Inconsistent seating depths

[Lead Slanger]

All of the above! Plus - just ensure that you are not seating bullets too far into the case as to contact the powder. If your neck tension s too light, the powder will push back.

Keep going. Reloading looks easy but now you are finding the little traps that are set! When I started, albeit pistol rather than rifle, I made all the usual mistakes - double loading (32 S+W so not so dangerous) No powder. No primer. Lousy loads. I do wonder now how I got through a match...but I did, and did OK too. My first press was alsoa Lee turret - and it got me into "A"grade before I changed to a Dillon, mainly for ease and speed.

It's very satisfying when your handloaded ammo starts to produce results.

You're absolutely right! There's several things that I've ran across that I didn't think of. After getting started, I've found that reloading is opening a whole new door that I should've opened a long time ago. Something new to chase. Thanks for the reply.

 

[searcher]

I have used the press you own - used it for many years. it is darn near impossible to get consistent seating due to the linkage on the press, which cams over. On top of that, the whole setup flexes if you push the handle down firmly. Because of that, it is very important to be conscious on EVERY sizing downstroke that you apply the same amount of force to seat the bullet, specifically at the end of the downstroke, much more so than other presses i have run. Even when the press handle is "bottomed out", you can press just a tad more and you will get a deeper seat. If you are running a compressed load, some of your bullets just don't seat as much as others because the linkage flexes instead of pushing the bullets into the cases the same depth. If your brass is not all fired the same number of times without annealing, you will get different seating depths. If inside necks are lubed, it is very difficult to get them all the same - different depths will result. If your neck trimmer pilot is "roughing up" the inside of some of the necks - same thing. And this is all because the press has no "dead stop" capability. Unless you have the light touch and all of your brass necks are perfect and the same in every respect, you will have seating depth issues. Being aware of that can help you to recognize some of the influencing things that the press contributes to.

A few radical changes might include getting another press that has a more positive stop. For seating only, you could get a cheap arbor press and use a Wilson-type seater. That will fix that. But I'm guessing you also are having irregular shoulder bump for the same linkage reasons.

 

[Orr89rocz]

The picture below is of a Hornady .264 BTHP bullet which, when seated, posted a peak ram force of just 30lbs; that's not much. The 6.5 Creedmoor brass had been fired and resized 10 times already, fully exercised. The die is an LE Wilson, K&M Arbor press. The bullet isn't damaged, nor can the ring be felt using the fingernail test, but a slight ring is there. I haven't done any sort of testing to see where bullets are materially affected when seated under varying degrees of neck tension, other than I know 150lb peak will ruin the bullet .

Maybe a good winter project .

View attachment 1476660

I dont have an arbor press. But i can still feel when something seats tougher. Mine deform very terribly you can see the indents and feel it with your finger nail. I got a different die now for my 257 to hopefully eliminate that issue. Slight rings you can see but not feel like yours, seems pretty common for me on vld’s even with easy seating.

 

[RGRobinett]

Do you have a process for doing this? How do you go about lapping the ID of the seater steam to make better contact with the bullet?

Access to a lathe is great, however, a hand-held electric drill works well enough - turn the stem, NOT the lap (bullet)!! Slather a little lapping compound (I use about 350 grit) onto the bullet nose (several bullets may be needed) and lap until the ogive is nicely mated. Grip the bullet with a vice-grip, or similar tool - your hand/arm make a good floating tool holder.

That said, a visible ring, so long as it doesn't cause seating variation, isn't, of itself, a wreck. Cutting into the jacket deep enough to feel would be on my undesirable list, as THAT could cause a wide variation in "seating-depth'. I must confess, that in my world, 0.003" to 0.005" IS a BIG deal - the difference between tuned to win, vs, HO-HUMMERville.

