Redding Competition Seating Die

V

vicvanb

Guest
The bullet seating stem on my Redding competition seating die cracked and the factory replaced it. Before this happened, I noticed that the die left a ring on the bullets toward the tip.

After I got the die back I wondered if the neck tension was too high and the force necessary to seat the bullets created the ring and led to the cracked stem. I switched to a neck bushing 0.003 larger and now have no more rings on the bullets and no hints of trouble with the stem. The bushing I used earlier sized the neck 0.005 under that of a loaded round.

I've seen other posts here about these dies producing rings on bullets and cracked stems, possibly due to the same problem I had.
 
Another example of a fine gun-related company standing behind their product....... even though the product was not defective but was broken through operator error, abuse.

Thousands of guns and barrels get sent back every year and countless reloading components. The price we consumers pay for our collective ignorance.

Thanks for fessing up, through education lies hope. :)

al
 
Sizing the necks five thou under loaded round size seems like way too much to me. I usually use a button that's 2 or 3 thou under loaded neck diameter which seems to be all that's needed to do the job, i.e., keep the bullets in the cases.

Even for rounds fed from a magazine I've found that the amount of sizing I use is sufficient.
 
Regarding the ring on the bullet toward the tip...

vicvanb said:
The bullet seating stem on my Redding competition seating die cracked and the factory replaced it. Before this happened, I noticed that the die left a ring on the bullets toward the tip.

After I got the die back I wondered if the neck tension was too high and the force necessary to seat the bullets created the ring and led to the cracked stem. I switched to a neck bushing 0.003 larger and now have no more rings on the bullets and no hints of trouble with the stem. The bushing I used earlier sized the neck 0.005 under that of a loaded round.

I've seen other posts here about these dies producing rings on bullets and cracked stems, possibly due to the same problem I had.
Click to expand...

bullets vary in the ogive profile...number of bullet diameter radii. Its not uncommon to see this as the factory doesn't know what you will be shooting. Call them and they may be able to manufacture a seating stem to match your bullet of choice, or they may be able to open up your a bit.
 
I had a similar cracking issue with my .308 seater, but it was because I was seating long projectiles onto 100%+ loads & trying to compress the powder.

No trouble since Redding replaced the plunger & giude tube at no charge by return.
 
I have lately been thinking

I might try going up two caliber sizes with my seating stems so that the stem will seat the bullets from near where they will touch the lands. This may serve to eliminate some of this cracking bidness too. I have always used lot of tension; .004 or so and have never cracked a stem to date, knock on wood! :D
 
Even though their reloading equipment is seen by some as "lower end", I have always enjoyed my reloading book by Richard Lee. For some time I have subscribed to his theory that brass really doesn't hold tension any more than 1 or 2 thousands. In short, you can undersize all you want but once you cram that bullet in there and stretch it back out you will only have the tension that you would would find with a couple thousands resizing. I think this was part of his theory behind his neck sizing die. On top of that you overwork your brass and put undue stress on your equpment.Don't most of us accept "springback" as 1 to 1.5 thousands.

Either that or I just made all that up in my head! :) Works for me anyway.
 
Tony Shankle said:
Even though their reloading equipment is seen by some as "lower end", I have always enjoyed my reloading book by Richard Lee. For some time I have subscribed to his theory that brass really doesn't hold tension any more than 1 or 2 thousands. In short, you can undersize all you want but once you cram that bullet in there and stretch it back out you will only have the tension that you would would find with a couple thousands resizing. I think this was part of his theory behind his neck sizing die. On top of that you overwork your brass and put undue stress on your equpment.Don't most of us accept "springback" as 1 to 1.5 thousands.

Either that or I just made all that up in my head! :) Works for me anyway.
Click to expand...

Tony,

IMO there's nothing "low end" about Lee's stuff. It's designed for factory stuff and that's that. You can pay more, LOTS more for no gain while shooting factory rifles and conversely none of the factory dies will adequately serve a custom rifle unless it's planned that way from the start. No biggie. What others me is guys spending thousands of dollars and hours of time trying to "make straight rounds" or even STRAIGHTENING :rolleyes: rounds while sizing many thou under their chamber size..... and 4-6 thou interference in the neck to boot!

I figure springback to be about a thou on necks..... and have found that after a case has been fired maybe 6-8 times it will begin to hold bullets tighter.

IMO annealed brass fits perfectly the "no more than a thou or two of holding power anyway" parameter. New brass the same. But twice-fired brass is already getting a little harder/springier and after a few firings you can find increased bullet pull. If you want.

opinionsby

al
 
alinwa said:
Another example of a fine gun-related company standing behind their product....... even though the product was not defective but was broken through operator error, abuse.

