Case length problems.

[boattailed bandit]

So I let my neighbor borrow my reloading set-up last week to work up some rounds for his rifle. We both happen to shoot the same caliber and I had enough loose ones rolling around that I figured itd be okay for a bit. Anyways that being said I got it back the other day and proceeded to load last night. This is the Lee Classic loader, where you do it all by hand with a hammer, I'm still getting started mind you. Back to the point, I didn't happen to check my seating depth and apparently he had adjusted my dies so instead of the 3.32" overall length that I use it is now 3.19". I didn't notice till I did 5 of them and sat them in the box next to some others and noticed somthing wasn't right. I set my depth back to where it was and went back to loading but I'm curious about those short ones. If I fire those in my rifle will there be any chance of adverse effects with my rifle? The reccomended OAL for 270 win is 3.34" but I go 3.32" for personal preference. Not really sure why, I just do. I just wanted to know if I should just give these back to my neighbor and let him deal with it since that was apparently what he loaded his to, or if these are okay to shoot. Just wondering if there is a reason to reload that short that I don't know about or if its dangerous and I need to say somthing to him. Anybody got any info for me? If it helps the rifle is a stock browning a-bolt with a sporter barrel, so its not changed from factory in any way.

 

[EddieHarren]

A good bullet puller is the reloaders best friend. I would not sweat the seating depth issue unless it caused the powder charge to be compressed in the case. I also think you mean COAL problems as your cases have not changed in length.

 

[boattailed bandit]

Thanks, my suspicions were it shouldn't effect anything, but being new to reloading I wanted a second oppinion. And your right, COAL is what I meant. Now to figure out how to change the title....

 

[EddieHarren]

Don't worry about changing it. This site doesn't have that option. Just be careful and think about a pullet puller. Eddie.

 

[J E Custom]

So I let my neighbor borrow my reloading set-up last week to work up some rounds for his rifle. We both happen to shoot the same caliber and I had enough loose ones rolling around that I figured itd be okay for a bit. Anyways that being said I got it back the other day and proceeded to load last night. This is the Lee Classic loader, where you do it all by hand with a hammer, I'm still getting started mind you. Back to the point, I didn't happen to check my seating depth and apparently he had adjusted my dies so instead of the 3.32" overall length that I use it is now 3.19". I didn't notice till I did 5 of them and sat them in the box next to some others and noticed somthing wasn't right. I set my depth back to where it was and went back to loading but I'm curious about those short ones. If I fire those in my rifle will there be any chance of adverse effects with my rifle? The reccomended OAL for 270 win is 3.34" but I go 3.32" for personal preference. Not really sure why, I just do. I just wanted to know if I should just give these back to my neighbor and let him deal with it since that was apparently what he loaded his to, or if these are okay to shoot. Just wondering if there is a reason to reload that short that I don't know about or if its dangerous and I need to say somthing to him. Anybody got any info for me? If it helps the rifle is a stock browning a-bolt with a sporter barrel, so its not changed from factory in any way.

The shorter loads will be ok to shoot.

More free bore normally means less pressure. It may change the group size or the trajectory But that should be it.

I would try a couple just to see, and if you are not happy, Pull the bullets and start over as recommended by Eddie Harren.

J E CUSTOM

 

[boattailed bandit]

The shorter loads will be ok to shoot.

More free bore normally means less pressure. It may change the group size or the trajectory But that should be it.

I would try a couple just to see, and if you are not happy, Pull the bullets and start over as recommended by Eddie Harren.

J E CUSTOM

So there is less pressure with the deeper seat? Or with the reccomended 3.34?

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

So there is less pressure with the deeper seat? Or with the reccomended 3.34?

with rifles, usually a shorter seating length will develop less pressure.

Pistols can be different though, especially the small cases like 9mm luger. Short seating with them can be dangerous. The only reason I'm mentioning pistols is the rule ( shorter c.o.a.l. = lower pressure) doesn't hold fast across all reloading.

 

[boattailed bandit]

Alright, thanks for the info. I'm gonna give em a try hopefully today and see what happens. Just wonder if it will have any effect on accuracy and if so how much. Just gonna have to shoot and see.

 

[kcebcj]

So I let my neighbor borrow my reloading set-up last week to work up some rounds for his rifle. We both happen to shoot the same caliber and I had enough loose ones rolling around that I figured itd be okay for a bit. Anyways that being said I got it back the other day and proceeded to load last night. This is the Lee Classic loader, where you do it all by hand with a hammer, I'm still getting started mind you. Back to the point, I didn't happen to check my seating depth and apparently he had adjusted my dies so instead of the 3.32" overall length that I use it is now 3.19". I didn't notice till I did 5 of them and sat them in the box next to some others and noticed somthing wasn't right. I set my depth back to where it was and went back to loading but I'm curious about those short ones. If I fire those in my rifle will there be any chance of adverse effects with my rifle? The reccomended OAL for 270 win is 3.34" but I go 3.32" for personal preference. Not really sure why, I just do. I just wanted to know if I should just give these back to my neighbor and let him deal with it since that was apparently what he loaded his to, or if these are okay to shoot. Just wondering if there is a reason to reload that short that I don't know about or if its dangerous and I need to say somthing to him. Anybody got any info for me? If it helps the rifle is a stock browning a-bolt with a sporter barrel, so its not changed from factory in any way.

I ran the two numbers you posted of the overall length in Quick Load. Your load length of 3.320 and your friends load of 3.190. Shoving the bullet .130 deeper will increases pressure if the load is the same.

