Forster Bench Rest Seating die

[NZ_Fclass]

I had a similar issue, which I cured by a) ensuring that the seating stem was concentric to the die/thread (it wasn't). I ran it in a lathe and clocked it. b) Polishing/flaring the mouth with a diamond block to remove the sharp edge.

 

[KMart]

Are you loading a compressed powder charge?
Does your brass have a donut?
Does your bullet seat below the neck shoulder junction?
Are your case necks turned to a consistent thickness?
How do you insure that the inside diameter of the case necks are same? Are you using an expander button or a expander mandrel for that?
All of these things can contribute to poor seating consistency

 

[JackWagon]

I think I solved it, I pulled the spring out. Did a test seat to get to 1.783 which is my seating depth for that projectile. Seated 8 more and they all came out 1.783, for some reason I knew that spring was giving me a tiny bit of mushy feeling. Now it's a complete dead stop like all my other dies. It's a rock chucker supreme that I use for seating and that is all it has ever done is seat. I use the coax for resizing and everything else as I like to sit at the bench when weighing and seating.

Guess I will order a new spring but in all honesty I kinda angers me I have to spend more money on a brand new set of dies but I can't get Foster to call me back.

 

[bozo699]

I think I solved it, I pulled the spring out. Did a test seat to get to 1.783 which is my seating depth for that projectile. Seated 8 more and they all came out 1.783, for some reason I knew that spring was giving me a tiny bit of mushy feeling. Now it's a complete dead stop like all my other dies. It's a rock chucker supreme that I use for seating and that is all it has ever done is seat. I use the coax for resizing and everything else as I like to sit at the bench when weighing and seating.

Guess I will order a new spring but in all honesty I kinda angers me I have to spend more money on a brand new set of dies but I can't get Foster to call me back.

So do you think maybe the seating sleeve was adjusted incorrectly or the spring is just to stiff?..
I’m sorry to hear Forster isn’t taking your calls that’s terribly poor customer service
Wayne

 

[JackWagon]

I think the spring is to long, the design makes it hard to measure everything once the top is screwed down onto the body but I believe the sleeve is bottoming out the spring leaving no more room for compression but enough movement to cause my issue. Once I get another spring I can compress and measure it against the one I have. It's a pretty stout spring almost to the point of a very small engine valve spring. Right now that is my assumption as when I removed it the issue seems to have gone away. I was going to do some more testing this evening as I have some brass the is ready for annealing anyway so resizing the neck a couple of times won't hurt my loads

 

[bozo699]

I think the spring is to long, the design makes it hard to measure everything once the top is screwed down onto the body but I believe the sleeve is bottoming out the spring leaving no more room for compression but enough movement to cause my issue. Once I get another spring I can compress and measure it against the one I have. It's a pretty stout spring almost to the point of a very small engine valve spring. Right now that is my assumption as when I removed it the issue seems to have gone away. I was going to do some more testing this evening as I have some brass the is ready for annealing anyway so resizing the neck a couple of times won't hurt my loads

Good luck my friend I hope that’s it and hope Forster eventually makes it right with ya.
Wayne

 

[JimSC]

Adjust the die according to the instructions. Ensure there is no gunk in the seating stem. As far as the spring being too long, think about it. There are thousands of these in use every day, while I cannot speak for everyone, my old .308 die seems to function fine.

Bench Rest® Ultra™ Micrometer Seater Die Seating Stems – Forster Products

Order according to the bullet diameter used related to your Seater Die caliber.

www.forsterproducts.com

click on the drawing to enlarge

edit - the instructions for adjusting are on page 2, bold added by me

https://www.forsterproducts.com/pdf/instructions/ultra_micrometer_seater_die.pdf

A. Ensure the Micro Body (MODL-30SM, MODL-30LG) is securely threaded to the Sleeve (O-30).

B. With the press ram and shell holder at their highest points, screw the die in the press until the bottom of the sliding Die Chamber touches the shell holder.

C. Continue screwing the die clockwise until you have fully compressed the sliding Die Chamber. Next, back it off at least one full turn because the Die Chamber should never be fully compressed when seating bullets.

D. Tighten the Cross Bolt Die Lock Ring (DIE-G-10) by using a 7/64 short arm hex key on the Die Lock Ring Screw (6-32 X ½ ").

E. Loosen the Lock Nut and adjust the Bullet Seating Stem up or down until the approximate seating depth is obtained. Tighten the Lock Nut against the Micro Body.

