Lee bullet seater PROBLEM

[Rio Grande]

Got a Lee 9mm die set yesterday, all well until I began to seat bullets, the bullets had a longer pointed nose. 115 gr. 'Berry's Bullets', copper coated lead.
They were very difficult to load straight, some tilting and brass push-out on one side.
When I looked at the seater I saw the cavity for the nose was almost spherical, like it might work good for a round ball, not a pointed bullet.
No support at all to the sides of the bullets.
So...will Lee sell me a more appropriate seater? What do I ask for? Or do I HAVE to buy a Lyman M die??? Am I stuck with using a more rounded bullet/boolit nose?


After looking at FAQ's on the Lee site, I think I see what I'm doing wrong. I'm used to loading .38 sp. on RCBS dies, 9mm and Lee is a different cat. I always backed up the main die body so I could crimp in a separate op.
But if I back up the main die body too far on the Lee dies I have to screw the seater way in. That puts it past the smaller dia. that guides the boolit on its way into the case.
I tried a sample case and bullet just now, it turned out OK.
I'll try to load again later.

[DLCTEX]

You can custom fit the seater to the bullet with epoxy. Oil the nose of the bullet, or use sizing wax, put a small amount of epoxy in the cavity if the seater, and raise the seated bullet in the die until it rests against the seater. Leave it to dry. I use 4 minute epoxy. The epoxy can be removed with enough heat.

[exile]

I have had some Speer bullets for years that would not work with my Lee dies. Someone suggested seating and crimping in separate steps which worked well. Sort of off topic, but why do you seat and crimp in separate steps on your .38 specials? I ask because I am getting ready to load some and this whole seating and crimping in separate steps thing intrigues me. Thanks.

exile

[dudel]

You can custom fit the seater to the bullet with epoxy. Oil the nose of the bullet, or use sizing wax, put a small amount of epoxy in the cavity if the seater, and raise the seated bullet in the die until it rests against the seater. Leave it to dry. I use 4 minute epoxy. The epoxy can be removed with enough heat.

I've done the same with tissue paper and some bullet lube. Tissue paper forms to the projectile shape, lube keeps it in place. Comes out easy enough. Can't take credit for it; it's a tip from an old Dean Grenell book.

[Rio Grande]

I have had some Speer bullets for years that would not work with my Lee dies. Someone suggested seating and crimping in separate steps which worked well. Sort of off topic, but why do you seat and crimp in separate steps on your .38 specials? I ask because I am getting ready to load some and this whole seating and crimping in separate steps thing intrigues me. Thanks.

exile

I've had trouble in the past with shaving lead (cast boolits) while seating/crimping at the same stage.
So I just bell the case well, seat first, then crimp in extra step. Works for me. Makes a nice round.

And thanks guys for the tips on modifying the bullet seater.

I see now where Lee will modify the seater cavity for $8....(a good deal) if you send it in along with a sample bullet. That's what it said in the instructions that came with my used die set. Do they still do that?
But why do that unless you have LOTS of bullets of one kind, or will stay with a particular cast boolit.

[BCall]

Lee's website says they will make you one for $8 +$4.50 S&H if you send in a sample bullet. If I had several different designs of bullets that I used, I think I would just buy some extra seating stems from them and modify them with epoxy as was stated before. You can order the stems on line and they only cost $2 I think, plus shipping.

[mdi]

If you have the tools, you can drill out the seater so that the tip of the bullet slides into the hole and the bullet is seated by pushing on the ogive, ie.: the contact of the bullet/seater is on the curved part of the bullet, not the point.

[Dale53]

Lead bullets should all be seated in one die, then crimped in another. If you have a genuine Keith bullet with their generous crimp groove, then you can often get by with seating and crimping at the same time.

However, the mechanical solution is to simply seat with one die and crimp with another (otherwise, as the bullet is being seated, the crimper is moving the case mouth into the side of the soft cast bullet which WILL damage it).

Yes, I seated and crimped in one step for years. I started loading before there were three die sets much less four die sets. As soon as they became available I saw the wisdom in using a four die set. Since I load most of my stuff on a pair of Dillon 550B's, I just added a crimp die to the last stage and adjust the bullet seating die to JUST seat the bullet.

FWIW
Dale53

[StarMetal]

Dale,

The dies were originally set up for jacketed bullets. Until more people started shooting factory swaged and casting their own bullets the dies we have today started coming along. This problem doesn't exist with jacket. I'm talking jacketed that has the cannelure groove.

You are correct about the revolver cast bullets with the generous crimp groove. Then can be completed in one step.

[Dale53]

StarMetal;
Actually, when I started reloading, there were NO jacketed bullets available. By my standards, that is a fairly recent phenomena:mrgreen:. I started casting bullets and reloading in the late forties or early fifties. There were ONLY cast bullets. There were also only two die sets. Three dies sets came along later, then four die sets.

When it comes to pistols and revolvers both, I load only cast bullets these days. However, I admit that I have loaded my share of jacketed bullets for revolvers and pistols in the past.

The only deer I ever lost was from a .44 Magnum 180 gr Hollow point bullet loaded hot. I hit the deer too far back (twice - my bad) and the bullet did not penetrate so I had no blood trail to follow and lost the deer in heavy brush. That is a hateful thing to have happen. I have NEVER had a good cast bullet fail to penetrate, even when shot head on, in deer size game.

Just some rambling thoughts...

Dale53