I'm not an old hat at handloading, but have done several hundred in a few .cal. Mainly rifle, but recently purchased a Win. Legacy 94 in 44 Mag. Picked up the die set used. In loadin the first cartridges, they measured out nicely, and compared to factory looked very nice. Not much of a crimp, and my seating depth was pretty much based on the comparison of the factory loads. The dies are not carbide, and the seating seemed a bit tough. Lubed the cartridges more, and it went a bit better.

The test shooting seemed smooth, and I like the Unique powder I used. Should I be doing more in checking the seating depth?

Thanks in advance

Hey Jayboid,

Welcome to the forum. You will get advice like "seat it just off the lands" and "find the right depth for your gun". I tried a couple of these things and didnt see enough difference to my Amature eyes (where extreme accuracy is concerned), In fact I found it a little unnerving messing with maximum tolerances and such, so I just went back to using the published OAL (over all length) in my loading manual for now, which I found was very close to what I needed anyway. I may test seating off the lands some more in the future as I refine things and learn.

The main thing with bullet seating is that if they are not seated deeply enough (touching the lands) then the bullet could get stuck in the throat and create a very hazardous situation. There is a different depth for each size and type of bullet.

Jaybird: Heres a response I just wrote on another thread about crimping with a Lee Factory Crimp die, but it is equally applicable when crimping with any die. If you'll follow this methodology, your loads will be more satisfactory.

For loads WHICH MUST BE CRIMPED for some reason (tubular magazine, some automatics, very heavy bullets in heavy-recoiling rifles) the Lee die is superior to most.

On the other hand, I doubt that you will ever see an improvement in accuracy by crimping rounds that don't require a crimp.

If you are currently seating and crimping in one operation with a conventional die QUIT IT RIGHT NOW! I can't think of anything more ruinous to accuracy than shoving a bullet deeper into the case mouth while simultaneously squeezing the case mouth against it. This unavoidably creates a scar on the bearing surface of the bullet, a stressed area in the jacket, and shaved off jacket material, at best, and at worst can cause a severe abberation in concentricity.

ALWAYS back your seating die off of the shellholder enough that the crimping constrictor doesn't bear against the case mouth when seating the bullet to final depth. Then, if you must crimp, back off the seating stem so that it no longer contacts the bullet, lower the die body to the proper depth and run your cartridges with seated bullet into the die in a second operation to crimp. A second operation is where you would substitute the Lee die for your seating die.