Redding seating dies and 155's?

[Ratbert]

Tried using some new Redding 308 seating dies (both the competition/micrometer model and the standard version) with some 155 Scenars and 155 AMAX's last week and in both cases I had problems where about 1/3 of the time the bullet tip would get stuck in the die and be pulled out of the case when lowering the shell plate out of the die. Happened in both my Hornady progressive and Forester Co-Ax. Never had any problems at all with my cheapo Lee seater. Is this a normal problem with these long-nose bullets and the Redding or am I just missing something here?

 

[Jedi]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

never had this issue

sounds like neck tension prob, as in lack of it

 

[Ratbert]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

Actually, I'm thinking it may be TOO much tension and so the bullets get jammed into the die while it is forcing them into the case.

Current method is to size the case down with a slightly undersized Lee neck die and then open it back up with a Lyman neck taper die. Gives me good solid 0.004-0.005 tension for practical shooting. Has always worked pretty well in the past with the Lee seater. I'll have to go and recheck what the tension is working out to, maybe my Lyman is not adjust correctly anymore for some reason.

 

[EastBayRidge]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

I had this problem a while ago with a new Redding competition seating die, virgin Lapua brass and 155 Scenars. Don't remember the exact way they solved it, but write to Redding and they'll tell you what you need to do. Haven't had the problem since.

Good luck.

 

[Ratbert]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

Sounds like just the ticket. I'll try to get a hold of them later today.

 

[EastBayRidge]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

Oh goody. Found it in my email archive:

"Thank you for using Redding Reloading Equipment. Remove the micrometer assembly from the top of the die and pick the seat stem out of the top of the sliding sleeve. Apply a light coating of case lube to the interior of the seat stem with a Q-tip. The bullets are sticking because the shape of the bullet is a very close match for the shape of the interior of the seat stem.

Let me know if that helps."

 

[Ratbert]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

Excellent, I'll give that a try.

 

[JLM]

Re: Redding seating dies and 155's?

As an aside, Redding makes a "VLD" seater stem, that's available from Sinclair.

I haven't had any issues with the 178 A-Max thou with the stock seater stem.