Thousands of guns and barrels get sent back every year and countless reloading components. The price we consumers pay for our collective ignorance.

Thanks for fessing up, through education lies hope. :)

al
Click to expand...

I am pretty sure that .005 neck sizing did not create a "broken through operator error, abuse"............Redding factory sizing dies with factory expander buttons leave necks with alot more neck restriction than .005", and the seater stems seem to handle the situation just fine.

Stuff breaks sometimes.............Don
 
Don said:
I am pretty sure that .005 neck sizing did not create a "broken through operator error, abuse". Redding factory sizing dies with factory expander buttons leave necks with alot more neck restriction than .005", and the seater stems seem to handle the situation just fine.
Stuff breaks sometimes.............Don
Click to expand...

Amen, Don. ;) -Al
 
Don said:
I am pretty sure that .005 neck sizing did not create a "broken through operator error, abuse"...........

Stuff breaks sometimes.....
Click to expand...

Thank you. For a minute there I was starting to feel incompetent!
 
I stand corrected.

The ones I've cracked were cracked because I was using so much force as to cause ringing of the bullets.

I haven't used an expander ball much but "more than .005?" wow

Anyway.... sorry vic

al
 
Hi, Guys. First post but not first time loading ammo. According to Redding, the size bushing should leave the case neck .001 less than bullet diameter. This works for me with my comp die set. And yes I get a ring on the bullet nose too. Haven't had time to R&R and recontour it. I'm using SMK 53's. :)

Joe
 
I've got some Redding standard die sets that I use on some hunting rifles. They size the necks i.d.'s from .006-.008 smaller than the bullet diameter. A set of RCBS standard dies I have for the 300WSM sizes the neck i.d. fully .010 under bullet diameter.

I've never understood the whole .001/.002 sized neck thing. :confused: Neck tension is a tuning aid..just like powder charge and bullet jam. You give the gun what the target tells you it wants. ;)

That might be .001 or it might be .005. :)

Good shootin'. -Al :)
 
Al Nyhus said:
You give the gun what the target tells you it wants.
Click to expand...

Good advice that applies not only to neck tension but to powder, primers, bullets, brass, case prep, cleaning regime--pretty much everything!

The only things that count are the groups on the targets (plural!).
 
alinwa said:
Tony,

IMO there's nothing "low end" about Lee's stuff. It's designed for factory stuff and that's that. You can pay more, LOTS more for no gain while shooting factory rifles and conversely none of the factory dies will adequately serve a custom rifle unless it's planned that way from the start. No biggie. What others me is guys spending thousands of dollars and hours of time trying to "make straight rounds" or even STRAIGHTENING :rolleyes: rounds while sizing many thou under their chamber size..... and 4-6 thou interference in the neck to boot!

I figure springback to be about a thou on necks..... and have found that after a case has been fired maybe 6-8 times it will begin to hold bullets tighter.

IMO annealed brass fits perfectly the "no more than a thou or two of holding power anyway" parameter. New brass the same. But twice-fired brass is already getting a little harder/springier and after a few firings you can find increased bullet pull. If you want.

opinionsby

al
Click to expand...

Totally agree Al and exactly why I use custom dies and "partial" anneal every firing. And to be clear I wasn't knocking Lee's stuff, I was just pointing out that ole Richard knew a thing or two about neck tension.
 
Lynn said:
Al
Have you found alot of difference between 0.003 worth of neck tension and 0.005? Did you start with a 0.262 chamber or a 0.268 like is becoming more popular each day? If you went to the thicker necks how did that affect your sizing bushing compared to the thinner necks?
Lynn aka Waterboy
Click to expand...

Lynn, my three BR rifles are all .30's (two 30BR's and one 30 WolfPup) so I really can't comment on the .262/.268 neck thing. These .30's all have .330 chamber necks. When you neck a Lapua 6BR case to .30, a .330 chamber neck dia. is about as large as you can go and still get a clean, even cut on 100% of the case neck. There are a few people using a .332 chamber neck in the 30BR's...these also work well.

When we were running our .30 WareWolf chambers in the Hunter guns (basically a .165 short 308W), we spec'd the chamber neck at .335 on the reamer rather than the more popular .330-.332 chamber necks for shortened cases like this (based off 308W or 300 Sav.). Worked well.

Whatever the chambering, a good gun shows us what it wants. :) -Al
 
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