Savage 111 LRH 6.5-284 Loading Questions

[Greyfox]

Originally Posted by BrentM

That is what I would like to do. I don't think my rifle will handle 59. Even 58.5 was showing pressure signs and the difference in speed was just a tad over 3000. I am neck sized on a 2nd firing. My brass is sorted by weight and all trimmed after initial firing. I use a concentricity guage to straighten the bullets in the neck as well.

When I have a full testing day I will go back out and try different seating depths.

My message was probably a little confusing. I did not end up going to 59 gr. I stayed with 57.5 and optimized from there. Just couldn't get consistency at 59. I have found no difference in performance with concentricity as long as I'm under .003. Most are .001" or better right off the dye. I also use the Redding expander plug which doesn't throw off alignment. I might be all wet but my theory is that I would rather be sized from the inside of the neck where the bullet makes contact then the outside of the neck. I don't do this with all my calibers if the plug throws off concentricity.

[BrentM]

My bullets need to be corrected. Some are dead on and others can be out as far as .007. I have RCBS dies and I notice the tips of the Bergers are not square. Could be a crappy die. I have the gold series or whatever they are called. Not the high end but the middle of the road. I would imagine the bullet seater is to blunt.

[Sargesniper]

Originally Posted by BrentM

My bullets need to be corrected. Some are dead on and others can be out as far as .007. I have RCBS dies and I notice the tips of the Bergers are not square. Could be a crappy die. I have the gold series or whatever they are called. Not the high end but the middle of the road. I would imagine the bullet seater is to blunt.

Hello Brent. Don't fret with OAL to the tip. Base to OGIVE is where it's at when measuring OAL. Doesn't matter If they are longer to tip as this is the case with all bullets. Some are just a bit longer from tip to OGIVE. If you don't already have the tool to measure this way,get one. After loading a few and getting them all the same, check OAL to the tip and you will see the difference. GOOD LUCK and shoot bug holes. ...........SEMPER FI!

[Sargesniper]

Originally Posted by BrentM

My bullets need to be corrected. Some are dead on and others can be out as far as .007. I have RCBS dies and I notice the tips of the Bergers are not square. Could be a crappy die. I have the gold series or whatever they are called. Not the high end but the middle of the road. I would imagine the bullet seater is to blunt.

Back again Brent,i take the seating stem out of all new dies i get and polish the inside surface where the tip of the bullet makes contact. This makes a smoother release when the loaded round is pulled from the die. Hope these comments help you. .....SEMPER FI!

[Sargesniper]

Originally Posted by Greyfox

I tried some fine tuning playing around with seating dept and charge. I was able to get another 60FPS with 59 gr of Retumbo but had occasional flyers. I ended up getting single digit ES and tigher groups by going to neck sizing with a body dye resize every third firing. I pushed the shoulder back .002". this tightened my groups and gave me single digit ES. Also helped keep my zero to withing a click or two adjustment when changing conditions, or location. I was able to get one hole groups at 200 yards if I got a good nights sleep and there was no wind.

Very well done Greyfox, i wonder if Retumbo would work in a .260 as well? Gives me something to think about. Though i can't complain about what i am currently loading. Alwaws looking for a better mouse trap. I am never satisfied with any group i shoot. Always think it could be better. That's just me though. Anyway, keep shooting bug holes.................. SEMPER FI!

[BrentM]

I understand what you are getting at it but I am not having seating depth issue's. The comments are related to the angle in which the bullet is seating in the neck. I am thinking I might machine a tip hole in the die plunger and that might help with initial alignment. It's no big deal, I just use the concentricity guage and straighten them out to .001 or less and am good to go for now. It doesn't take much time at all and I know they are dead on after I am done.

[Nimrodmar10]

Brent
Don't worry about the tips of the Berger bullets. They are notoriously non-uniform but it doesn't matter. If you are concerned that the tip of the bullet is bottoming out in the seating stem, causing your misalignment, you can drill a clearance hole in the stem or you can buy a seating stem made for the Berger VLD bullets. They contact the bullet on the ogive instead of the tip.