175g VLD getting stuck in Forster Ultra Seater?

D

dcnyli

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 5, 2013
849
19
Cincinnati, OH
#1
new to reloading but curious as to why this is happening. I was under the understanding(does that make sense?), that Forster dies were designed with stems to accommodate the VLDs, but they keep grabbing my bullets and i have to pound the die to get it out(i remove first and use my palm very hard)

I am leaning towards operator error but wanted to hear back from some more experienced reloaders.. I followed the set up directions and backed off 1 turn prior to locking the die down.

thanks fellas
 
Last edited:
#5
On the bullets that have stuck, is there a round groove around the bullet where it contacts the stem? Gorski may be right, but I say not enough neck tension, allowing bullet to stay put.
You could polish the sharp edge off the seater stem?

I've had this also, but it was thin jacketed Hornady bullets, no others.
 
#6
JGorski said:
maybe your neck tension is too high?
Click to expand...

barely neck sized them so the tension is just enough to not be hand pulled out

milo 2.0 said:
On the bullets that have stuck, is there a round groove around the bullet where it contacts the stem? Gorski may be right, but I say not enough neck tension, allowing bullet to stay put.
You could polish the sharp edge off the seater stem?

I've had this also, but it was thin jacketed Hornady bullets, no others.
Click to expand...

I will check this evening, there wasn't much of a ring noticeable. I plan to disassemble and fully clean the dies when I'm home this evening though.. Will update, currently at an NRA reloading course :)
 
#8
it is leaving a ring around the bullet, i took apart the die and cleaned it thoroughly but still the same effect. I installed it exactly as instructed and you can feel it "grab" the bullet when you try to bring the arm back down the press…
 
#9
Am I understanding you correctly that the seater grabs the tip of the bullet and holds on to it, pulling the bullet out of the case as you withdraw the round?

If so, the seater stem is acting as a collet and is prolly cracked.

Remove the seater stem and force it onto a bullet, then look real close around it's circumference.
 
#10
Alternatively, remove the chamber sleeve from the die and see if the bullets fall through freely. On one of my Redding comp seaters there was a burr scratching the shit out of the bullets during seating. The sleeve was reamed from both ends, and the two holes were not concentric, kinda like two overlapping circles, causing the bullets to bind.
 
#11
918v said:
Am I understanding you correctly that the seater grabs the tip of the bullet and holds on to it, pulling the bullet out of the case as you withdraw the round?

If so, the seater stem is acting as a collet and is prolly cracked.

Remove the seater stem and force it onto a bullet, then look real close around it's circumference.
Click to expand...

correct, i just forced a bullet into the seating stem and it grabs and leaves a small ring

918v said:
Alternatively, remove the chamber sleeve from the die and see if the bullets fall through freely. On one of my Redding comp seaters there was a burr scratching the shit out of the bullets during seating. The sleeve was reamed from both ends, and the two holes were not concentric, kinda like two overlapping circles, causing the bullets to bind.
Click to expand...

the bullet doesn't "freely" fall thru, I have to shake it a bit up and down a few times for it to pass.

I am very frustrated but decided to pack it in for the day and see what Forster/Brownells says tomorrow. I waited a while to get this die set(backordered) so it's disappointing. I upped the neck tension "338" size redding bushing, and one round seated perfectly then again it began to grab, previously I was using the "340"….
 
#12
Forster dies are very accurate but they have one annoying problem, and you found it. The seater stems usually have tiny machine marks and these will "grab" the bullet causing it to stick in the seater stem. This leads to inconsistent seating depths or if severe enough will actually hold the bullet as you are experiencing. The bullet will have a shiny ring around it where the seater is grabbing it. Luckily, it is easy to fix.

Take the seater out of the die. Get a little bore brush, like one for a .22, and chuck it in a hand held drill. Take some fine steel wool, 000 or 0000, slowly spin the brush and allow it to pick up some of the steel wool. Compress and form the steel wool on the brush into a bullet shape with your fingers. Stick into the seater and polish the inside of the seater until it is smooth. Your problem will be solved in ten minutes for about 50 cents worth of steel wool.
 
