, or if something in my setup or my process is causing these random, longer rounds.

Nevermind... Yesterday I bought a comparator. Even though those odd rounds are .010-.015" longer in OAL, the distance to the ogive is the same as the others (within +/- .002"). Looks like it's the bullet.

[diveRN]

I don't even bother to check my everyday-use low to medium powered pistol rounds for plinking. When charges approach the high end or I'm working up new recipes, 0.01" is my max differential and every round is checked.

With the dead seating dies, I use the same tolerance for rifle rounds, except that I check every single one regardless of what I'm loading for.

My .02.

[OpenSightsOnly]

If you are just loading for magazine length should be a non-issue.

2.25" or 2.26" - you are good!

Also, quality of bullets can make a difference like plinking bullets versus match-quality bullets.

If you want to go fullbore OCD - try bullet sorting

Hey guys.

I'm seeing a variance in seating depth out of my Lee Ultimate Dead Length Bullet seating die of somewhere around +- .002" (as measured at the ogive). Is that to be expected out of this die?

If so, is that a big deal? Are there better dies out there that minimize that variance?

If that's not to be expected out of this die, what could be affecting how deep it seats otherwise?

Thanks for your time.