Seating die issues.. help!

[rdfact]

I have had the same issue using the Hornady LNL and Hornady dies, though my indentation ring was much less pronounced than yours. I also used 230gr XTreme plated bullets. The RN seating plug leaves a slight ring, the flat plug slightly flattens the tip.
As others have noted, it could be a combination of thick brass, .452 bullet, and crimping in the same die.

['ol shooter]

When you use a seater and crimper in one die, you will run into that if the crimp is set too tight. You should be crimping enough so that the round will freely drop into a test gauge or the barrel you are loading for. I had to back off my Hornady combo die for that very reason. When using a separate die I have no issues.

[budah1999]

I had the same problem with my Dillon 550 and 230gr RN extreme bullets I had to reshape the seating plug so the bullets would fit properly, the ring wasn't my only problem the overall length of the bullet was different on all the rounds but once I ground out the die no more ring and no more seating issues. By the way I used a lathe and a die grinder with a round stone to accomplish this.

[libertyordeath]

Funny thing I'm about to load the same rounds today on a seating crimp die so I'll make sure that I look out for this and set die accordingly.

I still have not upgraded my .45 die set to seat and crimp dies separately.

[tylenol9999]

I have heard of this a number of times. Seems to be an issue with the Dillon dies and plated bullets.

See countless hits on Google

https://www.google.com/search?q=dillon+nipple+bullets&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#hl=en&q=dillon+bullet+nipple

[ziconceo]

Your press should have come with 2 seats, one for flat nose/truncated, and the other for round nose. Try the flat one with your bullets.

This is the correct answer, i had the EXACT problem with my dillon square deal and swapping the seat fixed the problem.

[RR.44]

Yeah I agree with the posts above, you have the die set too low, back the die out a few turns and increase the plunger depth, that should solve your problem

[fscroggs]

Can you explain the plunger thing? On my Dillon Square Deal B I only have on setting for the bullet seater.

Also, I did contact X-treme and explain that the old West Coast Bullets did not do this, they insisted that nothing has changed since West Coast. I still have some West Coast that do not exhibit this. It is as if the shape of the bullet is different or the plating/lead is softer.

Bought a couple of seating dies to try and modify (round off the edges) and see if I can get a clean seat. Still trying to figure out exactly how I am going to accomplish that...

[CityHunt3r]

If the bullets are plated lead, the plugs could be marking them due to the lead being softer than real copper jacketing material. A tighter than normal friction fit, due to thicker case walls, could also be the culprit. Are you by any chance applying a overly tight taper crimp while seating the bullets?

I use RCBS dies and I must confess that I've never had bullets that were marked like that. If you've loaded a number, I'd go ahead and shoot them as the marks aren't anywhere near where they would engage the rifling and cause accuracy problems.

Lastly, check the seating plugs and verify that they are the correct caliber. If that checks out, call Dillon Customer Service and explain it to them. They can probably supply the correct answer. Good luck to you.

I also think it could be the crimp I would try to back the die up/out and lower the seating accordingly.

[huckberry668]

You'll get that ring no matter what die you use. Xtreme bullet are swaged soft lead core with thin copper plating. Seating stems don't conform 100% to the shape of the bullet. Rings will form. You'll get some deformed SWC shaped bullets if you used the wrong end of the seat stem.

Dillon dies tend to size the cases too much creating more wall tension than needed. You'll imprint the seating stem ring on soft bullets from the high wall tension. Dillon sizing dies produces the infamous 'hour glass' shaped rounds which you can clear see from OP.

I have RCBS, Dillon, Lee dies and recently bought Hornady New Dimension. they all leave rings on Xtreme plated bullets but Hornady did best by not under-size the brass like Dillon and RCBS do.

Also... don't crimp Xtreme plated bullets especially if you don't separate your brass by length. You'll get some wild fliers if you do.

[fscroggs]

Regarding the crimp die, I am not sure that in this case it has anything to do with the indention, as the ring appears after the seating die.

Regarding the cases, I have started to sort and load with like brass (like headstamps). All of the various cases do this.

I had also tried rainier bullets, but the die left an indention on the tip of the bullet (perfectly matching the hole in the top of the seating die).

Like I stated in a previous post, once I figure out how to "tweak" the shape of the die, I have couple to try and create a "match".

Thanks for all of the feedback. If anyone has any suggestions of shaping the die, I am open. For now I plan to hit the Dremmel tool section at the local hardware store and see if I can find something that might work.


Frank

[9mmepiphany]

Hornady Seating die inserts are supposed to be pretty soft. It is my understanding that if you take them out, you can polish/reshape them by warping a bullet in an abrasive cloth...or go to a hard bullet

I just let it go as they don't have much effect of the flight of the bullet

[huckberry668]

For now I plan to hit the Dremmel tool section at the local hardware store and see if I can find something that might work.
Frank

unless your seating stems has obvious burs or imperfections, no good can come out of this Dremel odyssey ... It's not the die, it's the bullet. the ring imprint doesn't do much in terms of accuracy degradation to this bullet of broadside of barn plinking quality.

[Capt.Dunsel]

Regarding the crimp die, I am not sure that in this case it has anything to do with the indention, as the ring appears after the seating die.

Regarding the cases, I have started to sort and load with like brass (like headstamps). All of the various cases do this.

I had also tried rainier bullets, but the die left an indention on the tip of the bullet (perfectly matching the hole in the top of the seating die).

Like I stated in a previous post, once I figure out how to "tweak" the shape of the die, I have couple to try and create a "match".

Thanks for all of the feedback. If anyone has any suggestions of shaping the die, I am open. For now I plan to hit the Dremmel tool section at the local hardware store and see if I can find something that might work.


Frank

Try making a "shim" with sealing wax ( or hot glue) to reform the tip of the seating stem ( old timers trick) before doing any permanent damage.

[JTROKS]

I have some Remington JHP bullets for 38/357 and no matter which seater stem I put in the die it leaves a ring. Bullets still shoot accurately just the problem with aesthetics.