Ring around the noses.....

[jdgabbard]

Ok, bought the NOE 230 RF HP for the .45acp/.45LC and my lyman seater die is leaving a ring around the nose. Anybody have a good solution?

[Errokk]

Does it have the changeable seating punch? If so, swap it to the flat one if you have the curved one in it now. I'm not familiar with Lyman dies but my Hornady dies have 2 different seating punches with the die sets, one for RN and one for FN boolits.

[jdgabbard]

Jeez... I'm not that much of a noob... YES, it is switchable, and it does have the flat on it it. However, the flat one has a shoulder. Which cuts a ring into the boolit's nose.

[ReloaderFred]

Chuck it in a drill press and take the sharp corner off the lip. You can use most anything that will round that sharp corner, even a the end of a small file will do it.

If you have access to a lathe, that's even better, but just form the punch to the nose and it will still work for other bullets, too.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[jdgabbard]

Thats not really an option.... Knob on the end of the plug measures at .580ish... (It's knurled)

[jdgabbard]

Maybe this will help you understand what I'm talking about...
64365

64366

[DrCaveman]

It seems like slowly filling up the cavity in the nose punch with 5-minute epoxy could work. As long as the punch balances on its end, the stuff should self level and end up parallel to your boolit nose. Maybe just try a little, see how it works, add more if needed.

Obviously this solution has some drawbacks but it might work

[Doc Highwall]

What I have done is use JB Weld on the inside of the seating stem. Wash the seating stem with alcohol and put a small dab of JB Weld into the hollow nose of the seating stem and coat the nose of the bullet with a release agent like bullet lube. Now assemble it back into your press (you could even put a light coat of oil inside the seating die to work as a release agent) now put a case with a good bullet on top and bring the ram up enough to start to seat the bullet and leave it there while the JB Weld cures. After the JB Weld cures take the die apart and sand the edges of the seating stem and wipe out the inside of the die body.

[dtknowles]

If the bullet is a hollow point fill the nose with hard bullet lube before you try the JB weld trick

Tim

[1hole]

"...my lyman seater die is leaving a ring around the nose. Anybody have a good solution?"

Yeah; it's harmless, forget about it.

[ReloaderFred]

You can always use a Dremel Tool to open up the seating plug, too. You just have to be careful to make it relatively even around the edges. I've done them both ways, plus filling a seating plug with epoxy. They all work, and it really doesn't take very long to do any of them.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[DLCTEX]

Go with the JB Weld. If you need to it can be removed with heat.

[Recluse]

Go with the JB Weld. If you need to it can be removed with heat.

I was going to suggest filling the seater up with soft lead, then filing it flat. Harder lead (HP boolits) being seated by softer lead (in the seater cup) should preserve the integrity of the HP boolits.

:coffee:

[LUBEDUDE]

Before I heard about the JB Weld trick a few years ago, I just stuffed a small wad of paper towel up in the die. As cheesy as it sounds, it has worked great for tens of thousands of rounds.

When it fails, I will go the JB Weld route.

[chsparkman]

A guy in a gun shop in Victorville, CA once (about 17 years ago) told me to put a little ball of wadded up aluminum foil into the seater die. It worked very well. It took the shape of the bullet nicely and solved the problem.

[downwind]

I use hot melt glue, works great and is removable

Clean nose punch or die seating stem
apply hot melt
push in oiled bullet nose (keeping as straight as possible)
let glue harden
remove bullet
Done!

HOPE THIS HELPS
DOWNWIND

[Lloyd Smale]

crimp in a seperate operation and it will go away.

[mdi]

Jeez... I'm not that much of a noob... YES, it is switchable, and it does have the flat on it it. However, the flat one has a shoulder. Which cuts a ring into the boolit's nose.
Simple, remove the "ring". I would chuck the nose punch in a lathe or drill and use a bit of emery paper on the tip of my finger and "sand" it out. And not being a noob, I'm sure you know about making custom nose punches with epoxy?

[yooper]

My quick & dirty fix has been to tamp a small amount of fine steel wool into the bullet seater. It will conform to the shape of varying bullet styles and can be removed when no longer needed. JMHO.
yooper

[Doc Highwall]

Some quick fixes might be ok, but I am trying to get the best accuracy and a bullet seating die that does not seat the bullet straight will not be as accurate.

If I am going through all the effort to clean my alloy when I smelt it, attach a PID control to my lead pot to control the temperature, and work to get the mould to drop perfect bullets, I am not going to take a short cut at the last minute with the lubing and seating of the bullet.

That would be like you buying and making the best match grade ammunition and then going out side and shooting it up in the air just to make noise on the 4th of July.

[Bosshaug]

I had that problem once. I solved it by putting a small piece of heavy duty duct tape in the top punch. It acts like a cushion and molds itself to the bullet. Lasts quite awhile too, good for a thousand bullets or so. YMMV.

[ReloaderEd]

When you are seating the bullet it should go in relatively easy, if it gets hard you are packing the powder because of the weight and length of the boolit. If you feel the resistance that is when you are ringing the bullet. RCBS has different seating stems. Just a thought to check. Be safe

[jdgabbard]

The load is fine, I'm a seasoned loader, not a noob. But only recently started purchasing custom molds, so a lot of seater plugs don't really fit.

And although I have seated and crimped separately, this issue was still there. So Lloyd's suggestion is not a fix. I'll try the JB Weld. Sounds like it will be an easy fix.