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Bullet stuck in seating die

8273 Views 21 Replies 10 Participants Last post by EWP, Sep 13, 2011

Drof

Discussion Starter · May 5, 2009

Agreed 29.5 gr of H322 fills a case pretty full when you are cramming a 110 AB or TSX in it, but dam it is irritating when your bullet gets stuck in the seating die. These are the only two bullets that make this happen. It does it in my 6.8, 30-06, .243. Every gun I load these rounds for they stick. I used one shot sprayed up in there, and tried rcbs lube rubbed onthe bullet. Does anyone who loads compressed loads know how aleviate this without switching powders, which is my next choice! Thanks

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Drof

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 6, 2009

I would have thought not enough neck tension instead of too much. I blamed the compressed powder issue simply because on my starting loads it didn't happen at all. Also, even though it was prabably a bad idea to avoid the sticking, I would only push about half pressure which would seat the bullet half as far as I needed, then back it off and push again seating it alittle further each time. This worked ok until the last little bit. Then about half would stick trying to cram that last little .05". I was'nt surprised on the tsx as they are pretty soft, but i guess I was didn't think the ab's would do it also.
All dies are RCBS, except my 458S. It only happens on compressed loads with ab's and tsx's. Another thing is when one would stick I would have to use a new resized brass to pull it out, which would have no problem. Maybe Tim is right and when they seat they're alittle bit crooked deforming the case mouth just enough to where it won't hold on. The bullets stick about .05 above the cannelure. Thanks for the help guys.

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Drof

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 6, 2009

Yes, the bullets have the ring marks when removed. I'm using SSA new brass. It was all i could do to get 2.28 without getting them stuck, and couldn't be done all with one push. I hope it is just a compression issue. I have never had a PH stick being shorter, i guess that makes sense. IIRC the 29.0s didn't do it as bad as the 29.5s. I just knew alot of you guys had loaded these loads before without mentiuon of any troubles. Maybe i'll go to RL7. It won't use as much room.

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Drof

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 8, 2009

I loaded some 135gr smk with trail boss for sub-s yesterday and they all had the same ring on them as the ab's and tsx's did, however none of them stuck in the die. I guess my neck tension is ok since it is a decent push to start seating, just the force of trying to compress all that powder the other day was cuasing the issue.

Here is another question. When screwing your seating die down in the press. How far do you turn it down? I run the press up all the way. Then screw the die down unitl it touches the brass and set it there. Then adjust the stem to get my overall lenght. Is this how you guys set it up?

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Drof

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 10, 2009

borderpatrol said:
It sounds like you are crimping your case too much. This could be the cause of your bullet ring from the seating stem. If you run the die all the way to the shell holder with the ram is in the up position you are definetly crimping your neck. If you use a seperate die (Lee Factory Crimp) there is no reason to apply any crimp when seating the bullet. Back your die out a half turn and then turn the seating stem in to get the same OAL that you using now. This should smooth things up.

If you are not using a seperate Lee factory crimp die simply back your current die out a little at a time until you get the amount of crimp you desire. A little at a time or you won't get any crimp at all. By the way, I never crimp because my dies give more than enough neck tension to hold the bullet without it.

Border, I had thought I wasn't going far enough. I run my die down until it barley touches the brass. It is a good 1/4" from the shell plate. I was wondering that if i didn't turn t he die down far enough to create that extra crimp like hold. I seat my round the way you do. Neck tension only. I was curious to see if any one thought turning down the die farther on the brass would help hold the bullet in. The only rounds I crimp are my 458s as I use lee dies and it is part of seating them. The rest of my dies are rcbs and either 6.8 which I have never crimped, or bolt guns. Any who my buddy has a 6.8 die I'm going to try just to see if maybe there is something wrong there. I will also try his rock chucker as Tim makes a very interesting point about my press. I will let you guys know how that goes, and thanks for the advice.

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