Redding seating stem bottoming out?

[Big_Mac]

Hello,

I was wondering if you could help me with a problem that I am running into.

I'm trying to work up some loads for my Winchester 300 WSM using a Nosler 165 gr. Partition. The problem I’m running into is the bullet seater stem is bottoming out on the die prior to reaching my desired OAL. Using the Hornady OAL gauge and a 30 caliber collet, the max OAL for my rifle is 2.255”. I’m trying to seat my bullets so they are 0.025” off the lands or a max length of 2.230”. When I run my bullet seat stem all the way in, I cannot seat my bullet any further in then ~2.250”.

At this point, I am at a loss on what could be causing the problem or what my options are, and looking for any suggestions or help that you could provide.

Thanks.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Turn the die body down a couple of turns and try it again

 

[Big_Mac]

Mike,

I'll double-check this when I get home tonight but I think the die body is already turned as low as it will go without starting to add a crimp to the mouth of the case.

To set up my seating die, I place an empty piece of brass in my press and run the press all the way up. I then thread my seating die in until I feel it starting to make contact with the brass. At this point, I then back the die off approximately 1/4 turn so I don't add a crimp.

This setup has worked for other 180-grain bullets without any issue. Other than the 165-grain bullets being shorter, I'm not sure what else would be causing the issue.

I have a buddy that has some RCBS 300 WSM dies that I'm going to borrow to see if the same thing happens with his dies. I cannot get my hands on them until the end of Aug. I'd really like to solve the issue before the end of the month.

I've even thought about filling my stem down. I feel like I'm missing something, and filling the stem is just masking the problem.

Big_Mac

 

[Mike Casselton]

You could take .020-.030 off the top of the shell holder.
Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes with some emory cloth

 

[Big_Mac]

Mike,

I'm not sure I follow your suggestion of taking 20-30 thousandth off the shell holder. The shell holder is not the limiting factor and does not come in contact with anything. The neck of the brass comes in contact with the seating die long before the shell holder contacts the seating die.

Big_Mac

 

[John Glidewell]

Mike,

I'm not sure I follow your suggestion of taking 20-30 thousandth off the shell holder. The shell holder is not the limiting factor and does not come in contact with anything. The neck of the brass comes in contact with the seating die long before the shell holder contacts the seating die.

Big_Mac

It sounds like the die is not set up properly.

 

[Big_Mac]

OK, I feel a little, oh wait, a lot stupid right now.

I brought my seater die (or what I thought was my seater die) into work today so I could play around with it during my lunch break to see if I could figure out what was wrong with it. It was not until you said that I had my dies set up incorrectly that I decided to have a little closer look at my die.

Stamped on the side of my die is “300 WSM FL 01”. I accidentally installed the seater stem in my full-length sizing die. What a freaken idiot.

 

[Mike Casselton]

It's interesting that you've been able to seat bullets without crushing the case neck and shoulder.

Are these the S dies?

 

[Mike Casselton]

Just looked at a 204 set of regular Redding.
I never realized the tops could be switched out.

 

[Big_Mac]

Mike,

In part this is why I knew that there was something wrong, I just could not put my finger on what was happening.

Yes, I would have crushed the neck and brass if I would have tried to seat them very hard. I knew that I did not need to apply much pressure to seat the bullets so I stopped prior to applying much pressure on the ramrod and crushing my brass.

I did not realize the tops could be swapped out ether. Apparently, after I cleaned them last time I swapped the heads. Now I have about 100 primed brass that I'm not sure if I used the correct die to size and decap. So they are going back through the sizing die to ensure that they have been sized. Argh...

 

[sandwarrior]

Mike,

In part this is why I knew that there was something wrong, I just could not put my finger on what was happening.

Yes, I would have crushed the neck and brass if I would have tried to seat them very hard. I knew that I did not need to apply much pressure to seat the bullets so I stopped prior to applying much pressure on the ramrod and crushing my brass.

I did not realize the tops could be swapped out ether. Apparently, after I cleaned them last time I swapped the heads. Now I have about 100 primed brass that I'm not sure if I used the correct die to size and decap. So they are going back through the sizing die to ensure that they have been sized. Argh...

They are supposed to be stupid proof. But, a few of us have managed to defeat that feature. Take a number, and be thankful you caught it when you did.