So does the RDF requre a new seating stem?

[jb1023]

I loaded up some Hornady 168 ELD-M for my 308 using my Forster micro seating die. All went great. Then I tried loading up some Nosler 175 RDF. On the first seating I ran the ram up and then back down, did not feel much of anything so I knew something was off. When the ram came down there was no bullet, anywhere. I took the die apart and discovered it was lodged in the seating stem. When I tried to pull it out it took far more force than I expected, it was really stuck. After putting the die back together I decided to try it once more with a new bullet just to see and yep, same result. I've not seen anybody else mention anything about this so maybe it is just a Forster issue? Anybody else experience this?

 

[FearNoWind]

The Nosler RDF is designed with a compound ogive, which is neither tangent nor secant. That may be where your problem lies. In which case you'll need a seating stem for each style bullet.

 

[jb1023]

Thank you for the reply FNW. I have sent Forster an email and will update this thread when I hear from them. Since I've not seen anybody else mention this before can I assume that RCBS, Hornady, Redding and the others' seating stems don't have this issue?

 

[gohring3006]

I use the Hornady New Dimension seater for my 6.5. I ordered the 147 grain seating stem, and it works perfect for the 140 RDF.

 

[jb1023]

So Forsters initial response did not address the RDF at all and just gave me a few things to look such as cracked stem, over sized bullet and excessive neck tension, as well as asking me to send in my die along with some bullets and brass. I don't think there is anything wrong with my die or my components as all my other bullets load up just fine with this die. I did offer to send in some brass and bullets and that if they worked fine on an in-house die then I would send in my die. I quoted you, FNW, regarding the compound ogive hoping that might help in case they are not familiar with the RDF specifically. Looking at their site I'm not hopeful that they will have a stem that works with the RDF as they only have the one stem listed and it is a universal that states "Seating stems supplied with our standard seaters match even special bullet needs such as those encountered during the loading of most Very Low Drag (VLD) bullets."

 

[jb1023]

That was quick. As I was typing my last response I got this from Scott at Forster.

We can certainly adjust a new Seating Stem to the provided bullets, we have a very good relationship with several individuals at Nosler who we will be in touch with as well to research this problem further that we have not yet encountered. With the amount of clearance that is in our Seating Stem, you will see more variation of the contact point when switching grains within the same profile than you wold by changing the "style," we try and make the stems as universal as possible, but it sounds like perhaps the stem is matching up with that specific profile on the specific grain too well (a lot of the stem surface area is contacting a lot of the bullet surface area), likely we need to do some slight polishing to change the contact.