RCBS .44 mag seating problem

[acemedic13]

I was loading some 44 mag lead tip hollow points with a new RCBS seating die. The tip of the bullet is getting crimped about 1/8th of inch below the tip, causing the tip to flare out. I have cleaned, and adjusted both the depth of the die and the seating plug. It still keeps doing it. Any info on what I can do to stop this? What am I doing wrong?I have Never had this happen before with any of my dies. Any help would be great. thanks...Joel...

[Blammer]

hard to see what you're talking about, do you have a picture? that may help.

[BCB]

Does the profile of the seating plug fit the tip of the boolit you are seating. Or at least close to fitting it?...

BCB

[acemedic13]

Does the profile of the seating plug fit the tip of the boolit you are seating. Or at least close to fitting it?...

BCB

Yes it appears to.

The bullet tip resembles a case neck that has been overcrimped. You know how the case flares out when that happens? After that they dont have a crimp where the bullet and case meet, just a gnarley flare.....

This is similiar in appearance, it's just that in this instance it is the bullet tip that is flared.

Also, the bullet is seated to the proper depth. I have tried to back off it a bit to see if that would help, but I had to back off way too far out of spec in order to avoid the issue. I will mess with it again tonight when I have more time. Thanks in advance for the help...Joel...

[Lloyd Smale]

If your die isnt set up right you could be driving the bullet into the crimp rather then crimping the bullet after its at proper dept. Its allways better to seat and crimp in seperate operations but if your combining the two take an empty case and put it in your shell holder. Back off the seating stem all the way and screw the die down until you get about the crimp you want on the empty case then slowly adjust your seating stem down till the bullet is at the proper dept when crimping. Make sure your not over crimping. If you still have marks on your bullet nose you will either need a differnt seating stem or at least need to alter the one you have to fit the bullet nose better. One way to do that is to put a dab of jb weld one the stem where it meets the bullet nose and then ease a loaded round up into the die to displace the jb weld and form it into the shape of your bullet nose. Make sure you put a dab of grease or oil on the bullet so it will release from the jb weld.

[JesterGrin_1]

I think I understand. You should use a SWC Seater Plug but still at times the place where the bullet tip goes is too large thus the ring on the outside of the seater plug will put a ring on the end of the bullet. If this is the case I simply make the seater plug flat. I do this on a Lathe to make sure it is flat and square. It works great on any flat pointed or HP Boolits.

[Edubya]

I'm with Lloyd. I think that you need to seperate your seating operation from the crimping operation. This worked for me on the Mihec 503, with the Dillon 550 and RCBS dies. It seems that the seating has not seared the HP before the crimp locks it in. I thik that I'm going to have to buy another die to separate them and not hot have to vary the die and run another cycle.

EW

[BCB]

I adjust my seating/crimping die a bit differently than Lloyd…

I put the seating die in the press just far enough that it is not at the crimping position—the empty case with the belled mouth is fully inserted into the die, it does not come in contact with the crimping ring in the die. Let the locking ring on the die loose…

I then place a boolit into the case mouth and slowly screw the seating stem down and seat the boolit a bit at a time until it gets to the crimping groove or the location on the boolit you wish the seating depth to be…

Then, unscrew the seating plug away back out! So it doesn’t touch the boolit again as you slowly start to screw the die into the press. Lower the lever on the press and place the cartridge into the seating die. Then screw the seating die down until you feel resistance and the mouth touching the crimping ring. Keep adjusting the seating die down until you get the desired crimp you wish in the case mouth. With the case still inserted in the die, tighten the locking ring and the die is set to crimp at the place you desire…

With the case fully inserted into the die, screw the seating stem down until it touches the boolit. Lock it in place. The crimping die is now set to seat the boolit to the proper depth and apply the crimp where you want it…

This method I use with my handgun loads as the accuracy gained by crimping with a separate stem is not noticeable, at least to me. It may be different with bottle neck cases where greater accuracy may be attempted. But with straight wall cases, I don’t think the extra stem is worth the time…

Good-luck…BCB

[acemedic13]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I did everything exactly like i have with other dies hundreds of times, and took BCB's advice. Everything went smooth until....... I cranked the handle a little harder on a round, and BAM! It crimped the bullet like it had all the other times... All that time it was just me overcranking the handle and forcing the bullet into the seting punch too hard! WOW....Feel sorta stupid for that. A few good things came out of it all though. I know better than to try to muscle my gear, and boy are those dies set to super precision!

[BCB]

Just curious...

What type of press are you using that you can "muscle" past the "cam over" point on the stroke of the lever?...

Something doesn't seem right about that...

Good-luck...BCB