Im using once fired brass mixed. Loading 47 grs AA4350 and 115 gr Berger VLD in 25-06Rem. By the book OAL is 3.250
Once loaded i have some right on the button.
Out of the 25 rounds loaded tonight 5-6 measure 3.251 ....10 or so 3.253.....and 5 are 3.245.

Im not loading for match quality, just hunting rounds.

Any ideas on making oal more consistant?
And are these safe to shoot?
I know measuring from the ogive is a more consistant way to measure true oal. and i didnt measure the bullets themselves under the impression these would be consistant being match bergers. thanks

quote:

I know measuring from the ogive is a more consistant way to measure true oal

you answred your question.
.002 or .003 is pretty good you can change that much how hard or soft you move the handle.
I have modified the seater plug to match the tip of the bullet.
Dave

I only have the ability to measure ogive with 22 cal bullets right now because thats the only attachment i have. I know the ones that are .002 -.003 arn't enough to matter much espcially for hunting rounds...just wondering why it varied from 3.250 to 3.245. could this be caused my how hard or soft i moved the charging handle? I always try to take it slow and easy.

A small part could be caused by the way you use the press handle. I do a lot of long range 1000+ yard shooting, and have read a number of benchrest type reloading books over the past 2 decades. One tip I read recently suggested seating bullets with two strokes of the handle; seat the bullet, then stroke the handle again. The author said it helped make seating depth more consistent. I have not measured enough seated bullets using this method to confirm or deny this.
One thing I can tell you, measuring oal from bullet tip to base of case is not an accurate measurement. Tip length of the Berger VLD bullets will vary by a few thousandths. You have to measure ogive to get a meaningful seating depth measurement.

quote:

Originally posted by Brennanc9093:
I only have the ability to measure ogive with 22 cal bullets right now because thats the only attachment i have.

That doesn't matter. You can use that for your bullets too. It's all relative anyway.

You're chasing ghosts with a variance of .005 if you are not measuring on the ogive. The bullet tip variance can easily cause that much, even on Match bullets. Thats why they came out with tip uniforming tools. The important dimension is on the ogive. Until you measure somewhere on the ogive, even with your .22 insert would be better, you really don't know what you have. The seating die works off the ogive of the bullet and as long as the die is clean and setup properly, just about any die will repeat within a couple thousandths as long as the cases are properly prepared. I don't think this helps OAL consistancey but for better concentricity with standard dies, I seat the bullet about halfway, and then rotate the case 180 degrees and finish seating. Seems to load straighter ammo that way.

gzig5 has a great tip. Rotate 190 degrees and finish seating. I've found more consistency with length, and, as he says straighter ammo.