Hornady lock & load and bullet seating

[sstewart]

Using Hornady 10 mm dies
Longshot powder
Lee FCD

My issue is my variability and seating depth
I get 1.56 to 1.66
That seems like a lot
Using Rainer 180 gr hp bullets

[Pinsnscrews]

The seating is 1.25-1.26 depending on bullet/manufacturer and load date for the powder manufacturer.

Is your Hornady die that .40/10mm combo or a dedicated 10mm die?

Mine are the Lee .40/10mm 4 die set, and it took some fiddling to get the seating die right where I wanted it. I plan on down the road getting a dedicated carbide precision die set, but that is because I also plan to have special seating plugs made to match some bullet noses perfectly to help concentric seating. Mine are "straightish" and have a noticeable wiggle at the nose when rolled across a piece of glass.

[sqlbullet]

I am gonna assume you left a "2" out of your COAL.  eg. 1.256" - 1.266"

I get some variability, but usually less than .010".  Maybe .002-.003"

Are the dies locked down with a locking ring?  Is your pull on the lever consistent.  I strive for the same level of "clunk" bottom and top of stroke.  Some guys work at no "clunk", but that is a recipe for non-uniformity.  You shouldn't batter you press, but it does need to be consistent pressure.

[my_old_glock]

Lube your cases; even though they say you don't need to use lube with carbide dies. I use Hornady Unique case lube.

Tight brass cases cause the ram to stay lower. If the ram is lower, the bullets seat higher. Mixed brass does it the worst.

That is one of the pain in the rears I have come to expect with the Hornady press.

I usually will resize and deprime all my brass cases first, then clean in soap water and polish in a tumbler, then run it through the normal loading process minus the sizing die. I get more accurate ammo that way.


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[sstewart]

Yes I dropped the .2
What I learned after talking to hornady tech-support was to keep the plate full.  I was feeding two at a  time through. The added pressure seems to give me more consistent results. I will give some of these other tips a try.

[sw.sharpe]

I have had similar problems with the Hornady Lock-n-load. Basically, if I do not keep a full loading plate the seating depth is deeper then when I have the plate filled. In my experience with this progressive loader, you must set the bullet depth when the plate is full. My theory is that the added friction (sizer, de-primer, taper, crimp) all conspire to flex the loader just enough to make the bullet seating-depth a few hundredths less (for full versus partial plate). Note that I have separate crimp and seating dies.