RCBS and 224 Bator problems.

[cold1]

Newbie caster needs help. I picked up a Lee Bator mold for my 223. I also picked up a set of RCBS 223 dies. I was trying to setup the seater/crimp die last night. The end of the bullet is being deformed by the seater. The seater is leaving a ring imprint in the end of the bullet. Depth and crimp seem to be fine. Has anybody had this problem and what is the remedy?

The bullets are for use in a single shot handi rifle. The brass is once fired PMC. Using a homemade expander for flaring the cases (basically a tapered pin) No lead shaved during the seating and crimping. Lead is being melted in a Lee electric pot, temp unknown. Lead is scrounged scrap but believed to be pure lead. Looking to duplicate 22LR performance with loading so not trying to get above 1700FPS.

[45-70 Chevroner]

The seater die you have has a different profile than the boolit you are trying to load. Call RCBS and they can provide you with the proper seat. You could probably fix the problem your self it you have a few tools like a drill of the proper size, be very carful though. The whole problem could be your lead, like if it is pure it will deform very easy.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Does your Bator mold have the new style mold blocks ?
Or is it the older style molds blocks ?

The older style are plagued with Large Noses (.225 to .226), and could surely have issues with a seater die.
Lee fixed their design flaw when they started making them with the new mold blocks (with alignment pins) and the nose should be the more correct size of about .219 to .220

The short fat bator does better with slow twist barrels, do you know the twist of your HR ?

[MarkP]

Depending on the length of the seating stem, you can fill the cavity of the stem with epoxy and sand it flush. The epoxy in the seater will bare against the flat nose. If you have enough thread length on the stem.

[joesig]

Many seaters will do that, even to copper bullets.

Make a dummy round but not really resized neck. You want to be able to seat a boolit with just a little more than hand pressure. Coat boolit with a thin layer of release agent (I use lanolin. Case lube, etc)

Fill the cup of the seater with paraffin. While the paraffin is still soft and in still plastic, use the stem to seat the dummy boolit. You'll want just enough force to displace the parafin. Now the entire seater will exert force on the boolit, not just the ID of the seater stem.

The above is a variation of what I use to make top punches using JB Weld.

If you go down the JB Weld road, you want the seating stem just a few threads in the die so the punch is in the die body. This way no JB Weld will seize the seating stem.

[.429]

I can help a brother out with this one! I had the same problem with the same boolit (new style) and the same dies. Take a cone shaped grinding stone (the kind that will go in a drill or die grinder) and turn it by hand in the cavity of the seater. Remove the seater from the die to do this. It doesn't take much at all to bevel that edge that is causing your marks

[.429]

126839these things are like a buck or 2 at any hardware store

[cold1]

Thanks folks! It is the new style mold (just ordered it a week ago). Not sure which method I will use to fix the problem, but I will keep everyone updated. I think the barrel is a 1 in 9 twist but I have not measured it. This is my first adventure in casting for rifles.

[EMC45]

I can help a brother out with this one! I had the same problem with the same boolit (new style) and the same dies. Take a cone shaped grinding stone (the kind that will go in a drill or die grinder) and turn it by hand in the cavity of the seater. Remove the seater from the die to do this. It doesn't take much at all to bevel that edge that is causing your marks


Beat me to it. Almost all my seaters have had this done to them. I "break" the sharp edge of the cup in the seater and they behave after that. Hit it with the stone and a couple swirls on some wet/dry paper and it's good to go.

[.429]

Beat me to it. Almost all my seaters have had this done to them. I "break" the sharp edge of the cup in the seater and they behave after that. Hit it with the stone and a couple swirls on some wet/dry paper and it's good to go.

Lol! Great minds think alike :) that's a good piont, if he goes this route, he'll have the stone to fix other seaters in the future (because it will happen again)