Lee seating die problems

[JakeC]

I'm likely to answer my own question by asking it, but I looked and didn't quite get the full answer I was after, doesn't seem like anyone followed up after they got advice.

Does anyone get good results from the Lee seater? I'm working on a 25-06, wanted to see if the rifle was a shooter, so I thought I'd try Lee and get the FCD while I was at it. Have heard good things from people I trust. I got nice results from the sizer, but I cannot get the bullets to seat straight. They're going in grossly crooked no matter how I start them. I could do better with a tack hammer. The seater is not riding on the tip, nothing seems wrong with the die except it feel like it's a 30-06 die with a 22 cal stem in it. It's making sharp contact right past the tip of the 90g AH. I've seated non-boattail/shallow tail bullets before but this is another level. I'm also not exactly loving this nosler brass, it seems excessively soft, buying something else in 270 win and necking down is on my list. I can add pics in a little while.

The right answer of course is to fire this thing into the sun and buy the forster I know works, but that's not in my budget this week. Thanks for any advice or teasing.

 

[Rosebud]

This is most likely a seater for with a small stem. You may need to remove the stem and drill it out and smooth out the inside edge of it. Allowing the bullet nose to go further into the stem. If this is more work than you want to do get a Redding die with a VLD stem. They are contoured to except the bullet while contacting the whole tip of the bullet, not just at the lip of the stem, that is making the mark on your bullet. Hope this helps you. PS, I'm not a fan of nosler bass either.

 

[JakeC]

This is most likely a seater for with a small stem. You may need to remove the stem and drill it out and smooth out the inside edge of it. Allowing the bullet nose to go further into the stem. If this is more work than you want to do get a Redding die with a VLD stem. They are contoured to except the bullet while contacting the whole tip of the bullet, not just at the lip of the stem, that is making the mark on your bullet. Hope this helps you. PS, I'm not a fan of nosler bass either.

Thanks for saying that about the brass. I can't explain it, it's… weird. It feels disposable. It feels like I ought to worry about tearing it. Good to know about redding. I really don't feel like re tooling a poorly made die, but I also committed my play money elsewhere and can't buy a much better die for a while. At least you don't think I'm crazy. I looked at it again tonight and it's a waste. We've all been caught pushing a rope once or twice but I don't think there's a second chance for me in this one!

 

[std7mag]

You could try the seater stem from your 30-06 dies, and see what that does for you.

I've only ever had 1 issue with a Lee die (for the life of me I can't remember what it was).
Just contact Lee and they'll make it right.
Unlike RCBS.
My 284 Win die set was sizing the neck too much. As in if you stopped the bullet seating halfway in the neck, you could see a considerable bulge!
RCBS suggested that i bought the 6.5-284 dies, and to order the correct ones from them.
I really like the Forrester dies i got for the 284 Win!!!


Anyways, give Lee a shout!
They have decent customer service!

 

[dan1953]

You can order a custom stem from Lee for about 10.00. Send them a bullet and they will build it.

 

[Rosebud]

Its not just nosler brass, there are a couple of brass makes that are off their game. I think the rush to put out components as fast as possible is causing this.

 

[JakeC]

You could try the seater stem from your 30-06 dies, and see what that does for you.

I've only ever had 1 issue with a Lee die (for the life of me I can't remember what it was).
Just contact Lee and they'll make it right.
Unlike RCBS.
My 284 Win die set was sizing the neck too much. As in if you stopped the bullet seating halfway in the neck, you could see a considerable bulge!
RCBS suggested that i bought the 6.5-284 dies, and to order the correct ones from them.
I really like the Forrester dies i got for the 284 Win!!!


Anyways, give Lee a shout!
They have decent customer service!

That's pretty nuts. I've asked rcbs questions before I bought a part and had them just mail them out. I felt terrible, I was repairing something I bought used.

Mine is doing that a little bit but I wanted about 4 thou interference. I can probably only see it because the bullets look like Marty Feldmans left eye.

 

[JakeC]

Its not just nosler brass, there are a couple of brass makes that are off their game. I think the rush to put out components as fast as possible is causing this.

You know what I have some nosler 1x brass in 6.5, I wonder if those are lighter and thinner. I should measure and weigh that to see if it's similar. Maybe they're just messing up, but I wonder if they just maximize the amount of powder space at the cost of durability.

 

[slikmrc]

Is this head stamped 25-06 brass or brass that has been necked down? Has the brass been trimmed and chamfered? Most all die seating stems benefit from a good polishing. As far as Nosler brass, I'm currently loading three calibers with it. 300WBY, 30-06 and 30-06 AI using H1000 and H4350. Never had a problem getting at least 10 loadings in any of these rifles.

 

[Pureblood]

Are you using an expander die ?

 

[JakeC]

Is this head stamped 25-06 brass or brass that has been necked down? Has the brass been trimmed and chamfered? Most all die seating stems benefit from a good polishing. As far as Nosler brass, I'm currently loading three calibers with it. 300WBY, 30-06 and 30-06 AI using H1000 and H4350. Never had a problem getting at least 10 loadings in any of these rifles.

It's 25-06 stamped nosler. I sized it slightly to the gun and checked all other dimensions. It was correct, just thin and soft. The stem is way outside polishing scope. I'd work on it but I can't make the feed tube smaller, it's got al kinds of play.

 

[JakeC]

Are you using an expander die ?

FL 25-06 sizer with the expander mandrel in it.

 

[Pureblood]

FL 25-06 sizer with the expander mandrel in it.

I was talking about an expander die to expand just the mouth of the otherwise resized case. It's designed to help seat the bullets correctly.

 

[JakeC]

I was talking about an expander die to expand just the mouth of the otherwise resized case. It's designed to help seat the bullets correctly.View attachment 547900View attachment 547901

Ah, like a handgun. Nope. Getting it started isn't the problem, the die making it worse is. I see what you're saying but the die has enough play in it for the toe of the bullet to be bulging off on one side hard. I even had one that was fairly straight, but it had egg-shaped the neck, just off to the side like a bayonet.