The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Hi make a lot of 357/38 , 44 and 45 ammunition mainly with lead bullets , i'm using progressive or multistage presses to make it quicker and easier but I would like to make some simple gauges out of metal that would have a maximum and minimum overall length that I could maybe slot the bullet in to check suitability , this will probably be something like a 10 mm thick by maybe 50 mm wide plate , cut out on both sides with a maximum and minimum for the bullets to slip into . Given that lead bullets in carbines do not usually have to be seated that critically overall what sort of maximum and minimum in thousands of an inch would you consider to be a sensible tolerance? Thanks

What do your reloading manuals say on OAL for each calibre?

dromia wrote:What do your reloading manuals say on OAL for each calibre?

^^^this^^^

You'd possible be better served by a proper case gauge for each caliber.
Dillon do a couple of models that have several calibers per unit.

I use them for .357 & 12-gauge reloads, among others.
Money well spent

By bullet I am assuming you actually mean the bullet as opposed to the cartridge?

Are you using bullets with or without a cannelure, and are you taper or roll crimping?

Dustyman wrote:..... Given that lead bullets in carbines do not usually have to be seated that critically overall.....

Not strictly true... making cartridges even slightly over size will impair, or even screw completely, loading in an underlever.

I speak from experience.... while working up a load for my LBR I adjusted the seating die slightly, so my target loads were a few thou over the max COL for .357.
This meant they didn't load cleanly in the Underlever, which dropped me a few shots at Phoenix.

The SAAMI COL for .357 is 1.405 to 1.590 inch, ,38 Special is 1.275 to 1.550

We wouldn't advise using coal, of any size, at all...

thanks gents , ill expand a bit ( too late , I'm already over weight ! )
yes dromia , cartridge , apologies for my use of poor terminology i never reread carefully enough the post before submitting ,
The lee book says 1.610 " but i understand this to be the maximum and dependent upon the bullet weight and size i have understood you can come back from this to suit your bullet /rifle and it can jump to suit e.g. like using 38 in a 357 as an extreme jump .

to be more specific , as in my 44 load , I'm using a 200r , rnfp with lube and a cannelure , I'm using a lee crimp die on the last stage and crimping so the case closes in just behind the foremost edge of the cannelure to stop the bullet being moved back by recoil in the tubular magazine . The loaded cartridge feeds well and shoots reasonably well but because i use a progressive press i feel there must be some variation in the overall length due to a number of factors. Such as the tolerances of the lead bullets , and of course the big variation i feel i could interject by applying greater or lesser pressure on the arm of the press or not operating the press correctly each time . I was therefore looking for a way to effectively do a simple " quality control " check every say ten rounds and see if the length was within a tolerance . I know the better way is to measure to the ogive but its the faffing about with a vernier every time and really with these rounds it more about number rather than perfect identical rounds every time . I do more accurate measuring with my other rifles but really since I'm shooting short ranges , open sights with these pistol calibre rifles , i think my accuracy issue far outstrips the effects made by variations in cartridge overall length .

as an example I've just made up a number of 44s , these varied from 1.557 to 1.564 , with the bulk in the 60 -63 range , these are a typical batch from the press that i have been using for some time with acceptable accuracy for me . Im not so much looking to batch these cartridges and discard the highs and low but i was more thinking in the realms of ensuring any dramatic changes in oal are picked up e.g. should some debris be lodged in the seater or a stiff primer seating effects the whole press movement and increase the final oal or the cartridge in the seater at that time .

So i was thinking of a simple form of GO-NO GO setup to quickly offer regular cartridges to to monitor the operation of the press , hence the question of what would be a sensible max , min . . would appreciate your thoughts , thankyou

oh , and could i not use powdered coal in place of the powder ? if so I'm, sure the badgers would be able to offer a plentiful supply from their subterranean domain ? :-)

Jesus man, you're over thinking the issue. If your rounds load ok and cause no problems I'd do some load development if you haven't already as that's a sure way to improve accuracy and then practice. You'll find bigger improvements by doing that rather than faff about with seating depth for your Underlever.