I’m playing he!! trying to keep my seating depth consistent (to Ogive) and can’t figure it out. Target depth is 2.188, I can set the die (Lyman) when I have it right but will get ensuing results anywhere from 2.183 to 2.200. Initially I put the blame on my calipers (and still do to a certain extent) but bought a new set and still have the problem......can seating dies cause this? (Yes, it is tightened down).
Thanks.

Could just be the bullets themselves.

Hmmm....I thought the whole point of measuring to the Olive was to eliminate that?

You’re on the right track, eliminate things one by one. Die stem can cause this problem, pretty common issue with vld bullets lots of times you get a ring around the tip of the bullet.

Did you measure the bullets, and write down your findings prior to loading them? Are they all identical?

Point being, your die and your calipers may be doing the jobs perfectly.

Chris, I had this exact problem and chased my tail for days trying to solve it. I still think it's the bullets are inconsistent. The OAL was surprisingly more consistent. I have learned rather than measure 1 and adjust, I measure 10, average, then adjust. I'm not saying it's the right or best way, but on occasion, I hit a target.

You shouldn't be getting a .017" variance. First question, what cartridge and bullet are you loading? And load data will help, if compressed, If the neck tension is consistent, then you should have a consistent seating depth if the die is set up properly.

Is all the brass the same brand? If you have various head stamps, this will vary the neck tension, and can change up the seating depth.

Do you chamfer the cases? If the cases are rough and/or have a burr, or shave the bullet, it will alter the pressure and effect the seating pressure.

Is your seating stem making correct and consistent contact with the bullet ogive when seating? Many VLD style bullets have long ogives and the tip of the bullet is touching the internal part of the seating stem, and not seating on the ogive of the bullet. This will certainly alter the seating depth.

There's many things that can cause a variance on your seating depth. But it's hard to diagnose without details.

Chad said it best. I no longer worry about OAL, rather ogive measurement. But if my neck tension is not consistent then I will have varying ogive and oal lengths. Annealing brass, chamfering brass, and checking neck tension so that it’s not over .003” seems to give me best results. I also get best results using a mandrel to control neck tension rather than using only the bushing also.

Never use OAL, only the ogive measurement. The problem is either 1) neck tension is too light and the bullet is getting bumped in you handling of it (probably not) or 2) something is not right with the die. You said it was tightened down but have you taken it apart and checked/cleaned the seating stem and retightened it?
You didn't mention how you were measuring to the ogive but I assume you are using a Hornady comparator.
The only other issue that I have seen is when trying to seat the new high BC bullets that are super long, the old standard seating stem in the die may need to be changed out bc (like someone posted above) the seating stem may be stopping on the tip of the bullet and not down on the ogive.
Also try to be as consistent as possible in your press stroke pressure when you are seating a bullet. This can also cause very slight differences.