Question about temperature and reloading

[pushpullpete]

I have only been reloading for about 12yrs and had something weird happen this evening that gave new meaning to the term "shrinkage" & I was wondering if anyone else has experienced it. I moved my press into the garage last year.
I received my replacement sub-plate from Hornady, BIG thank you to Hornady & Shannon, a tech there (the e-zject boss was worn out on mine). I installed it, made the necessary adjustments to the press and was off & working. I started w 9mm, when the press indexed around to the bullet feed die, the bullet dropped INTO the case, all the way into it. OK, I'm pretty anal but, I have obviously screwed up. No, apparently not. After much check & double check and more bullets dropping into multiple cases, I started measuring bullets. The bullets mic'ed between .3525 and.3535, not .356 that I ordered from Berrys last year. This was a new box so I figured they just packed them incorrectly ? Then on a thought I checked the 38/357, 40, 44 & 45 bullets, ALL were undersize by 2 to 3 thousandths. Various manufacturers, Ranier, Extreme & Berrys. The boxes of bullets are stored on the bottom shelf on an exterior wall. My laser thermometer said the temp was 58. I brought the bullets into the house and let them warm up on the kitchen counter where it was 70. An hour an a half later the bullets were up to .3545-355. I understand temp affecting the expansion/contraction of material but was very surprised by the amount of change. Thoughts ? Pete

[threoh8]

Did you use a micrometer or calipers?
When did you last calibrate your micrometer or calipers?

[pushpullpete]

Morning,
Thanks. Digital micrometer, it gets zero'd then checked with a .005 piece of shim stock multiple times per session. I really am pretty anal. I was just really surprised at the change in size. That made me rethink (overthink?) some of my previous rounds. I randomly pulled some out, measured & tried to compress them and couldn't. No change in size. I pulled the bullet and had minimal or no damage to the plating, they have since been reloaded. I have always loaded in a temp controlled area. I have a heater in my work area but did not turn it on before I started to work. I felt good & didn't realize how cool it really was. Odd thing to have happen but I'm glad it happened early in the session. Fewer rounds to go through and check. Pete

[powerboatr]

i read your post about an hour before i reloaded 400 45 ACPs
i kept what you had written in my brain and watched my load and looked for any oddities.
i wanted to see if slight temp changes did anything to change my loads. it may or may not help your issue, but i figured a different loader or different processes may help you solve your issue with the bullets
i have used berrys bullets exclusively since i started re-loading, brass is "all the above" no aluminum, coated or weird brands
i have found some brass is heavier than the others,
room temp was 68 and bullets at start were 62
the dillion was room temp

my die opens the neck just enough to place the bullet on the case, with a just a touch of of enough bullet sliding past the neck to hold itself as the machine lifts the assembly up into the seating die

i had zero bullets drop or do any weird things
as i mentioned the resizing of the neck is only widened enough to sit the bullet on the case, enough to hold the bullet, but not let it go to seat depth until the press seats it.

i thought about your post and could only come up with my experience using the dillion square deal B
i check all settings at each start of load event, and once during the event at at around 400 rounds.
i check powder weights at 1st ten then at every reload of 100 primers.. i can say with my dillion;
once its set, it does not change any after 400 rounds. i use 400 as the point to clean up and recheck everything, not just powder or sizing, i mean everything,

thats what i like so much about it, once its set, your good for many rounds.

now at the end of 400 yesterday, my machine was still at room temp of 68. i am sure if the machine warmed up t say 75 or dropped to 40 it may have changed size just enough to maybe change things.

over my 20k plus reloads on this machine, i don't remember ever loading about 70 or below 65.
i use a micrometer non digital to measure OAL cartridge size, bullets etc and do measure completed cartridges at random as i wipe them down and put in the mm case

i use the less is more rule, on resizing brass to maximize longevity. i usually end up tossing brass that the primer pops out to easy,

[pushpullpete]

Thank you for your response,
That sounds kind of along the same lines as me except red instead of blue. I started reloading after I retired.
That box of 9's was my last box of Berrys. I've always been pretty happy with them. I'm trying other manufacturers because Berry's seems to have more bullets that should probably be blems. Just to be clear, I do NOT believe the bullets were the problem. After keeping the box in the house overnight, I loaded up a couple hundred. No issues or problems. This box of bullets is .356, the cases are sized at .358/.359 depending on the case (some are longer/shorter than others, longer case, larger bell).
I realized the next day what may have caused the problem. The cases were on the bench, under the light, the bullets were on the bottom shelf against an outside wall. I don't know how warm the cases were but they were much warmer than the bullets. Once dialed in the press is set and I don't have a problem with any serious variances. .001+/- not counting case length. I think I've been pretty lucky in that respect.
My brass is mostly range p/u and I load everything that is loadable & not damaged and yes if the spent primer pops out w too much or w/o resistance of some sort it goes in a separate bin & gets mic'ed.
I enjoy the hobby & if my wife goes to the range w me, it's common for the two of us to go thru between 4-6 hundred rounds a morning. If she feels really good she can do that on her own, reloading helps keep the cpr down.
Thanks again for the input. Pete

[powerboatr]

as a side note
i picked up 2 k BLEMS from berrys last month of 9mm, as they had a good sale and i was stocking up for range bullets
for blems, they looked great, as in almost perfect


i also keep my bullets in a sealed container with a gasket, vice the cardboard package they are shipped in..
i did this after a few 1k 45 185 grn, hollow base round nose bullets looked slightly tarnished a about 5 years ago. mind you they had been in the cardboard box close to 2 years as i had built up a large back stock during a precarious time with dc
i use the 185 rn hb for range work to save weight and costs compared to the 230 grn bullet
we harvest brass as part of our range day and often pick up lots of once fired, especially the afternoon after leo qual mornings.
it all gets inspected at least 4 times as well
once as we pick it up, again as its sorted for cleaning and then after cleaning it gets a deep look, then the last look as its picked up to place in de priming spot.
normally i have between 3k and 10k bullets as back stock.

primers are getting low now so thats my new focus on finding them at better prices

[pushpullpete]

Your comment about the tarnished bullets in the cardboard box made me think. This box was 2 1/2 maybe 3 yrs old. Stored in the box, in the garage. I believe I will change how I store my bullets in the future. I have dry packs in most everything except the new bullets. That never occurred to me. Until now. I've been happy w them until the blemishes. Now I realize that the blemishes were very likely my own fault. Thank You. Pete

[powerboatr]

Your comment about the tarnished bullets in the cardboard box made me think. This box was 2 1/2 maybe 3 yrs old. Stored in the box, in the garage. I believe I will change how I store my bullets in the future. I have dry packs in most everything except the new bullets. That never occurred to me. Until now. I've been happy w them until the blemishes. Now I realize that the blemishes were very likely my own fault. Thank You. Pete

i learn something new everytime i load and read
dillion now has a website dedicated to just reloading

https://reloader.com/?utm_source=Dillon ... 3ab7a8a2c7