#13
KYpatriot said:
Forster dies are very accurate but they have one annoying problem, and you found it. The seater stems usually have tiny machine marks and these will "grab" the bullet causing it to stick in the seater stem. This leads to inconsistent seating depths or if severe enough will actually hold the bullet as you are experiencing. The bullet will have a shiny ring around it where the seater is grabbing it. Luckily, it is easy to fix.

Take the seater out of the die. Get a little bore brush, like one for a .22, and chuck it in a hand held drill. Take some fine steel wool, 000 or 0000, slowly spin the brush and allow it to pick up some of the steel wool. Compress and form the steel wool on the brush into a bullet shape with your fingers. Stick into the seater and polish the inside of the seater until it is smooth. Your problem will be solved in ten minutes for about 50 cents worth of steel wool.
Click to expand...

sounds simple enough.. before I do this though a couple questions(they may be stupid but again I just want to be sure to ask ahead)

1. will a .223 brush work?
2. hand held drill, you mean battery or something hand turned?
3. just polish till visibly smoother vs. machine turned marks?

also is this something Forster would do if I sent it in? I just do not want to void any warranty on the item
 
#14
Sure anything that will grab the steel wool and allow you to polish the inside of the stem. I just used a cordless drill, spinning as fast as it would go, and polished the seater for a minute or two. Fine steel wool is not going to hurt it.

Of course Forster will polish it for you as well. With the coax and their dies you can make ammo as close to perfect as you can get, but for the life of me I don't know why they don't polish these seaters before they leave the factory as it is a common problem.
 
#16
it's pulling that's the real problem, inconsistent depth and often stuck to the point of needing to get knocked out. I tried the steel wool and while the sticking is gone, we still have inconsistent depths, it will be fine for two rounds then start to creep. Everything is tight and installed exactly to the letter of the instructions.

oh well, trial and error can also be error laden.
 
#17
I'd call Forster, explain and tell them to polish one for you and ship it. The one you have may be fine with a scenar, or an SMK style bullet, have both.

Doing what ky says will work, but if you put uneven pressure on one side or the other, you may end up with some dilapidated POS that's going to cause more runout than it's worth. Trust me, I chucked an expander ball up in a wood lathe, not a cheapie, either, wow, 30 seconds to meltdown.
 
#19
dcnyli said:
it's pulling that's the real problem, inconsistent depth and often stuck to the point of needing to get knocked out. I tried the steel wool and while the sticking is gone, we still have inconsistent depths, it will be fine for two rounds then start to creep. Everything is tight and installed exactly to the letter of the instructions.

oh well, trial and error can also be error laden.
Click to expand...

Are you measuring COAL or to the Ogive? Measuring to the tip will most regularly give varying measurements. Also, make sure your calipers are zeroed properly and clean. If they are digital, check zero periodically to ensure they're not drifting. Just a couple of things to look out for.
 
#20
Pahntr760 said:
Are you measuring COAL or to the Ogive? Measuring to the tip will most regularly give varying measurements. Also, make sure your calipers are zeroed properly and clean. If they are digital, check zero periodically to ensure they're not drifting. Just a couple of things to look out for.
Click to expand...

I measure from the ogive when seating and will check a few here and there for COAL but it's almost always ogive with my Hornady Comparator. I also do check the zero periodically. I wish it was one of those que's. Gonna call up Forster this morning and get it straightened out
 
#24
die is home and loaded up a bunch of rounds this evening. No more marking or "pulling", I am seeing some odd stuff go on but I'm sure it's me, but if you have an answer to this please let me know.

1. when loading up for my testing, the die will creep sometimes losing depth as i go from round 1 to 5, I have to re adjust and reseat, but after they are all crazy close. they will creep from 2.087 to 2.93, etc (i keep having to lower the setting to keep the OAL to ogive the same as the charge goes up
2. i feel the crunch of the powder and slowed down my movement on the ram to accommodate, seems to help but still inconsistent
 
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