Seating die is crimping my bullets, advice please

[Knight]

I had the same problem and spoke to a tech at Hornady. Change out your seating stem , problem solved.

 

[Orange Dust]

I've loaded hundreds of rounds with this die and combination and it never did this before. I use Lapua brass which is annealed, not a compressed load, same seating depth. Not sure what's going on. Thanks for the suggestions.

If You have been using this load, with these dies for awhile with no problems, and this starts, something has changed. While going to a better fitting stem may mask it, it may still be there. What has changed from before? Different lot number of bullets? Brass length? Neck dia? Length? Donut in base of neck? Try and figure it out before switching stems, and then switch them anyway.

 

[xsn10s]

You can fit your seating stem to the bullet you're going to use when this happens, depending on the dies. I just take out my seating stem and chuck it up in a drill. Put some lapping compound on the bullet and polish your stem. Keep the bullet inline or straight and completely clean the stem. I go slow and alittle at a time. You may go through two or three bullets before the fit is acceptable. Some Hornady die sets come with ELDM seating stems.

 

[skipglo]

I use a Redding competition seating die, have loaded lots of rounds with it. Today when I set the die up and started it felt like the die was bottoming out and it put crimps in the bullets just below the tip (see photo). What am I doing wrong?View attachment 128427 View attachment 128427

I would check your expander/ de-capping pin...it's either fouled or worn out and not opening the neck to accept the bullet far enough. Run a casing thru and caliper the neck or mouth opening. Should confirm or dispelled my theory

 

[Alibiiv]

I use a Redding competition seating die, have loaded lots of rounds with it. Today when I set the die up and started it felt like the die was bottoming out and it put crimps in the bullets just below the tip (see photo). What am I doing wrong?View attachment 128427 View attachment 128427

Curious about how many times you have loaded this brass? Did you check the inside neck to see if you have a donut inside? Do you have a reamer to ream out the brass?

 

[SealT5]

Is this virgin brass?