Forster competition seating die issue

[Elkeater]

So I'm getting a bunch of rough scratches on my bullets along with a hard ring and suddenly the die is gripping the bullet and literally pulling the bullet out of the case on the down stroke of my press. I have apart but can't find anything wrong. Any ideas? It's a .300 win mag Forster micrometer seating die in my lee press I've been using for a decade.

 

[Quicksilver338]

When is the last time you cleaned the seating die? Has it done this from day 1 or suddenly started doing it?

 

[lancetkenyon]

Hammer bullets?
I bet your seating die just needs a new stem or be tapered to the correct nose profile angle. Mine works perfectly for VLD type profiles, but sticks a bit with Hammer Hunters too.

 

[Elkeater]

So I did clean it before I used it yesterday but I think it's kind of always stuck a little bit. I used to think it was the spring loaded guide stem that was just sticking but now I'm not sure. I've never had the issue with it actually pulling bullets out before. Can I buy a new seating stem from Forster? Or should I just buy a new die? And ya its hammers but it's always been fine.

 

[User4302021]

Forster has changed their seating stems for the VLD bullets. My dies are the same vintage as yours. I had them send new seating stems and the problem went away.

 

[Nimrodmar10]

The taper of the bullet is sticking in the seating stem. You can usually solve the problem by using your inside case mouth reamer to ream the stem slightly. If that doesn't work, put a bullet in a drill motor, cover it with some abrasive like valve grinding compound and polish it to fit the bullet.
And if the stem is pulling the bullets out of your case, you probably need more neck tension

 

[Elkeater]

The taper of the bullet is sticking in the seating stem. You can usually solve the problem by using your inside case mouth reamer to ream the stem slightly. If that doesn't work, put a bullet in a drill motor, cover it with some abrasive like valve grinding compound and polish it to fit the bullet.
And if the stem is pulling the bullets out of your case, you probably need more neck tension

I'll try that and see if I can make it better. Also it's sticking pretty bad right now. I don't think neck tension is an issue. It's 1x fired ADG brass sized in a Redding sizer die.

 

[Quicksilver338]

I'll try that and see if I can make it better. Also it's sticking pretty bad right now. I don't think neck tension is an issue. It's 1x fired ADG brass sized in a Redding sizer die.

What's your measured neck tension?

 

[tdot]

I have 2 week old Forster die and it is doing the same thing.

I cleaned and polished the seating stem, same as I always do, before use.

Most annoying part is that when I have the base of the bullet touch the powder, even though it's not a compressed load (powder is Varget and there is room in the shoulder of the case to displace the powder into) it jambs the bullet into the stem and I have to disassemble it.

Happens with both Hammer (new longer nose) and Berger.

I generally have .002" neck tension, but tried more and it made the situation worse as it drove the bullet into the seating stem harder.

I'm still working on a solution, but lube on the bullet nose helped slightly, to get some immediate load testing done. Will move into removing metal, etc in the neat future when time permits.

 

[Mach 1]

I've got 5 or 6 forester micro seaters and have had no problems. Hate to hear of your issues. I would just call up the gang at forester and tell them what's going on. They will make it right with you. They are a good group.

 

[Gord0]

Your seating stem is more than likely cracked. Had this happen with every single one of my Forster seating stems. I've quit using them because of this.

 

[TRG65]

Gord0 had the same problem I did. I started get bullets stuck in the seaters. They sent a replacement seater and it happened within the first 10 bullets I tried to seat. The load wasn't overly compressed. Got a set of Redding dies and they work fine with the same load.

 

[Gord0]

My loads weren't compressed, brass was annealed, and seating pressure was not high. Happened with 2 stems for 300 win mag, and 1 for .223. I cut some length off the .223 so it was a little thicker area of the seater and it's worked fine since. The stem is too hard, and too thin. I'm no longer seating quite as far down the ogive, but it works well.
Edit to add: The seating chamber was scarred on my win mag die and that was causing scratches on my bullets. I had to polish that out to stop that.

 

[Alibiiv]

I like a lot of the responses/suggestions, however if this were my problem I would be calling Forster and Hammer looking for some direction; they are both good companies and I am sure they will find a solution for you. For me putting more neck tension only puts more pressure against the bullet being puhsed into the seating cone, thus forcing the taper of the bullet into the seating cone deeper/more. And as for polishing the inside of the seating cone that could literally lead to a perfect fit between the bullet and the seating cone making the bullet more capable of sticking inside of the cone; good idea just not sure about how good that would work. Again I'd try calling the both companies and speaking with the tech department, from some of the replies this is not an uncommon problem.