bullet seating depth

[Nsghunter]

I am still scouring the pages of Mr. Lee's handloading manual and I am learning alot! Next question is about bullet seating depth in light rifle loads. My understanding , as of yet,is that the if the bullet is seated to shallow it may not fit in a magazine ( and may not achieve a good pressure) and if it is too deep, it increases pressure.

If these statements are correct, could you use a starting load for rifle and seat the bullet a little deeper to decrease the recoil but still generate enough pressure to maintain performance?

 

[Jcalder]

A lot of ladder tests are done with the bullet in the lands or just a bit off.


Big or small, kill em all

 

[ADR]

I believe your first two statements to be correct.

My experiences with deep seated bullets is that it can affect accuracy. Even with starting loads there should be more than enough pressure for positive results. The only reasons I seat bullets deeper is 1) so they can be stacked in a magazine 2) if a rifle likes them that way-haven't seen many.

As a rule I set a couple thousandths of the rifling and don't play with much unless something else makes me.

 

[DaveB]

Some basic rules to live by:
1) Do not seat a bullet deeper in the brass than official specifications. You can jam pressure up very high. Plus, in nearly every instance accuracy will suffer as the bullet departs the brass and uneven pressure of the brass on the bullet cause the bullet to tilt, entering the lands at an angle.

2) A low level of powder in a case,particularly in magnums, is reportedly dangerous. If the Book starting load is 40 grains, and you want to charge the case with just 30, and seat the bulet deeper to get the pressure of a 40-grain charge, you are asking for trouble.

3) I have several rifles with bullets so long I load one in the chamber and one on top of the magazine. The accuracy I achieve by minimizing jump is more than worth a full magazine Many will disagree.

4) There are lots of ways to check pressure. First, look at your primer and see if it is cratered. Another way to check pressure is to look at FPS. You will need a chronograph.