Does anyone have a recommendation on what seating die to purchase that has a stem for seating 55 Vmax bullets that will not deform or leave a ring on the ogive of the bullet? My dies are RCBS SB for 223.
Seating ring on 223 Vmax
- Thread starter rockriver15
- Start date
I only ever had that problem when seating that bullet in a 223wssm. I had hornady dies and asked hornady why their seater was not leaving a ring, I got no where. I don't have that caliber anymore.
I believe the necks are too small and the increased force makes a ring.
I believe the necks are too small and the increased force makes a ring.
What Rodney said. Tommy Mc
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
Seating die must be backed off one full turn from contact with case mouth with ram all the way up, to avoid crimping. I do not crimp any 223/556, even ammo for semi-auto. Unintended/to much crimp, will cause ogive marks.
Need to check for one more item as well.
Color the tip of a bullet with a sharpie. Seat the bullet while still wet.
Many times, the seating stem is NOT deep enough for VLD or Tipped bullets - tip is actually touching the top of the seating stem before the ogive.
Solution? Drill the seating stem deeper, AND, Rodney indicated, buff the sharp edge.
Are you chamfering the inside necks of your brass? If not, this will cause the same issue.
Color the tip of a bullet with a sharpie. Seat the bullet while still wet.
Many times, the seating stem is NOT deep enough for VLD or Tipped bullets - tip is actually touching the top of the seating stem before the ogive.
Solution? Drill the seating stem deeper, AND, Rodney indicated, buff the sharp edge.
Are you chamfering the inside necks of your brass? If not, this will cause the same issue.
Ned Ludd
Silver $$ Contributor
Your die should work fine and I'm guessing with a 55 gr bullet that the tip is probably not bottoming out. However, it is wise to check it as acloco suggests, because you never know for sure until you do. Along that line, the 55 Vmax does have a ballistic tip, which usually are a bit longer (OAL) than OTM bullets of similar weight. You can also stick a toothpick down into the bottom of the stem and mark it at the mouth with a Sharpie. A visual comparison with the bullet nose is usually more than sufficient to determine whether there is a danger of the bullet tip bottoming out. Generally, a bullet that is bottoming out in the stem will not leave a ring around the nose of the bullet because it bottoms out before the bevel around the mouth of the seater stem makes solid contact with the bullet ogive.
If the bullet tip is not bottoming out in the stem, the bevel/lip inside the mouth of the seating stem is likely the cause. You can usually fix this yourself with a minimum of effort. The bevel is there so it will sorta/kinda be a close match to the bullet ogive radius, but a seating die manufacturer cannot make a standard seating stem perfectly match every possible bullet someone might use. As a result, it probably doesn't match any bullets perfectly. As has been noted, smoothing/polishing out the bevel/mouth of the seating stem will usually do the trick. In addition to the method noted above, you can also try spinning the stem in a drill while pushing a rounded/tapered length of very fine steel wool into it. I do this with every new stem I purchase and it is usually enough to smooth them out and minimize any bullet nose rings. Lapping compound would do an even more extensive job of smoothing out the bevel.
One other possible thing to look into if the above suggestions don't solve the issue is how much seating force you are having to use to seat bullets. Too much neck tension (interference fit) and/or case mouths that have not been properly chamfered can increase seating force to the point where even a relatively smooth seating die steam can still leave marks on the bullets. Again, this is relatively easy to rectify...either use a more appropriate neck tension and/or make sure the case mouths are properly chamfered prior to seating bullets.
If the bullet tip is not bottoming out in the stem, the bevel/lip inside the mouth of the seating stem is likely the cause. You can usually fix this yourself with a minimum of effort. The bevel is there so it will sorta/kinda be a close match to the bullet ogive radius, but a seating die manufacturer cannot make a standard seating stem perfectly match every possible bullet someone might use. As a result, it probably doesn't match any bullets perfectly. As has been noted, smoothing/polishing out the bevel/mouth of the seating stem will usually do the trick. In addition to the method noted above, you can also try spinning the stem in a drill while pushing a rounded/tapered length of very fine steel wool into it. I do this with every new stem I purchase and it is usually enough to smooth them out and minimize any bullet nose rings. Lapping compound would do an even more extensive job of smoothing out the bevel.
One other possible thing to look into if the above suggestions don't solve the issue is how much seating force you are having to use to seat bullets. Too much neck tension (interference fit) and/or case mouths that have not been properly chamfered can increase seating force to the point where even a relatively smooth seating die steam can still leave marks on the bullets. Again, this is relatively easy to rectify...either use a more appropriate neck tension and/or make sure the case mouths are properly chamfered prior to seating bullets.
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