F. Seat the bullet by inserting it in the resized, primed, charged case mouth and slowly running it up in the Die.

G. Check the cartridge for proper length. Turn the micrometer setting to fine-adjust to the desired bullet seating depth. The micro head will adjust in 0.001” increments for very precise bullet depth alterations. Each full revolution of the Micro Head equals 0.025". 2. The die is now ready to reliably seat bullets to consistently accurate depths. Create live rounds following step

 

[KMart]

I think I solved it, I pulled the spring out. Did a test seat to get to 1.783 which is my seating depth for that projectile. Seated 8 more and they all came out 1.783, for some reason I knew that spring was giving me a tiny bit of mushy feeling. Now it's a complete dead stop like all my other dies. It's a rock chucker supreme that I use for seating and that is all it has ever done is seat. I use the coax for resizing and everything else as I like to sit at the bench when weighing and seating.

Guess I will order a new spring but in all honesty I kinda angers me I have to spend more money on a brand new set of dies but I can't get Foster to call me back.

I take the springs out of all my Forster seater dies. You get a better "feel" when seating and you can develop a consistent and repeatable stroke of the press handle. If your stroke is not always the same or you bottom it out too quickly, your seating can be very inconsistent.

 

[JackWagon]

Adjust the die according to the instructions. Ensure there is no gunk in the seating stem. As far as the spring being too long, think about it. There are thousands of these in use every day, while I cannot speak for everyone, my old .308 die seems to function fine.

Bench Rest® Ultra™ Micrometer Seater Die Seating Stems – Forster Products

Order according to the bullet diameter used related to your Seater Die caliber.

www.forsterproducts.com

click on the drawing to enlarge

edit - the instructions for adjusting are on page 2, bold added by me

https://www.forsterproducts.com/pdf/instructions/ultra_micrometer_seater_die.pdf

Yes sir, I did exactly that. Dissembled, cleaned and then put it in my sonic cleaner. I polished the seating stem and started at one full turn, added another half and added another half. 2.5 full turns out it got a little better which is why I pulled the spring and tested. As Kmart stated, I want to feel the bullet seat anyway as that is what I am used to. I'm not even sure what part the spring plays unless it's to make sure the slide returns to the down position if it's all gunked but mine never get to that point as I am pretty anal about keeping my tools clean but thank you for the reminder as it never hurts to triple check and then check again.

 

[JimSC]

it's to make sure the slide returns to the down position

that is exactly what it does. The spring should never be fully compressed. I have no idea what you mean by feeling the bullet seat. The bullet goes into the neck, the ram reaches the top of the stroke and then you lower it.

 

[JackWagon]

As in I want to feel the resistance as the bullet seats. Same reason I use a sinclair hand priming tool so I can feel the primer resistance.

 

[Charliephoo]

The Forster seating stem is so soft and thin. must anneal brass and no compressed loading. next move L.E. Wilson die

 

[PopCharlie]

+ 1 for L. E. Wilson dies and arbor press. I have 3 Forster BR seaters. I did not have the issues with cracked stems. I did experience inconsistent seating depth. Same issue with Whidden seaters. I switched to Wilson seaters and an arbor press, problem solved.

PopCharlie

 

[Rat Rifle]

Just Me, Just Sayin, but I can’t imagine getting much feel seating with a Rock Chucker Supreme?

 

[BoydAllen]

Something that a friend has done to improve ogive to head consistency with the Redding Competition seater is to set the die body so that there is a very light toggle against the shell holder and trim the sleeve just enough so that it does not touch the shell holder when seating. The case raises the sleeve and goes farther into its taper, so that it is centered better. It works. Of course you do not want the spring to go into coil bind during seating.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Compressed powder?

 

[Twicepop]

All the measurements are with my Sinclair comparator, ojive to base for the bullets. I measured bullets until had a few exactly the same all the way down to .0002 and still the same issue . I'm going to try pulling the spring and testing a few and see if that clears it up as it just feels like way to much resistance even without a piece of brass in it although it is smooth resistance so it's not binding. Brass has only been fired once, new Lapua 6mmBR. I am thinking I was unlucky enough to get a lemon as even my cheap hornady new dimension I use for .243 my runout is .001 at worst.

Yes, I anneal every 3rd firing on light loads and every 2nd if I'm running it hotter.

If your ogive to base measurement are essentially the same, are the bullets meplat touching the seating stem when the bullets are being seated. If so any minute variations in the shape/size of the pointed end will result in variations in your OAL measurements.