This post is actually a follow-up / resolution to a thread I started last January.
(https://forum.accurateshooter.com/t...g-scratched-between-ogive-case-mouth.3996899/)
That thread generated a tremendous amount of great information for me. But the problem remained and, frankly, I procrastinated until recently to fix it. I thought if I just added a reply to that thread it might get lost - because the thread is pretty long.
In a nutshell: About 50% of the bullets I was seating would come out of the seating die with some sort of marring on the bullet - between the ogive and the case mouth. It seemed apparent it was the die. I'd tried multiple sets of dies - both with the same results.
Cartridge: Straight .284.
Bullet: Berger 180gr Hybrid Target.
Die: Redding Competition Seater Die with Standard Length VLD Stem Installed
Redding told me in email the die probably needed polishing. So I sent it back. When the die was returned to me the notes said the die arrived with the Standard VLD Seating Stem installed - which was not correct. It needed the Long VLD Seating Stem. So that's what was in the die when it was shipped back to me. (They replaced my Standard Length stem with a Long VLD Stem.)
I could not understand how this could be correct. When I set up the die body per the instructions there's no way I could get the seating depth I wanted.....the long stem seated the bullet too deeply even with the micrometer all the way out. So I called Redding and - by chance - I talked with the guy who worked on my die!
This is what I concluded from what he told me: With the shorter stem the bullet doesn't engage the stem until the bullet is too far into the bullet chamber of the die. By that time there isn't sufficient stroke distance to center the bullet prior to it entering the chamber. So any bullet misalignment results in scraping of the bullet on that internal ledge in the die. By using the long stem (which requires the die body be backed out about 5-6 revolutions to get the height required for relatively long bullet seating) the stem has sufficient stroke to get the bullet well aligned and ready to enter the top level chamber of the die.
Using a long stem for such a long bullet was counterintuitive for me. But initial testing shows it to be working well: No more bullet scratches.
(https://forum.accurateshooter.com/t...g-scratched-between-ogive-case-mouth.3996899/)
That thread generated a tremendous amount of great information for me. But the problem remained and, frankly, I procrastinated until recently to fix it. I thought if I just added a reply to that thread it might get lost - because the thread is pretty long.
In a nutshell: About 50% of the bullets I was seating would come out of the seating die with some sort of marring on the bullet - between the ogive and the case mouth. It seemed apparent it was the die. I'd tried multiple sets of dies - both with the same results.
Cartridge: Straight .284.
Bullet: Berger 180gr Hybrid Target.
Die: Redding Competition Seater Die with Standard Length VLD Stem Installed
Redding told me in email the die probably needed polishing. So I sent it back. When the die was returned to me the notes said the die arrived with the Standard VLD Seating Stem installed - which was not correct. It needed the Long VLD Seating Stem. So that's what was in the die when it was shipped back to me. (They replaced my Standard Length stem with a Long VLD Stem.)
I could not understand how this could be correct. When I set up the die body per the instructions there's no way I could get the seating depth I wanted.....the long stem seated the bullet too deeply even with the micrometer all the way out. So I called Redding and - by chance - I talked with the guy who worked on my die!
This is what I concluded from what he told me: With the shorter stem the bullet doesn't engage the stem until the bullet is too far into the bullet chamber of the die. By that time there isn't sufficient stroke distance to center the bullet prior to it entering the chamber. So any bullet misalignment results in scraping of the bullet on that internal ledge in the die. By using the long stem (which requires the die body be backed out about 5-6 revolutions to get the height required for relatively long bullet seating) the stem has sufficient stroke to get the bullet well aligned and ready to enter the top level chamber of the die.
Using a long stem for such a long bullet was counterintuitive for me. But initial testing shows it to be working well: No more bullet scratches.