There are several good points made - fully displays some flaws in my presumption that a sharp edge was the most likely cause, and that all of the other possibilities mentioned had been eliminated! The rabbit-hole is branched and twisted . . . the, "nice fit" while readily controllable, is not the sole potential problem. RG

 

[Lead Slanger]

I checked my neck tension this morning. It's .0015 - .002

 

[chapstix97]

I bought 168 sierra match kings a year ago online here and the box was open. Was getting exactly .010 differences in seating depth with the between some of the heads. All measured same base to 0give. Removed Forster seating stem no obvious sign of defect. It’s when I used the seating stem and measured base of bullet to end of removed seating stem was where .010 difference was noted.
There was 2 different lots of 168 smk in the box!

 

[Lead Slanger]

I bought 168 sierra match kings a year ago online here and the box was open. Was getting exactly .010 differences in seating depth with the between some of the heads. All measured same base to 0give. Removed Forster seating stem no obvious sign of defect. It’s when I used the seating stem and measured base of bullet to end of removed seating stem was where .010 difference was noted.
There was 2 different lots of 168 smk in the box!

Interesting. I'll go check mine out now. Has me wondering.

 

[Lead Slanger]

Okay, I finally was able to get a day off work and get everything checked out. The seating stem in the Lee die fits like garbage. I'm trying to load 140gr 6.5 projectiles and this seating stem looks like it fits a 120gr 30 cal bullet. I thought, surely this isn't the right one. I looked on their website and found a parts list for a 6.5 Creedmoor Dead Length seating die. The seating stem, or plug as they call it, says it's for a 30.06, 30-30, etc. I called Lee to make sure that was right..... Yep. They use a generic seating stem that covers everything from 6.5's to 30 calibers. I marked a bullet with a sharpie and checked the seating stem in my RCBS seater...... Perfect. Set it up in the turret....... Consistent seating depths every single time.

Moral of the story is, if you like the Lee die and want consistent seating depths, go for the option they offer..... Send them a bullet and have them cut you a specific stem/plug.

Looks like, out of the complete Ultimate Four Die Set, the only one I'll be using is the Collet neck die (which I do like).

 

[6Creed73]

Okay, I finally was able to get a day off work and get everything checked out. The seating stem in the Lee die fits like garbage. I'm trying to load 140gr 6.5 projectiles and this seating stem looks like it fits a 120gr 30 cal bullet. I thought, surely this isn't the right one. I looked on their website and found a parts list for a 6.5 Creedmoor Dead Length seating die. The seating stem, or plug as they call it, says it's for a 30.06, 30-30, etc. I called Lee to make sure that was right..... Yep. They use a generic seating stem that covers everything from 6.5's to 30 calibers. I marked a bullet with a sharpie and checked the seating stem in my RCBS seater...... Perfect. Set it up in the turret....... Consistent seating depths every single time.

Moral of the story is, if you like the Lee die and want consistent seating depths, go for the option they offer..... Send them a bullet and have them cut you a specific stem/plug.

Looks like, out of the complete Ultimate Four Die Set, the only one I'll be using is the Collet neck die (which I do like).

Lee seaters are garbage. When I first started loading 300BLK several years ago I started with a Lee die set. The seater would imprint a ring/dent in the bullet. When I looked at the plug l could see deep tool marks inside where it contacts the bullet. Lee sent me a new plug, same issue. Started using a hornady seater for 300BLK and haven't had the issue since.

The only Lee dies I use now are the factory crimp die, the neck collet die, and a decapper.

 

[Bc'z]

Okay, I finally was able to get a day off work and get everything checked out. The seating stem in the Lee die fits like garbage. I'm trying to load 140gr 6.5 projectiles and this seating stem looks like it fits a 120gr 30 cal bullet. I thought, surely this isn't the right one. I looked on their website and found a parts list for a 6.5 Creedmoor Dead Length seating die. The seating stem, or plug as they call it, says it's for a 30.06, 30-30, etc. I called Lee to make sure that was right..... Yep. They use a generic seating stem that covers everything from 6.5's to 30 calibers. I marked a bullet with a sharpie and checked the seating stem in my RCBS seater...... Perfect. Set it up in the turret....... Consistent seating depths every single time.

