redding comp seater scratching bullets?

SPAK

SPAK

Stupid can be fixed
Full Member
Minuteman
Apr 3, 2009
2,259
114
Alaska
#1
Has anyone had a redding comp seater die scratch bullets? the scratches are only on one side and just in front of the case mouth. I"m seating amax bullets with the vld seating stem. I get marks where the seating stem contacts the bullet as well but not scratches. I cleaned it out with brake cleaner and re lubed lightly, but didn't lube inside where the cartridge contacts the case.

Any thoughts at all? THe scratches aren't deep. Just on the surface.
 
#2
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

That's funny, I was just reloading some 308 Win with a Redding Comp seater and noticed the same thing. I've used this die for about 4 months but just noticed that same issue today.

I took the die apart and found that the machining inside the moving tube had some rough spots on it. I tried to remove them thinking it was dirt or dust but after a more careful look, see that it is part of the die metal.

Needless to say, just before coming on the Hide I had the die packed up to be shipped back to Redding for an exchange.

I wonder if there was a lot of these that have similar problems? I just happened to have another Redding 308 Win seater die in another die set (I keep one setup for bolt actions and another for auto-loaders) which worked fine without scratching. So something was definitely defective.
 
#4
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

any idea if the scratches will affect accuracy??? I would think the bullet gets pretty deformed from rifling when fired and the scratches effect would be nominal??
 
#5
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

No.

I had a 22-250 seater like that. Apparently the floating seater stem bushing was reamed from both ends, kinda like tunneling, and the two did not meet in the same spot, causing a burr. The little scratch did not affect accuracy at the least. Pull some bullets seated in new brass and see what a neck does to the bullet shank if you don't believe me.
 
#7
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

Before sending it back, I would call Redding and speak to someone there before sending it back. They may have some ideas on what to do. I can't remember the guy's name. But they have one of their engineers that will talk to you if there is a problem.

Good luck.
 
#9
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

Well interestingly enough, I exchanged the die for another one and am running into the same issue. There looks to be a small ring of some sort in the sliding sleeve which is causing the problem. I didn't happen to check to see if this was there on my new die before putting it to use but have a sneaking suspicion that there is something else going on.

I recently started using Weapons Shield as a lube to protect my dies through the winter from rust. I have a feeling that this CLP may be weakening the copper jacket on the Lapua 155gr Scenars that I'm using and depositing the copper on the sliding sleeve surface. I tried cleaning it with a good copper solvent though and the ring is still there.
 
#11
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

Yes, you will get slight scratches from the comp seaters sometimes. It is normal. Several of the comp seaters I use do this. It is purely cosmetic. My personal 260 Rem match ammo will get slight scratches on 1/4 to 1/2 of one side of the bullet on some rounds. They are very faint scratches. What is happening is the seating stem is lining up the bullet straight and the case or case neck is slightly out-of-round. When you pull the round out of the die after seating, it leaves slight tooling marks from being slightly out-of-round. If you have a concentricity or run out gauge, you can see this on the dial before and after seating.
 
#12
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

Yes, the regular and comp seater stems will leave very minor abrasive marks where is contacts the bullet but that is not what I'm talking about. The scratches I'm referring to occur below where the seater stem contacts the bullet caused by a raised ring in the seater sliding sleeve. The contact point is just above the case neck and below where the seater makes contact.
 
#13
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

well, just to post back I sent my comp seater into redding on the 17th. And I just found out they've been gone for a week, so my die sat at a post office for about 8 days, they're backed up so they won't be able to get to it for anothe 10 days or so....should have made more ammo....I'll let you know what happens when I get it back.
 
#14
Re: redding comp seater scratching bullets?

It's not the seater stem but the sleeve it rides in that causes the scratches. I have owned several Redding comp seaters and they all scratch bullets, some even stick and hold bullets inside, depending how off center the holes are. The sleeves are reamed from opposite ends, not all the way through.
 
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