Non concentric projectiles

[northdude]

So had a bit of a whoopsie reloading some grendel ammo. After about 15 rounds I noticed for some reason they werent seated concentric. I didnt measure it but you can easily see it buy eye. s**t now what am I going to do? I know ill do a test and see how badly it affects the accuracy of this particular rifle. Its a howa mini and im running a supressor as well. To my surprise it still shot how it normally does. I even loaded the rounds so the projectiles were facing a different way each time one was chambered

[JohnV]

What can happen is the projectile gets straightened up as it chambers or if you have the projectile entering the lands it cancels it out somewhat .
It's less of an issue if the brass is fire formed and a good concentric fit to start with . A sloppy excessively re-sized case laying in the bottom of the chamber with a crooked seated bullet that has a big jump to the lands is more of a problem . There is many variables in this and some bullet designs , shapes and construction methods will be worse than others at resisting in-bore yaw .

[dnedative]

I've shot wiggley loose surplus ammunition, always shot the same as the stuff that wasnt loose.
It never going to be super accurate but most bullets self align well enough when fired.

[JohnV]

A lot depends on what accuracy you are getting to test with. If your ammo , gun and you is only capable of average accuracy then it's harder to see what short coming's in the ammo have caused what loss of accuracy . If you are shooting really tight match quality groups then it's easier to see any shortcomings .
Long bullets with a very short bearing length are more prone to in-bore yaw .

[deye243]

Sounds like you need a decent seating.die but what you can do now for the ones you have not shot is put them back in the seating die a few times each time do a quarter turn in the same Direction do it until you've gone around one rotation and then rolling across the desktop if they have not straightened up you need a decent seating die no question

[bigpete]

I don't think he's that fussed.....

[northdude]

I don't think he's that fussed.....

yea they still shoot the same as straight ones so not going to loose any sleep over it. not sure exactly what went wrong this time been using the same seating die for years and this is the first time I've ever had this happen with my handloads. I guess first step is to take die apart and clean and inspect it.

[Oldbloke]

Sounds like you need a decent seating.die but what you can do now for the ones you have not shot is put them back in the seating die a few times each time do a quarter turn in the same Direction do it until you've gone around one rotation and then rolling across the desktop if they have not straightened up you need a decent seating die no question

How does that happen?
Never seen it myself.

[SCJ429]

Sometimes you can bend the necks on your brass and that can cause runout, especially if you use expander balls. You can also check that the shell holder is nice and clean. Some dirt in it can raise one side of the case. If you jam the pills into the lands, it helps to keep everything a bit better aligned.

[Oldbloke]

I recall someone here saying if you neck size using a FLS die (which i often do) that will happen pretty often. But I haven't had that issue.

[JohnV]

Some new reloaders tend to be a bit harsh on the press handle and smash the bullet in , in one pass . Take it slow and easy a bit at a time and rotate the case as stated by deye243 . Also check and clean the seating stem cavity . Sometimes when you change bullet designs the bullets seating stem cavity is not the right shape for the new bullet . This happens a bit with the more modern high number ogive sharp pointy bullets . The meplat ( point ) of the bullet hits the end of the cavity instead of the sides of the cavity landing on the sides of the ogive behind the meplat .

[JohnV]

I recall someone here saying if you neck size using a FLS die (which i often do) that will happen pretty often. But I haven't had that issue.

Proper cleaning inside and outside of the case neck and outside body , an annealed case or one that's not too hard at the neck shoulder area , a clean die and correct lubing will resist the possibility of distorting the necks or dragging the shoulder out . Most people have trouble because they don't clean and lube properly . Having said that I like to separate neck and body sizing it makes the whole job easier and more accurate .