Moral of the story is, if you like the Lee die and want consistent seating depths, go for the option they offer..... Send them a bullet and have them cut you a specific stem/plug.

Looks like, out of the complete Ultimate Four Die Set, the only one I'll be using is the Collet neck die (which I do like).

Spray some 1shot on a bullet, wax will work, now mix up some JB weld and bed the bullet to the stem. After cured and bullet removed remove a lil bit of material from top of stem with a small drill bit so you don't bottom out on inconsistent meplats.

 

[Lead Slanger]

Lee seaters are garbage. When I first started loading 300BLK several years ago I started with a Lee die set. The seater would imprint a ring/dent in the bullet. When I looked at the plug l could see deep tool marks inside where it contacts the bullet. Lee sent me a new plug, same issue. Started using a hornady seater for 300BLK and haven't had the issue since.

The only Lee dies I use now are the factory crimp die, the neck collet die, and a decapper.

Mine was leaving a heavy ring on the bullet. Easily catch your fingernail on it without even trying. I ran some 320 grit on it wrapped around a bullet to try and smooth out the top edge where the mark was coming from. It helped, but the bullet still has all kinds of room to move around. The ID angle of the stem is bad off. If a guy had them cut a stem to the bullet you were going to use, it would be okay, but I'm just going to stick it back in the box next to the others.

 

[Lead Slanger]

Spray some 1shot on a bullet, wax will work, now mix up some JB weld and bed the bullet to the stem. After cured and bullet removed remove a lil bit of material from top of stem with a small drill bit so you don't bottom out on inconsistent meplats.

I'm just going to stick it back in the box. I may have a use for it one day. If so, I'll for sure need them to cut a custom stem.

 

[William Vogel]

I checked my neck tension this morning. It's .0015 - .002

I checked the seating stems in both my Lee seater and RCBS seater. Both need lapped for these 140's I'm shooting, but I'll probably only lap the Lee. I'll leave the RCBS as is for now. We'll see how it fits some different bullets I want to try down the road.

Since I'm new to this, you don't know exactly what you want when you buy your equipment. Once you get a feel for it, you can see where a different (name your part) might work better for you or be a better fit in your lineup. Now, I'm for sure going to put a single stage press on my "to get" list. Not that I don't think the 4 hole turret is a good press, I believe it is, but for precision rifle loads, I have feeling that a good single stage would be the ticket. After putting some time in with it, I think the 4 hole turret would be perfect for turning out some pistol ammo or good plinking rifle rounds. There's a few other things that I have to get first before a single stage shows up on the bench though. A chronograph is a must (IMO) to get serious about this, so it's first on the list. I'm going to run out of new brass eventually, so I'll have to figure out which route I'm going to take to clean my cases. I can't say I wasn't warned ahead of time......it's a rabbit hole.

I don’t buy die sets because of these problems. Well, let me back up. I bought RCBS standard full length die sets and figured out how much they overworked the necks I bought bushing dies for resizing and several micrometer seating dies for different calibers. I still use the standard seating dies for certain bullets and they are locked and labeled. I have lots of dies because I have lots of rifles. I have separate dies for each rifle. I got tired of moving things around and now my accuracy and consistency is pretty good.

 

[Jim D]

OK ! This may sound way out there.
First I will say this has worked for me, seating bullets in my .223 rem. Even lower quality bullets. I first seat bullets a little long.
Then I take a 204 Neck die with the guts removed. I then use this die to finish seating my 223.

It leaves a barely visible ring, where the die contacted the bullet.
It does how ever give consistent seating depth,

For your larger bullets, you will have to experiment, with other dies.

Try it for yourself.

Quality of the bullet shape may be your real problem.

My method above works with lesser quality bullets !

I need to buy some of RGRobinett's Bullets !!!

Jim