Do I need an expander/flaring die for .223?

[recurry]

Hi All,

Currently, when I'm seating bullets on my LNL press, I have to hold the bullet on the cartridge as it rides up into the Forster .223 seating die that I'm using. The die has a sleeve which is nice because it seems to seat the bullets straight as they ride up and into the die, but I'm wondering if I'm doing this right - I saw online that you can get a Lee universal flaring die that bells the mouth of the cartridge slightly so that the bullet can be set on the cartridge and stay there as you raise the press...

My question is, do you use these for .223 reloading, or is the right way just to hold the bullet on the case as it enters the seating die?

Thanks,

Russ

 

[ChrisGarrett]

Re: Do I need an expander/flaring die for .223?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: recurry</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi All,

Currently, when I'm seating bullets on my LNL press, I have to hold the bullet on the cartridge as it rides up into the Forster .223 seating die that I'm using. The die has a sleeve which is nice because it seems to seat the bullets straight as they ride up and into the die, but I'm wondering if I'm doing this right - I saw online that you can get a Lee universal flaring die that bells the mouth of the cartridge slightly so that the bullet can be set on the cartridge and stay there as you raise the press...

My question is, do you use these for .223 reloading, or is the right way just to hold the bullet on the case as it enters the seating die?

Thanks,

Russ </div></div>

I don't bell the mouth, preferring to campher the inside of the case mouth with now a VLD campher (22* IIRC) tool from Lyman. This puts a steeper bevel on the inside edge and precludes jacket shaving. For flat base bullets, I just hold them steady when I run the ram up into the seating die. They'll stay put unless you have the shakes.

Chris

 

[recurry]

Re: Do I need an expander/flaring die for .223?

Hi Chris,

Thanks - I'll check out that tool as well.

Cheers,

Russ