Seating Berger 6.5 Hybrids

[mhamlin]

Is a VLD type seating stem recommended for seating the hybrid bullets? Just curious if I need to invest in a fancy Redding seating die and stem?

-Mike

 

[Mikecr]

A hybrid starts from the tip as a secant ogive (like VLD), and transitions to a tangent finish at bearing. So I would use a VLD stem,, and I don't understand why all stems today are not VLD compatible. But no matter the die, stems should be cheap to buy or modify.

 

[dsculley]

Drill out the center of your stem so the tip won't bottom out. Doesn't take much.

 

[gohring3006]

Hornady has a pretty good set up for their new dimension dies. They have custom stems for certain ELD bullets, I have found the 147 grain seating stem works perfectly with the 130 and 140 grain hybrids.

 

[mhamlin]

Thanks Mikecr, dscully & gohring for the replies. I have to buy new dies for this cartridge, so I was trying to figure out the best option for my situation.

Mikecr, I agree...you would think the manufacturers could make a universal seating plug/stem? Maybe there just isn't a one-size fits all solution...it would sure be nice though.

dscully, if I already had a standard die set I would definitely try drilling the stem. I called RCBS today and they said, "if the bullets bottomed out in the standard die, you can send the die and a half dozen bullets to us and we will modify it for you." Not wanting to go through that process, I'll just buy a better seater with the correct stem.

gohring, I appreciate the Hornady recommendation; I'll definitely take those into consideration.

Thanks again,
Mike