SMK quality

[cheshirelad]

Is it me or is the quality of Sierra SMK's not the best.

I'm loading 69gr and 77gr in .224 and seeing around 12 thou variation in length, is this normal.

[MrCetrizine]

Where are you measuring? I've found them very consistent from base to ogive.

[bradders]

15 minutes ago, MrCetirizine said:

Where are you measuring? I've found them very consistent from base to ogive.

He's talking about to the bullets tip

[MrCetrizine]

That'll be why then.

Doesn't make much actual difference either way. I used to seat 77gn SMK using COAL then switched to CBTO because people said I was an idiot and saw no difference on the target.

[cheshirelad]

Been out and bought a Hornady comparator, now to go and do some measuring.

[bradders]

15 minutes ago, cheshirelad said:

Been out and bought a Hornady comparator, now to go and do some measuring.

That won’t do anything to help

[cheshirelad]

I am now measuring to the ogive.

[bradders]

46 minutes ago, cheshirelad said:

I am now measuring to the ogive.

That won't help if you're loading to mag length

Load 20, find the longest one via OAL and seat that to 2.250" then lock the die off and seat all the rest and occasionally check to see none are longer than 2.260". If they are then reset the seater to 2.250" and leave it at that.

[cheshirelad]

Makes sense, thanks.

[DeLaRue]

Hi....I never load to overall length, always to the ogive with a Hornady Lock n Load comparator. However, if you look at a Sierra head under a magnifying glass & then compare it to a Lapua head you will see the difference. The Sierra heads look like a craggy mountain top by comparison! Of course using a meplat trimmer will resolve the issue but why should you have to?

I'm loading a .223 to 10thou off the lands using a Hornady modified case system....works for me!

All the best Cheshirelad!