I posted this question in another forum without much response, but maybe I will have more luck here.

Help me understand what surface of a bullet makes contact with the die to determine how deep it is seated into the case mouth.

In my mind, which is quite feeble at best on the technical aspects of reloading, I would think the ogive on whatever bullet is being used, would be seated to the same depth. Of course, this can only happen if it is the ogive that is being used to push the bullet down. If this is not the case in any make of die, why couldn't it be? Would it not be a novel approach to model a die in such a way that the ogive of any type, model, or design of a bullet, be seated consistently by where the ogive falls inside the die? As a result, there would be no reason to adjust the die when trying to seat to the same distance from the lands regardless of a bullet change or different lot. I understand the different tapers on bullets, but if the ogive is used as the point of contact, it wouldn't matter would it?

I'm not sure I am presenting my question in a manner that can be understood, and I may be oversimplifying the seating process. Any clarification on this will be appreciated. Jim R

The seater does contact the ogive, at least at some point on it. The ogive is the curved part of the bullet from where it is at full diameter to the tip, quite a long area. Then again on a flat or round nose design it could be very short.........

The problem is, that even if the seater die inserts were standardized as you have described, there is so much variation in chambering reamers (freebore, etc) that it would make standardization for more than one gun impractical.

Geronimo

quote:

Originally posted by Ol` Joe:
The seater does contact the ogive, at least at some point on it. The ogive is the curved part of the bullet from where it is at full diameter to the tip, quite a long area. Then again on a flat or round nose design it could be very short.........

OK, but the ogive is the ogive whether it is a NBT, SMK, or Berger. I mean to say that if it is a 6.5mm bullet, the ogive measures the same in diameter as another 6.5 bullet, no? The taper may be different, the length of the bullet seated in the case may be different, but the ogive diameter would not change. If the die itself is using the ogive as a point of contact, wouldn't it be that the distance from the lands never change from bullet to bullet?

I guess I am still not clear on what surface of the die is making contact with the bullet when seating it. Thanks for the replies. I will try to worry more important things........Jim R

The seater plug is 3/16th from the tip is where it contacts the bullet, to answer your question. On a NBT, that is, probably less on a MatchKing. Jay

quote:

I mean to say that if it is a 6.5mm bullet, the ogive measures the same in diameter as another 6.5 bullet, no? The taper may be different, the length of the bullet seated in the case may be different, but the ogive diameter would not change.

No. The ogive is the entire curved or "tapered part of the bullet in front of the full diameter shank. The ogive is usually measured in calibers but inches work also. The 6.5 with various wgt bullets may have a ogive lenght of say 0.20 to 0.85" as an example. (these aren`t true measurments just guesses) the seating stem of your die will contact the ogive, but where on its lenght will vary.

OK, lets get the definitions out of the way first. As mentioned earlier, the ogive is the portion of the bullet that is forward of it's cylindrical bore diameter. A seating die may impinge the bullet at any point along the ogive and push it into the case. What I think you are asking is why can't the seating stem be designed so that the stem contacts all bullets at the same point on the ogive and therefore all bullets could be seated at to an equal distance from the lands with no die adjustment.

This is possible, but not practicle. If the contact point of the seating stem was bore diameter and was cut to a 90 degree angle, it would do what you are proposing. The drawback would be that the contact patch between the stem and the bullet would be very small and would bite into the bullet causing a mark and also retracting the loaded round mite need some force depending on the ogive profile. The second and main drawback is that all bullet seaters are cut to a profile that is tapered which helps guide the bullet into alignment with the case neck. The 90 degree angle required for consistent depth relative to the lands will not help the bullet nearly as much as the tapered profiles currently in use. Runout would suffer greatly.

The way this design could work would be with one of the chamber type seaters that don't rely on the seating stem to help the bullet align. It would mark the bullets however.

Gabe

Cool! Ok, I see the simple mindedness of my question now, and I appreciate the thooughtful response. That makes good sense to me and I thank you. Now, it's off to the woods for the next 5 day, yee haw!!! Jim R