I'm in the "never had an issue with seating below the neck" camp, but that means nothing really, maybe I've just been lucky. I wonder how many errant checks have been shot out of barrels without any issues except perhaps an unexplained flyer or two.
I DO feel the need to remark on Duke's statement about the lead melting wive's tale. The hand-through-the-candle-flame analogy isn't accurate. It isn't heat that damages or cuts boolits, it's gas pressure. If you pass your hand quickly through a 30,000 PSI air jet, it will cleanly and instantly slice off your fingers. Gas-cutting can and will occur at any point that there's an obturation failure (gas leak past the boolit). There usually isn't a sufficient pressure differential to cause a rush of powder gas to damage any portion of a boolit seated below the neck. Sometimes boolits seated below the neck don't shoot well, sometimes they shoot fine, it just depends.
Gear