Shoot or pull?

[bikemutt]

I neck sized 30 rounds of new Alpha brass yesterday, every piece had the same "feel" with the Lee collet die. I primed and charged them, then sat down to seat 140 gr Hornady HPBTs with a Forstner micrometer seating die. All rounds were to be seated at the same CBTO. I always return the micrometer to a point just outside the CBTO depth, seat, measure, adjust die, re-seat.

Everything was going textbook until the third to last round when I notice it seated unusually easier than the others. I measure it and it's a full 12/1000 seated deeper than my target CBTO right from the get-go.

Anyway, I set it aside and seated the next to last round without adjusting the die; it's textbook, needed 4/1000 more to hit target.

I'm thinking this is an imperfect bullet. I can't imagine the brass would be to blame even if the neck tension was off which allowed the bullet to "fall" in; the bullet cannot be pulled by hand. I've inspected the bullet and don't see anything which would be a clue as to why it felt, and measured so different.

One side of me says just shoot the darn thing and forget about it, the other side wonders if there's a potential safety issue and maybe I should pull the bullet and discard it. I know it's just one round, not a big deal, but in the 100s if not 1000s I've loaded, this is the first time I've seen one like this.

Wondering if anyone here has seen this? Shoot or pull?

Thanks

[gman47564]

a learning experience !!! pull it... not because its unsafe to shoot but to see if another one seats as it should in the case... figure out if its the case or the bullet chris...

[bikemutt]

Grant, I took your advice and pulled it.

I neck sized the brass again then I figured I load a new bullet before priming and charging.

I set the seating die exactly where I always start and seated the new bullet.

I'm stunned, it seated 12/1000 too deep 

So, now I know it's the brass, I just can't wrap my head around how that's even possible.

[gman47564]

well you know its not the bullet... could there be a burr or something on the base of the case holding it up off the base of the press..  probably just something in the brass not letting the collet die size it right... ( springing back) giving less neck tension on it which isn't putting the same pressure on the seating die allowing the bullet to go in deeper... you might anneal the case chris and see if that fixes it... if not pitch it...

[Ranger 188]

If you eliminated the bullet, then it's the brass and one piece
isn't worth the trouble. 
If it's acting weird and you shoot it and forget which
one it is later, you'll always wonder which one it is.
Pitch it now and forget about it.   

[gman47564]

before I pitched it I would anneal it and see if it did the same thing...  see if I could learn something from it.. but that's just me...

[bikemutt]

Grant, second time around the seating pressure felt normal as compared to the other rounds.

I can't find a burr on the base, then again I wonder what a 0.012 burr looks like, lol.

I'll use it when I run the Analyse function of the AMP annealer since that destroys the sample anyway.
 

[Fuj]

Two more areas that will cause that problem....The die itself,
and the fitness of the press and ram. Some think that using a
micrometer die is accurate, and it should be but, your still at
the mercy of an accurate bullet shape to nose punch.....Ram
slop is another gremlin causing, under or, over travel. I spent
some time refurbishing my RCBS presses, and had all mated,
moving surfaces hard chromed.....As for Alpha brass !! My 100 pc
lot is dead soft. Doing my dummy rounds, and using a .002 smaller
neck, I never felt the bullet seat.....What press are you using ??

[gman47564]

Pretty sure he's using a coax press fuj.

[bikemutt]

Yup, using a Forstner Co-Ax.

I can imagine the die having something gum up the works but I don't believe that's the case here. This one was round 28 of 30, 29 and 30 seated perfectly. Then I pull the bullet from 28, seat a new bullet and get the same outcome.

[mobenzowner]

I'd just color the case or the bullet green or red and use it as a fouler/sighter shot.  Then discard the brass after firing.  It shouldn't cause any safety hazard at all being off only 12/1000 unless you are already shooting a hot load at max pressure that is already dangerous...

[JD 500]

Could the issue have been the thickness of the Neck Wall on just that one piece of brass ?  (I know you said it was new brass)

Are you able to measure is vs. rest of lot ?

Just curious.