Seating die & shaving lead?

[abcollector]

I have a set of Redding dies that I am using to load bullets I've cast and in the seating step, as the cartridge is being raised into the die, it is closing the flare that the expander die put into the case mouth and shaving a small amount of lead from the bands on the bullet. Which in turn is making bullet seating much more difficult as the cartridge doesn't have the flare any more and the bullet isn't seated yet.

Do I not have something adjusted just right or is this "normal" for the seating die to do this and I need to have the mouth of the die opened up?

I'm not having a problem with the flare not being enough, it's that the seating die is reducing it back before the bullet is seating in place. Make sense?

Thanks

[docone31]

As long as the casting is within die specs, it shouldn't be an issue.
In my paper patching experience, I had to send my dies back to Lee Precision to have them modified. Their dies were for .311-.312. I was sizing to .314.
I have a feeling, and I could be wrong, that your sizing is larger than the die is designed for.
I tried everything.
I got absolutely no results untill I sent them back.
I sent two castings, with two cases I normally use.

[abcollector]

docone31 thanks for your reply. You brought up a valid point so I went and checked a sized but NOT expanded cartridge and it slipped right in all the way to the start of the crimp. So that does eliminate the size die being over size.
I just have a feeling that the seating die isn't large enough to permit flaring of the mouth for a cast bullet. It may work no problem for a jacketed bullet but is to tight to soon for seating cast. If so, question is, how would I ask Redding to fix it? Send them a could of flared cartridges? Or a new seating die?

[missionary5155]

abcollector.. You do not give caliber, bulet diameter.. But if your boolit is oversize and the flare on your case is well beyond "Normal" for those J thangs then your flare is going to be beyond the spec that Redding works with. Example... My 375 Supermag dies (Redding) were designed for .375 J thangs but I load .377 boolits... the case mouth flare had to be wide enough to accept the boolit and would not hold that flare entering the seating die.

[Kraschenbirn]

I've had similar difficulties with both Lee and RCBS dies when loading for my milsurps; most notably .303 Brit and 8x57. My solution was to screw the seating die down as far as necessary to seat the boolit without closing the case mouth flare and then use a Lee collet-type crimp die to "de-flare" the neck.

Bill

[HeavyMetal]

Let's see if I understand the issue, cause I think some confusion exist here.

you are flaring the case's enough to allow your cast boolits to set in the case mouth properly.

As you lift the press ram and the case / boolit just enters the mouth of the seating die the die "closes" the case mouth and the "shaving" of the boolit starts right then and there!

If this is the correct senario the die is to tight for you boolit case combonation and needs to be opened up. I would call Redding explain the problem and offer to send them the die a couple of boolits and a case or two with the amount of flare you want in the case neck.

Redding should be able to adjust your die to give you the correct performace!

[454PB]

You can't really blame the die until you have measured the brass wall thickness and boolit diameter. Some military brass has very thick case walls, which will cause the problem you describe. Your cases only need to be expanded enough for the boolit to start into the case mouth. If you over expand, shaving will result. Most dies are designed for use with jacketed bullets. If you decide to use .359" boolits in Redding dies designed for .357" bullets, they will tell you the die is "within specs".

[Maven]

abc, Is it possible that you've got the seating die screwed in too far? If you back the die off ~1 or 1.5 turns would you still get lead shaving?

[BRYAN]

Maven makes a good point. I found that when I screwed the seating die in the press too deep, the case would begin to enter the taper crimp portion closing the case mouth and shaving lead. They are lee dies. One turn out fixed it for me. I make crimping a seperate step when I use one.

[largom]

I think Maven and BRYAN have your solution. Back your die out 1 or 2 turns and then lower your seating stem as required. I always crimp in a seperate operation. Also, I do not flare bottle-neck cases. I use a Lyman VLD deburring tool when I deburr the inside of the case neck. This leaves a long tapered cut on the inside and allows cast boolits to seat without shaving lead.
Larry

[Jon K]

You stil haven't told us what size you're dealing with.

Lyman 'M' die, with the proper size expander plug.........

Jon

[Castnshoot]

I use the Lee Universal Expander Die and got rid of that problem.