Major problem with recoil and seating depth

21 August 2001, 05:00

<monyhunter>

I have a 7mm rem mag Tikka that I bought about 4 months ago. I have been hand loading all summer to get ready for this yearï¿½s elk and deer hunts. I have finally found a good load that will shoot 1 inch at 100 yards, so this weekend I loaded about 15 rounds to sight it in and fine-tune the load. Here is the load:

Barnes X XLC (blue coating)
140 grains
Reloader 25 = 70 grn
Fed GM215M primer
ww super brass

Anyway I normally will shoot one bullet at a time when I am shooting for load development. I have not used this gun for anything else so far. This past weekend, after I sighted the gun in at 1.5 inch high at 100 yards I decided to practice some off hand shooting. So I loaded three rounds in the clip and one in the chamber. I shot three of the rounds and then wanted to let the barrel cool a bit. While it was cooling I pulled the clip out to look at the bullet. What I found was the recoil of the three previous rounds had actually slammed the bullet against the front of the clip causing the bullet to be seated further in the case. I could tell this because some of the blue coating had been scrapped off where the bullet and the case touch. I don't know how much further it had been seated, but it looked like at least .05 inch.

The problem you see is my hunt starts in two weeks so there is no way I can test this to see if it is affecting accuracy. I just don't have enough time. If I have a one shot kill I won't have to worry, but you never know.

Has anyone else see this? What can I do in the next two weeks to fix this problem?

Thanks for your help,
Monyhunter

21 August 2001, 08:11

Dutch

It should not have too great an effect, but a somewhat quick, and inexpensive, way would be to grab a Lee crimp die, and put a slight crimp on the bullet. I have talked to Barnes about this, and they saw no problem doing this. HTH, Dutch.

P.S, that's my elk load too, except I use RL19.

21 August 2001, 08:44

<Bill>

Sounds like you may have insufficent neck tension, are you neck or partial sizing the cases?

I have loaded a huge variety of 7 Rem ammo, including the XLC in different guns and haven't experinced the problem you have.

That's my guess at least.

21 August 2001, 09:01

GeorgeS

The easiest 'fix' is to seat the bullets a bit deeper so that they don't slam against the front of the magazine box under recoil.

Make sure the loads shoot well with the new COAL.

I don't crimp bullets that don't have a cannelure (like the 'X'). Neck tension has always been sufficient, up to and including .375H&H.

George

------------------
Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

21 August 2001, 09:40

Big Bore

Ditto on the Lee die. You may find that using 1/4 turn crimp will improve your accuracy also. I was shooting the 140X in my 7mm STW and could never get it to break 1.5" until the crimp die came into play. One-quarter crimp put groups well below 1" and yes, it will crimp the X bullet even if there is no crimp groove. By the way, 1/2 turn crimp turned the groups into patterns, a bit too much of a good thing.

22 August 2001, 09:54

<monyhunter>

So I am going to take the advice and get a Lee crimp die today and try it out.

Will this affect accuracy at all?

Thanks for all your help. I have been to this site many time in the past, but for some reason never saw the forum link. I have missed out on months of great advice from such a great site. I have been a big fan of the huntchat.com site for about 6 months now. Too bad I could not have been involved with both sites for those six months.

I will keep you all posted on my results with the loads as well as my hunting trip in two weeks. Can't wait.

22 August 2001, 11:54

<10point>

I only crimp my straight walled but I should probably crimp everything.

Im convinced proper seating depth is the single most overlooked aspect of achieving maximum accuracy, and thus max confidence.

Buy the crimper, load, reseat, crimp some bullets in, and never look back. I agree that you might never notice the difference with the force seated bullets, but why take the chance. A different seat can also affect pressure's and , especially if your useing 1st run brass, you might get a bolt stick when you try to cycle for another shot on that trophy.

Its not worth it, your attention to detail is commendable.If anything crimping your bullets should improve your accuracy. Confidence in your load is also a factor in accuracy........10

24 August 2001, 16:50

tsiero

quote:
Originally posted by monyhunter:
I have a 7mm rem mag Tikka that I bought about 4 months ago. I have been hand loading all summer to get ready for this yearï¿½s elk and deer hunts. I have finally found a good load that will shoot 1 inch at 100 yards, so this weekend I loaded about 15 rounds to sight it in and fine-tune the load. Here is the load:
Barnes X XLC (blue coating)
140 grains
Reloader 25 = 70 grn
Fed GM215M primer
ww super brass
Anyway I normally will shoot one bullet at a time when I am shooting for load development. I have not used this gun for anything else so far. This past weekend, after I sighted the gun in at 1.5 inch high at 100 yards I decided to practice some off hand shooting. So I loaded three rounds in the clip and one in the chamber. I shot three of the rounds and then wanted to let the barrel cool a bit. While it was cooling I pulled the clip out to look at the bullet. What I found was the recoil of the three previous rounds had actually slammed the bullet against the front of the clip causing the bullet to be seated further in the case. I could tell this because some of the blue coating had been scrapped off where the bullet and the case touch. I don't know how much further it had been seated, but it looked like at least .05 inch.
The problem you see is my hunt starts in two weeks so there is no way I can test this to see if it is affecting accuracy. I just don't have enough time. If I have a one shot kill I won't have to worry, but you never know.
Has anyone else see this? What can I do in the next two weeks to fix this problem?
Thanks for your help,
Monyhunter

I put a muzzle brake on my Ruger 77 MK II and it solved a lot of problems.

tsiero

24 August 2001, 17:25

boltman

I've noticed bullet setback in calibers as small as the .257 roberts, what you've experienced isn't uncommon at all. I agree with the others, get the lee factory crimp die, I use it for all my hunting rounds. It works different than other crimpers and you don't have to have a cannelure to use it. Read the instructions and I recommend just a light crimp, no need to bear down on it. If anything the crimped rounds seem to shoot a bit better out of my rifles, definately not any worse. I've noticed I get more consistent velocities when using the die. For around $8 it's a great deal.

24 August 2001, 17:41

<txhunter>

Does anybody kow how much Lee would charge to make a crimp die for a wild cat, say a 270/300 RUM?

25 August 2001, 01:24

<monyhunter>

Ok everyone, thank you very much for the advice. I have purchased the crimp die and loaded 12 rounds last night to test tomorrow morning. I put about a 1/2 crimp on them. I will be sure to post the results here. I was getting good groups of 1", so it will be absolutely awesome if I can get better than that.

If things go well with improved accuracy, I may just get a crimp die for my .243 as well.

Thanks again. Look here tomorrow afternoon for the results.