Issues with Redding Seating Die, 338RUM

[D.Camilleri]

I was loading some shells for my 338 Rum today and ran into an issue that I forgot about that happened last year. With my seating die bottomed out as far as I can go without making a crimp, and the upper seating adjuster bottomed out, I can only get my OAL down to 3.680 with 300 gr Berger OTM's. When I ran into this last year, I went ahead and bought a VLD Micrometer seating stem for my seating die. Same problem, can't get the bullet seated deep enough. I ground off about .100 from the top of the seating die and it helped a little, now I can get my OAL to 3.670. Has anyone else had this issue? I used to have some rcbs dies for the 338rum, but I sold them. I set the seating die into a vice on my drill press and tried to relieve the step from the upper side of the die, but the material is too hard. Any thoughts?

 

[D.Camilleri]

I contacted Redding and told them of the issue I was having, then I forwarded them a copy of reviews from Midway that stated the same thing as far as not being able to seat the bullets deep enough with the micrometer seating plug. I am not satisfied with the answers I got from Redding when I told them they have a design problem. So I chucked the die into the lathe and then put the seating plug into the lathe and soon I will have a die that works. In the mean time, I ordered a set of RCBS dies. Thanks for nothing Redding!

 

[Bullet bumper]

I contacted Redding and told them of the issue I was having, then I forwarded them a copy of reviews from Midway that stated the same thing as far as not being able to seat the bullets deep enough with the micrometer seating plug. I am not satisfied with the answers I got from Redding when I told them they have a design problem. So I chucked the die into the lathe and then put the seating plug into the lathe and soon I will have a die that works. In the mean time, I ordered a set of RCBS dies. Thanks for nothing Redding!

I have been using Redding stuff for 40 years and I know what you mean. The company is being slowly ground into the dirt by bad management .
Their new website is a confusing mess and they will not change a thing .
They don't listen to their customers anymore .
It's a real shame that such great products and manufacturing history is being controlled by idiots .
Love the products , hate the new management philosophy .
Given enough time and the continued bad management the company will start to fail , some cracks are already showing .
I dealt with the CEO on an issue and found him rigid , unhelpful and not really interested in a long standing customers complaints .

 

[Reloader222]

I had a problem with my T7 Redding Turret Press. They had responded quick with a fix for the wabble on the turret. Had done as they said and the problem was solved.

Hoever, I had only converted to Redding in the past 12 months. Everybody would tell you they are the best. However, my next problem was when I applied a little too much wax to the case neck, it would dent the case immediately. With Lee, RCBS, Lyman and Hornady this was never a problem, since they have invented the vent hole on the shoulder of the die. Another problem was that I would have only dipped the neck of the case in the wax and then wipe the outside clean, thereby having some lube also on the inside of the neck. Extracting a case from the Redding die was difficult since the expander ball gave a bad sqeeky noise. Read on the web you have to polish the necks of your cases first with Redding die. I have ordered some Foster dies and was this a pleasure. Sizing and extraction was easy and there was no sqeeky noise. Foster also has the vent hole on the shoulder.

Good products with bad management will soon result in a bad Company. You need to stay in touch with market demands.

 

[D.Camilleri]

I received yet another email from Redding product development insisting that their die doesn't have a problem and then suggesting that I purchase yet a different part # seating die. I ordered the vld seating die listed for a 338 rum. Yesterday I chucked the die up into the lathe and cut .100 from the top of the die to allow the seating plug to go down further. Then I discovered that the seating plug was bottoming out in the interal threads. I chucked up the seating plug and cut .100 off of the threads and now I can seat all the way to factory specs if I want. Now I will grab the micrometer seating die and chuck it in the lathe and cut .100 off of the threads and problem solved. As for dealing with Redding customer service, I am not sure I want to waste any more of my time.

 

[bigngreen]

I have no issues and they work perfectly, your OAL is way short, my 338 RUM reamer is a standard reamer and I seat at a 3.890 OAL just of the lands.

 

[D.Camilleri]

I would like to set it that long, but then it won't fit my magazine. I like to be at 3.670 and then I get good feeding and it fits in the magazine. My lathe work is done and now my micrometer seating die should work the way it is supposed to.