I used a 30-06 load I shoot with a COAL of 3.345 with a pressure of 50,130psi. I shoved the bullet to a COAL of 3.190 and the pressure jumped to 55,634psi. That is a 5,500 increase. Now if you have a mellow load there probably would be no danger but if you are at a max load with the 3.320 COAL you might have to replace the rifle and part of your face.

With me not knowing your loads my advice is to pull the bullets don't shoot them. Whenever there is a change to powder, seating depth or primer change drop your load back and work it back up watching for pressure change.


There is nothing wrong with a shorter COAL if the powder has been adjusted and the load worked up staying within a safe pressure. There are a lot of good books and software out there that can get you up to speed on all this little stuff that when combined makes a difference.

 

[SidecarFlip]

That is because pistol dynamics (straightwalled cases) and forcing cone in the beginning of the barrel on a pistol (revolver) impact the pill differently than with a bottlenecked case and pill. That, however, don't apply to a semi auto pistol like say a Glock 9 or a Kimber 45ACP, just a revolver.

Rule of thumb for safe reloading of any straightwalled pistol case or pistol rounds used in lever action rifles is always seat to SAMMI specs or longer (within the parameters of the firearm to be used) and never short seat.

Besides, unlike modern centerfire rifles, pistols (revolvers) have no way of venting an overpressure situation. Modern sporting rifles all have cross drilled side ports just for that scenario.

 

[boattailed bandit]

I ran the two numbers you posted of the overall length in Quick Load. Your load length of 3.320 and your friends load of 3.190. Shoving the bullet .130 deeper will increases pressure if the load is the same.

I used a 30-06 load I shoot with a COAL of 3.345 with a pressure of 50,130psi. I shoved the bullet to a COAL of 3.190 and the pressure jumped to 55,634psi. That is a 5,500 increase. Now if you have a mellow load there probably would be no danger but if you are at a max load with the 3.320 COAL you might have to replace the rifle and part of your face.

With me not knowing your loads my advice is to pull the bullets don't shoot them. Whenever there is a change to powder, seating depth or primer change drop your load back and work it back up watching for pressure change.


There is nothing wrong with a shorter COAL if the powder has been adjusted and the load worked up staying within a safe pressure. There are a lot of good books and software out there that can get you up to speed on all this little stuff that when combined makes a difference.

I shoot 140gr Nosler BT over 53gr of IMR 4350. It is what nosler data said was the most accurate load for that particular bullet and powder. I went out and shot those today just to see before ever reading your post. No adverse effects and it actually shrunk my group down from .85" to .78". That's 3 shots over the hood of a truck with a backpack for front support and my offhand for rear. If my rifle can handle this load over time I believe I have found a new favorite.

 

[boattailed bandit]

So I figure I will go ahead and ask this now since it is dealing with the same brass. After shooting one of the best groups out of my handloads I immediately went home to clean and reload them. Now I have more brass set back for when these go to crap on me, but I figure I could get 3-4 firings out of it before they are trash. Much to my demise when loading them the bullet literally falls down into the casing. My bushings hadn't been changed on my seating depth since them being set for 3.19. I mean if it wasn't for the powder it would have been setting on the primer. I thought at first that my bushing must have changed when re-priming my cases, remember it is the lee classic and there is a lot of beating on it throughout the process, so I backed it all the way out to start back to my preferred 3.19. It did fine until it got close to 3.25 and then shot right back down. This batch of brass has been fired twice. Am I to just assume that 2 firings is the most I can get out of my 270? Is this normal? Just curious because all of this has caught me off guard.

 

[kcebcj]

I shoot 140gr Nosler BT over 53gr of IMR 4350. It is what nosler data said was the most accurate load for that particular bullet and powder. I went out and shot those today just to see before ever reading your post. No adverse effects and it actually shrunk my group down from .85" to .78". That's 3 shots over the hood of a truck with a backpack for front support and my offhand for rear. If my rifle can handle this load over time I believe I have found a new favorite.

So I figure I will go ahead and ask this now since it is dealing with the same brass. After shooting one of the best groups out of my handloads I immediately went home to clean and reload them. Now I have more brass set back for when these go to crap on me, but I figure I could get 3-4 firings out of it before they are trash. Much to my demise when loading them the bullet literally falls down into the casing. My bushings hadn't been changed on my seating depth since them being set for 3.19. I mean if it wasn't for the powder it would have been setting on the primer. I thought at first that my bushing must have changed when re-priming my cases, remember it is the lee classic and there is a lot of beating on it throughout the process, so I backed it all the way out to start back to my preferred 3.19. It did fine until it got close to 3.25 and then shot right back down. This batch of brass has been fired twice. Am I to just assume that 2 firings is the most I can get out of my 270? Is this normal? Just curious because all of this has caught me off guard.

If brass is cared for 10 loadings is quite common and if annealing many more....if loads are not really hot.


Just for your awareness:

I checked my Nosler Manual and it shows a max of 52.5gr of IMR 4350 for the 140gr Nosler bullet at 3.340 COAL. The max chamber pressure with that bullet is 65,000psi. Quick Load shows the pressure of your load with a COAL of 3.340 at 55,678. When I run the load with a COAL of 3.190 the pressure reads 60,106psi.

Now all rifles are different and Quick Load is just a good guide to know where you are at but if you had no signs of pressure when shooting today things may be good but pay attention to the primers and brass after firing in the future.

 

[boattailed bandit]

So what do you think could be causing my problem? It's only been fired twice so I should still be good. I noticed that the cases are slightly, and I mean very slightly, longer than the others. Could it be that they just need trimming? Has anyone else had this problem?