A few Bullets Seated Crooked

[Lee Q. Loader]

Friend and I loaded about 80 rounds of .223 a few nights ago. We used all LC '17 brass and 40 grain Varmageddon bullets to an OAL of 2.248

I like to roll a few across the bench to see if the bullets are seated straight, about 5 of the 80 rounds had a little (very little, but still noticeable) wobble in the tip.
I really have no idea why this would happen.
We use the Hornady die with the seating sleeve that helps keep the bullet straight during seating.

Could it be something to do with the brass prep? Too little or too much chamfer?

I'm guessing these will be safe to shoot, but not very accurate, but I'm not sure about that either.

 

[Blue68f100]

More than likely you had a burr on the case mouth that did not get removed when you chamfered the case. Flat base bullets require a little more than the BT do. It will hurt your accuracy a little depending on range your shooting.

 

[Allen One1]

It will most likely have nothing to do with the seating die. Check the rim of the case mouth for any cracks, nicks or burrs, look at the shoulder to see if you have any distortion or lube dents. It may have more to do with how you size the case and how you are aligning the case as it is entering the sizing die. It would be good if you could check the run out on the case neck after sizing.

 

[243winxb]

If the seat stem/plug makes contact with the bullet nose first, bullets can be crooked.
The seating stem must contact the bullets ogive only. Check fit.

At times, a special order seating stem is needed. Mostly for VLD bullet types.

Some flat base bullets need a helping hand , when being started into the seating die.

 

[Reinz]

About a year ago I read an article in a gun mag about crooked Bullets. The author wanted to see how it affected accuracy. Turns out the crooked ones shot more accurately than the straight ones.

I don’t remember any other details.

 

[Walkalong]

Trim brass to get square case mouths, lightly chamfer/deburr, check seating stem fit and start them straighter, the die can't do it all, sleeve or not.

 

[PWC]

I found using the Lee hand trimmer (pim thru flash hole contacs holder for positive stop) would leave micro burr inside case mouth that would turn out when the mandrel was withdrawn. After inside deburr and using calipers to measure OAL at 3 places around mouth would sometimes vary 1-2 thousandths, indicating the mouth wasn't square. More agressive deburr would get rid of it.

Don't know how you trim brass, but maybe you are experiencing a similar problem.

 

[AJC1]

There are a couple of places it can come from, sizing being the one most often discussed. How well did the seating stem fit the bullet you were loading. Have you tried adding any flare to the mouth prior to loading? This helps a lot with lead bullets but may help if your loading flat base and if your using something like a factory crimp die, would not hinder your end product.

 

[sage5907]

There is one step that you can take that could help. When you are sizing the case run it up into the die and when you pull it back down out of the die take your finger and push the case head all the way into the shell holder and hold it there until the expander starts pulling on the case. There is a tendency that when the case comes out of the die the base of the case pops away from the back of the shell holder and the expander ball bends the neck out of alignment with the case body. I have seen this happen especially on small diameter case necks.

 

[film495]

the only time I've seen this, I hadn't quite flared the case mouth quite enough, and the bullets were difficult to set to sit straight in the case to seat them. I though the die would straighten them, but it didn't end up working that way and I got a few rejects that ended up a touch off center. to remedy this, I didn't need to go back and flair the cases further, I just started rotating the case in the holder a few times, when starting the seating process, and this got the rest of the rounds to seat fully straight. rotating the case, and touching it to the seater stem 2 or 3 times quickly, seemed to make sure the bullet was corrected from any variation in being off center at all.

 

[Lee Q. Loader]

This is a great amount of help from all of you. Thank you!
I'll try all the suggestions listed before I resort to flaring the brass. In my mind that would be the last thing to try if the other suggestions don't help.

I did go the cheap route on the trimmer. I bought WCT, world's cheapest trimmer. I'll be sure to check the brass and make sure the trim is square.

 

[Blue68f100]

With the Hornady seating die, spin the case when you contact the sleeve. This will help align it up in the center. Would not expand the case, use the chamfer with the flatter angle with flat base bullets.

 

[Lee Q. Loader]

I loaded up about 20 rounds last night. I double checked and did everything in the above suggestions(except bell the case mouth). I had no wobblers! Thanks for all the great advice. I'll keep all these things in mind for the future.

 

[FROGO207]

Keeping the seating punch clean and taking my time to seat the bullet have helped me the most. Note: I always chamfer the inside of the case mouth as part of my bottle necked case prep routine as I do my final inspection. Also some flat based bullets that still try to seat crooked I will lower and turn 180 degrees as I start and then finish seating. Fat based bullets in 300 Savage with a couple types.