Reloading Question

[In God We Trust]

So here is the story. I was loading some .300 Win Mag rounds today. I loaded 5 with Nosler 180 E-Tip/ 77 grains of H 1000 and 5 with 79 grains of H1000. I then put away the H1000 and loaded 5 165 grain Accubonds with 69 grains of H4350 then 5 with 71 grains of H4350. Just like the Nosler book recommends.
I goofed up while loading the 165 grain Accubonds. I forgot to change out the H1000 from my trickle feeder. So on a couple of the Accubond rounds I ended up adding between .1 and .4 grains of H1000 to top off the pan with 69 or 71 grains of H4350 before pouring it into the case and adding the bullet. Will this make a difference? These are test rounds and I am looking at shooting the 4 different loads through my rifle so I can find the most accurate load. The old timer I load with said it shouldn't matter but I am not sure. Thanks for any help.

 

[tdcour]

Well, I wouldn't worry about that much to be honest. I would say that it wouldn't burn much different to effect your bullet flight, but I would also pay attention to that group especially just in case. When in doubt, you could just pull the bullets apart and re-powder them so you don't waste the bullet.

 

[bdan68]

I wouldn't think that small amount of the different powder would matter much either. I'd just go ahead and shoot them the way they are.

 

[Sawfish]

Be sure that your E-Tip bullets are seated no closer than .050 to the rifling.

 

[In God We Trust]

Be sure that your E-Tip bullets are seated no closer than .050 to the rifling.

Why is that? I have always loaded Accubonds and decided to try the E-Tip due to the better B.C and weight retention. I noticed the Nosler Manual recomends you load the E-Tip bullet .03 shorter OAL then the rest of their bullets in the 180 grain weight class.

 

[In God We Trust]

Be sure that your E-Tip bullets are seated no closer than .050 to the rifling.

I am fairly new to reloading. How do you find the distance you are talking about? I understand the concept of backing it off .05 but how do you find the point that it gets into the rifling. I have always just loaded it to Nosler recommendation which is SAAMI. For the .300 they recommend 3.330 as the OAL for Accubonds. For the E-Tip they recommend 3.300. I just loaded the E-Tips to the same length as I load the Accubonds which is 3.340

 

[Sawfish]

I am fairly new to reloading. How do you find the distance you are talking about? I understand the concept of backing it off .05 but how do you find the point that it gets into the rifling. I have always just loaded it to Nosler recommendation which is SAMI. For the .300 they recommend 3.330 as the OAL for Accubonds. For the E-Tip they recommend 3.300. I just loaded the E-Tips to the same length as I load the Accubonds which is 3.340

That was exactly what I did when Nosler brought out its E-Tip bullets. At that time there were no special instructions for seating the E-Tip. I loaded 100 gr. E-Tips to the same OAL that I used for the same weight Ballistic Tips in my 25/06 Encore, which is under SAAMI Max. OAL. I also used the same powder charge of A-4350 that I used with the BT, which is below Accurate's recommended maximum. First shot with the E-Tip rewarded me with a blown primer. I understand that Nosler has since modified its seating instructions for E-tip bullets. Hornady sells a simple and relatively inexpensive tool to measure seating depths for different bullets. You will also need a modified case for your caliber (also from Hornady).

 

[Musket Man]

You can start with the bullet set .100 or so longer then your specs and keep bringing it in .005-.010 until your bolt will close easily on it to figure out where it contacts your rifling. If the bullet is seated to close to or contacting the rifling it can cause very high pressures. It is always safer to be on the short side. The Hornady reloading book explains this pretty well. Reloading books show the max COL and some like the Hornady book give the COL they used for their testing for each bullet.

 

[In God We Trust]

I bought the tool and special case from Midway today. Thanks for the help Sawfish.

 

[Sawfish]

I bought the tool and special case from Midway today. Thanks for the help Sawfish.

You are welcome. FYI, when starting out with a new caliber, I measure the COL for each bullet, and record them in a chart in my reloading book. After I find the optimum length for my rifle (or pistol), I add that information to the chart. Saves a lot of time on future projects. Because the leade (throating) is different in each rifle/pistol, you will need a separate chart for each gun, if you have multiple guns in the same caliber.

For ease of use, I have made up my own bench loading books using a 3 ring binder. This allows me to have more information for the calibers that I load, rather than a book full of calibers in very small type! You can buy pages, or make your own using the table formatting in Windows, which makes editing easier. My tables show bullet; powder; charge weight; primer; velocity and seating depth; and a space for comments. If I have more than one gun in a caliber, I add a second chart for velocity. My load section for each caliber includes a number of mini-charts for case weights; COL; CHE (case head expansion); Range Notes; Reloading Notes; and Hunt Notes. After fifty years of loading compilation, it takes up a few books, but is worth the effort. When I dig an old friend out of the gun safe, it is helpful to be able to look up my most successful loads with that gun, and what load it was sighted in with, when last used. Sorry for the run on.