6.5 berger 156 grain EOL seating stem issue

Whatever came with the die set?


Did yours come with (2) stems?

Mine did and I tested them both. One was deeper than the other but didn't seem to allow the bullet to go into it deep enough, so I used the VLD and it seemed to fit better.

Tried to take a pic but can't get it to show.
156 and 140 both have it. Hornady seater.
215 Berger/181 HH both have it, Lee seating die. 215 Berger in Redding comp seater have it. I thought I just had to live with it or bed them all.
 
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Did yours come with (2) stems?

Mine did and I tested them both. One was deeper than the other but didn't seem to allow the bullet to go into it deep enough, so I used the VLD and it seemed to fit better.

I get this on multiple dies/bullets.
Yea it came with 2 and i bought an Eldx stem also. Ill try the deeper one. May have to hone it open alittle. Thanks
 
Did yours come with (2) stems?

Mine did and I tested them both. One was deeper than the other but didn't seem to allow the bullet to go into it deep enough, so I used the VLD and it seemed to fit better.

I get this on multiple dies/bullets.

Negative! I just checked my 3 other Hornady dies, only the 6.5 CM has an additional stem.
 
Last edited:
Did yours come with (2) stems?

Mine did and I tested them both. One was deeper than the other but didn't seem to allow the bullet to go into it deep enough, so I used the VLD and it seemed to fit better.

Tried to take a pic but can't get it to show.
156 and 140 both have it. Hornady seater.

Here's one with 140 Berger ...

.264 with 140 Berger.jpg
 
All of my Hornady gear, die sets, scales & do-dads I collected over the years have all gone in the trash. The only thing I kept was the headspace comparator and bullet comparator sets.
Their customer service s terrible.

I mostly seat my bullets with Forster or Redding Micrometer seaters, all others are with RCBS Dies that I modify the seating plugs to suit. RCBS no longer make VLD plugs for their dies.

Cheers.
 
All of my Hornady gear, die sets, scales & do-dads I collected over the years have all gone in the trash. The only thing I kept was the headspace comparator and bullet comparator sets.
Their customer service s terrible.

I mostly seat my bullets with Forster or Redding Micrometer seaters, all others are with RCBS Dies that I modify the seating plugs to suit. RCBS no longer make VLD plugs for their dies.

Cheers.

deer-eats-popcorn_64.gif
 
Hornady makes a few different stems, Amax, ELDM & A-Tip, they do make a difference,


As others have said, to much neck tension, powder compression or not enough lube can cause this
 
The 147 ELDX stem is pretty close. They make a 153 A Tip stem, too. I bet it's partly neck tension as I have similar issues with my new Redding Competition seater die with the long vld stem.

I can load 144 and 153 target Bergers with no ring but Hornady 140 ELDM's do. I blame it on neck tension. The Bergers measure .0005 smaller in bullet diameter than the Hornady's and you can feel the lighter neck tension with them.

I use a .263 expander mandrel to have less than .002 neck tension as this is in a target rifle. Add the .0005 to the Hornady's bullet diameter and I can feel the extra effort to seat them and they wind up with a very light ring on the bullets from the seating stem.
 
I contacted hornady. Waiting on a reply. Im thinking about trying the Atip stem. I have the eldx stem but it leaves a ring as well
 
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