Bullet seating die, bullet indexes off the?

[Troutslayer2]

Started into a new lot of ABLR 168 grain bullets. My OAL is .004" less on every one of them without changing my die. Is the ojive still the same distance from the lands? it is a basic RCBS seater die.

 

[Braunschweiger]

Sounds like that batch of bullets has a base-to-ogive difference or a longer tip which is "bottoming-out" in the seater stem. Will have to adjust die accordingly by backing it out 4 thou.

 

[Mikecr]

You can't even guess about land relationship without CBTO measure (instead of OAL).
I wouldn't change the die based solely on OAL.

 

[ShtrRdy]

The bullet seating die should touch the bullet along the curved portion of the nose of the bullet. In between the tip and the bearing surface. The length of the bullet between the base and the tip can vary.

 

[talltexanrancher]

I've experienced the same thing with a new batch of Speer 284 bullets. Called the company and the tech said that while oal can vary very slightly from batch to batch, all other measurement points would remain the same.