dies

[wgr]

what seating die do you guys use. my regular seating die tears the paper when i seat the boolit

[Hiwall55]

I use an RCBS, works fine

[country gent]

I bought a meacham neck sizing bushing die for 45-70, allows me to size brass so that the paper patched bullet can be finger seated. Chamfer your brass with a good sharp beburrring tool so there are so sharp edges burrs also. I have a Lymann VLD deburring tool I use it give a more gradual angle the the standards. My Paper patched bullets are bore riding. A new expander could be made slightly larger than bullet dia of your paper patched bullets also. I believe Buffalo Arms sells these also. Check the ID of your sized cases in comparison to the Dia of your patched bullets. I also dont crimp my paper patched loads due to the risk of damaging the patch. Just remove the bell if you are using one. Size and bell your cases so that the mouth neck dimension is slightly larger than bullet dia. .001 or so.
WHat is your finished bullets Dia? What paper are you using? How are you wrapping these wet or dry? With what to wet if wet wrapping them?

[Don McDowell]

I don't use a die to seat paper patch, just thumb them in.

[Nobade]

Same here. If I absolutely must use a seating die, I have modified them with a flat nose punch so they don't touch the patch. But mostly seating depth is set by the powder compression die and the boolit just sits on top with little or no neck tension. Especially in patch to bore situations, the bore lines everything up so the case isn't doing much anyhow.

-Nobade

[montana_charlie]

Sounds like you need to load unsized cases, or get a different plug for your neck expander die.

CM

[MT Chambers]

How do you guys fare when you take those "thumb seated " bullets out hunting, and have them banging around in your pocket? Removing them from your shellbelt also tends to leave the bullet behind at the worst moment. Lots of times, esp. out hunting, you have to remove a loaded round from the chamber, leaving the"thumb seated" bullet in the chamber, usually while Mr. Moose laughs. You gotta watch what ya tell new shooters/hunters, they may believe you!

[country gent]

I size cases mouths with my Mecham bushing die with the bullet in place since I ordered it with the pass thru top. I size 1/4" down from case mouth with a .470 bushing in place gives me .4495+ around my .450 dia bullet. Have yet to have a bullet "fall out" and yet with a little effort they can be turned in the case. Retrieved patches and pieces of look good and show no unussuall markings. If Mr Moose is standing there Im not unloading a live round.

[Don McDowell]

How do you guys fare when you take those "thumb seated " bullets out hunting, and have them banging around in your pocket? Removing them from your shellbelt also tends to leave the bullet behind at the worst moment. Lots of times, esp. out hunting, you have to remove a loaded round from the chamber, leaving the"thumb seated" bullet in the chamber, usually while Mr. Moose laughs. You gotta watch what ya tell new shooters/hunters, they may believe you!

How do I get along with those thumb seated bullets out hunting? Just fine. Got to watch how you react to something you might not quite of experienced..

[montana_charlie]

Lots of times, esp. out hunting, you have to remove a loaded round from the chamber, leaving the"thumb seated" bullet in the chamber, usually while Mr. Moose laughs.

How many times have you had that happen to you?

A. Ocasionally
B. Most of the time
C. Everytime I pull an unfired cartridge
D. I have never hunted with paper patched bullets

CM

[Don McDowell]

Wonder how the old buffalo runners ever got anything killed, what with them thumb seated bullets falling out scattered all over the countryside..

[MT Chambers]

I knew you guys were just kidding about loose bullets in your brass on hunting trips, we have big animals up here in Canada, much more at stake.....not much chance of getting run over by a upset skinny antelope.

[Don McDowell]

Nobody said anything about "loose" bullets, just said seated them by thumb... Big difference.

[bigted]

I live in Alaska where the critters are 'a bit bigger' then anywhere else in the continent and I gotta say that I wouldn't flinch at using patched boolits for a hunting round...that being said I also don't shoot cases where the boolits fall out by turning them upside down or stick in the chamber either. my method consists of having a cookie load or a duplex load...[I prefer the cookie's]...and after they are seated I run the case into my RCBS size die ...[with the primer punch stem removed]...till the boolits have just enough grip on em that it takes a bit of effort to turn em in the loaded case.

now for accuracy and target requirements ...[hunting is a bit different as I accept 2 to 3 inches at 100 yds]...I hear the "lose with no grip" theory but I gotta say that im still in the infancy stage of real accuracy...[getting closer all the time tho]...and I never try to ensure my boolits are tight in the case...YET !!!

[MT Chambers]

I hear ya, some of my Bp guns/loads work good with little or no case neck tension, but for hunting, usually "what can go wrong, will" and I make sure everything is well in place.

[Nobade]

The Lyman 45-70 taper crimp die with enough cut off the bottom so it actually works and the top bored out so it doesn't hit the boolits is pretty useful for this too. No resizing, finger seat patched boolits, taper crimp just enough so you're sure they won't fall out. Good accuracy, minimal patch damage.

-Nobade

[wgr]

thinks for the info guys