Changing to a new lot of the supposedly same component really can be like working up a new load. I always check new lots powder as they may need a small adjustment and same for brass. Today I received a reminder bullets can change too.

I was in a hurry (always the wrong time to load) for a class I am taking. Cracked open a new batch of Hornady .45 200 grain XTP’s, which I buy in lots of 1,000’s at a time. Load a few of new batch bullets, check overall length, everything measures the same COAL, but something seems off in the back of my mind. Load a 100 quickly and take off to the range to verify before running a big batch.

Shoot an old batch of ammo first as a baseline for comparison and everything is rolling along as usual at the 25 yard line. Try a mag of the new batch, and recoil is up noticeably along with a change in point of impact, and have a couple of failure to feed correctly which has not happened in many, many, 1,000’s of rounds. Powder was the same and checked repeatedly even though the setting never changes on the Dillon I use, which is dedicated to this round.

So pour out my ammo bag which still had some old ammo and some new, lay them side by side. The new bullets have a longer nose. The seater was pushing the bullet deeper in the case since the ogive was farther back from the tip of the nose. More bullet in the case increases pressure explaining the increased felt recoil. The changed position of the ogive and longer nose was causing feeding problems even though COAL remained the same.

So this was a good reminder when using a new lot of components to really take time to check everything closely, measure, remeasure, and check before running a big batch.

This also is one reason I tend to buy components in very large quantities so as not to have to fool with small changes.

Now I’ll be shooting old cases of factory fodder for class as punishment for waiting until the last minute to load, which is the painful part.

Anyway, thought it might be a helpful tip to pass along.

Kicking myself for working up my load for my 7mm08 and my brothers 3006 on my old lot of H4350 right now

I have about a 1/2 a pound of it left and it never even registered to work them up on my new lot I have several pounds off.

good reminder and catch Thanks

You won’t have to start from scratch. If you’re pushing max right now, just back off a tad with the new lot to confirm it’s in line velocity wise with what you would expect. It would only take a few rounds to give you a good idea of how different the lots are. Your chronograph will tell you a lot. Then just fine tune from there. You may see very little change, or no change at all. Recent lots of H4350 seem to be fairly stable lot to lot from what I’ve seen, but I’d still do my due diligence if you’re already at or over max.

Had the exact same thing happen with a Remington JHP in 9mm several years ago. They seated enough deeper that I was concerned with a possible increase in pressure since the Speer manual warns about this situation. I felt they were a little hotter and point of impact was slightly left and lower than my standard load. Ejection was a bit more aggressive and I felt like the primers were a little flatter but I fired them all and later made the adjustments on the Dillon. I think what may have saved me to some degree was I was loading Accurate #7 which I have found to be a little more forgiving in this respect.