I am damaging the ogive of the bullets when seating/crimping

[Sixgun Symphony]

I can't find my digital camera, so I can't post a picture. I am damaging the cast bullet on the ogive/shoulder area when I seat/crimp the boolits. Should I use a harder alloy?

I am using RCBS Cowboy dies to seat Lyman 427666 boolits in Winchester brass.

[mooman76]

Sounds like you need a new bullet seater. If you are using the same bullet alot you can probably put a little epoxy in the bullet seater and set it on the bullet tip so it forms an exact copy of the bullet. Lube the bullet tip with something first so it doesn't stick. I had to do that for a unusal pointy bullet for 358 and 44.

[462]

I've used epoxy (JB Weld) or hot melt glue to modify many top punches and boolit seaters. The lastest was done, yesterday, on a seater stem for an 8 mm boolit.

[runfiverun]

i'm assuming this is a 44-40.
even though you have a cowboy die it might still not take a boolit over 428.
back off the crimp part and see if the damage is still occuring and exactly where.
it could be the crimp/seat at the same time is giving you the grief.
or something else.
starline brass is thicker than winchester brass and there might not be quite enough room there
for both the thicker brass and a slightly larger boolt.

[theperfessor]

Do you seat and crimp in the same operation? That will cause your problem or at least make your problem worse.

[462]

Okay, reckon I didn't read the opening post closely enough, and thought the problem was on the boolit's nose.

If it's further down, then, yes, crimping and seating at the same time is a likely culprit.

[prs]

In thin 44/40 brass, using a harder boolit alloy without correcting the offending die features or technique may simply transfer some of the flaw to the brass. The firmer the crimp, the more "grab" the die puts on the boolit while the boolit is still being forced downward. Try a modest crimp or crimping in a seperate stage. I am surprised the Cowboy dies do no include an internal expander appropriate for .430" boolits; similar to how they come with .452" and
.454" spuds for 45 Colt and ACP rounds. Maybe an "M" die is available? Or a custom spud for .430"? If this is very well used brass, perhaps you could anneal the necks to reduce the memory of the brass post internal sizing?

prs