Rounds won’t plunk.

Mark the bullet with a Sharpie. Keep seating the bullet deeper and deeper in small increments until the lands of the rifling no longer shows marks on the bullet. Then seat .015" deeper.

Yes will probably have to go deeper. I put an Ed Brown match barrel on my Ruger 1911 and the chamber is so tight I have to seat bullets with barely 1/16" bearing surface outside the case mouth or they won't fit.

Same for all calibers. Rifle and pistol.

jmuv said:

I purchased a box of Berry 200g flat point. I loaded five to recommended length of 1.245 and they won’t plunk in my xdm or my super Blackhawk. I believe that it’s because of the profile of the bullet. Can I seat the bullet deeper? What is too deep? I understand that I wii have to reduce the powder charge. The published range for Acc #2 is 5.0 to 5.9g. I am not interested in max loads just accurate loads. Please advise.

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Recheck your data sources. The recommended COAL for that bullet is 1.2050”.

jmuv said:

45acp

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If deeper doen't work ... I make up dimmy rounds to test and keep them for future seating guidance ...
You may have a tight / min. tolerance chamber(s) ... I have one revolver that will not plunk unless the cast bullets are sized .451" ... if they are sized .452" ...no plunk ! Size bullet to .451" ...plunks .
But it only happens in this one tight chambered revolver but it happens in all 5 chambers !
Something to look at while looking ... Usually deeper seating will solve the problem ...and a little deeper seating is not dangerous , start at minimum powder charge and work up slowly ... you will be fine .
Book COL numbers don't always work 100% ...the round has to plunk or you get the Jamb !
So many new pistols have little or no throat and the bullet jambs into the rifling ...don't want that .
The reason I mentioned the tight chamber was for the Ruger Blackhawk ... it should have a decent throat ... but look for both issues !
Gary

Shoot it!

jmuv said:

I seated the bullet in a unprimed case. I had to seat to an oal of 1.150 before the dummy would plunk in my xdm barrel. Published oal is 1.245. Still won’t fit the Blackhawk. How low should I reduce the powder charge due to the shorter length? Published range is 5.0 to 5.9 at 1.245.

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Published where? Hodgdon site says different.

Start at the Starting charge, seat to plunk, and go shoot. The only caveat is to be sure you have a good plunk test, and it's not a flare or case malformation hanging up.

I make up a dummy round with no crimp, seat the bullet again no crimp and slow chamber it in my tightest gun meaning I ride the slide down. Then measure the oal take .015 off that measurement plunk test. If ok start at lowest powder charge and work up. I don’t ever exceed max, some do.

d

jmuv said:

Lee book for 200 grain copper plated.

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The screen shot I posted above is specifically for the Berry’s 200gr plated FP. The Lee data is for a generic copper plated bullet. Berry’s bullets links to recommended data sources and Hodgdons is one. I would recommend sticking with data that matches the bullet and powder you’re using but it doesn’t hurt to work through seating and charge ranges the long way. I was just curious where you were getting those numbers.

Max COAL length is just that, the max length that should fit in any SAMMI chamber. I have a 9mm that requires some bullets to be loaded at 1.06 instead of the recommended 1.12. As long as you aren't at or near max charge, a 0.05 shorter COAL is not going to hurt any. If you are at the max charge, then drop back 10% and work back up.

For a peg (cartridge) to fit in a hole (chamber), it must be smaller than the hole (chamber). First step would be to find out where the cartridge is too big (measure!). Once you find out where the cartridge is too big, you will have a good idea when it happens and correct the problem. Measure the OD in a few places on the cartridge. Bulges? Over crimping? Back off crimp die. Too large dimeter bullet? Resize or use correct diameter bullet. OD large all along the case? Check sizing die (measure case after sizing). Too long OAL? Seat deeper. Case too long? Trim case. Using a step by step troubleshoot will work quicker and better than a WAG or "shotgun" diagnosis...

Berry's website says OAL 1.205 - try that?