How many round will a bullet seater seat if a bullet seater....

[mjbskwim]

IS BRAND NEW???

OK I bought the RCBS single stage kit. Worked great.Loaded 270 and 223.
Then the bullets had some rings on them

??????
So I bought a new set of dies for the 270.
Same problem.

So I played with them and the Dremmil bit (by hand) to see if I could smooth out the problem.
Nope,They were golden for about 100 rounds and then went to bubblegum.

Oh and that little primer arm? Broke off.

So should I just sell it on here,err I mean CL, and buy a better set or am I just not hip to how long these things will actually last?

BTW I did call RCBS and they said they would send me new bullet seaters for both.
We'll see

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[RockKrawler]

RCBS is one of the good companies,have used their warranty on a few occasions with great success.
Have worn out a RockChucker press to the point the ram was no longer traveling in a straight line,they replaced it no questions asked,the other 2 times were due to my own fault and again they stepped up even after i offered to pay for the needed parts.
They will take care of you.
RK

 

[mjbskwim]

Man I hope the new parts are good.It's kind of frustrating to be loading and then you can hear the scratching as you are seating the bullets.
Then I look and they are all scratched and dimpled
Yes it was a 250 round day,but I have heard the cowboy shooters talking of thousands of rounds a day without changing parts.
They say they only use Redding.
Oh and I am glad that RCBS will change parts for free,but I didn't really expect to have to change parts every 100 rounds.

 

[OR4X4]

I had a set of dies leaving the little rings and polished the seating plug edge with some 1200 grit and the problem is gone now. Sounds like you tried that, but perhaps the dremel bit didn't polish it well enough (fine enough grit) causing the scraping?

 

[mjbskwim]

I used 1200 emery and 2400 sand papers after.And they were freshly opened bullets,so no dirt.
These are supposed to be precision instruments to hand load precision rounds,no?
So why would I have to take a new part and fix it myself? Do I have the multi million dollar budget to buy the lathe to do this?
And I bought the second set of dies a few months apart.Maybe they were from the same batch,not sure.If not ,then this is a recurring problem

I'm going to call them again in the AM to see what they say.

They own Hoppe's also and their cleaning patches suck now too.Some weird new fabric.

 

[Mark W.]

Your bullet seater is the wrong shape for your bullet shape. See if RCBS sells one better suited.

I have dies from RCBS I have reloaded thousands of rifle and pistol rounds and I can't think of any rings on my bullets. Some of these dies are 25 years old some 2 years old.

 

[OR4X4]

Maybe try the gold medal match dies by them.

You could always try the redding competition seating dies if you want closer towards perfection.

Competition Bullet Seating Die | Redding Reloading Equipment: reloading equipment for rifles, handguns, pistols, revolvers and SAECO bullet casting equipment

I totally agree the new hoppes 9 patches SUCK.

 

[mjbskwim]

I may go there for my 270 and for my bull barrel AR. Like I said,the cowboy guys,who also do some long range stuff,won't use RCBS any more.
I have Hornady for my 10mm dies.Hope they work out good.

thanks.

 

[Jamie6.5]

How much neck tension do you have?
Check the I.D. of the neck on a resized case.
It sounds like your expander ball/plug may be undersized, resulting in too much neck tension when you are seating the bullets. An expander that is .0005 -.001 larger may fix the problem with the seater die ringing the bullets, as they would seat much easier.

 

[gunfreak]

You should have bought a Lee.

 

[civilian75]

Unfortunately, I've had the same on several dies. RCBS plugs have machine marks, quite visible. Sometimes you get lucky and the marks do not fall around the contact surface. 1200 grit is not enough. I use 400 grit wrapped around the same bullet getting the rings with. I sand mercilessly until the inner surface is smooth. Then use 1000/1200/1500grit if necessary and cold blue.

 

[mjbskwim]

How much neck tension do you have?
Check the I.D. of the neck on a resized case.
It sounds like your expander ball/plug may be undersized, resulting in too much neck tension when you are seating the bullets. An expander that is .0005 -.001 larger may fix the problem with the seater die ringing the bullets, as they would seat much easier.

Well then that goes right back to the manufacturer of these BRAND NEW parts.Wouldn't you think that all the parts in the same box,for the same caliber would match?

And civilian75,the dremmel die is close to 400grit so it should have been fine to do the job the RCBS machinist was supposed to do.

And Mark,that's because your parts were made when they gave a bubble gum.

 

[mjbskwim]

I forgot,Jamie,the bullets are seating fine.Doesn't seem like any more tension.
But I may try a new expander also

 

[civilian75]

And civilian75,the dremmel die is close to 400grit so it should have been fine to do the job the RCBS machinist was supposed to do.

Not defending RCBS, I also think we should get dies w/o machine marks. The idea of using wrapping a 400 grit around seated bullet (for improved grip action) is to insure the sanding occurs where it really counts. Plus, you are helping to shape the inside of the plug to match the bullet, thus increasing the contact surface, and reducing the changes of ringing your bullets. I am not sure what kind of stone bit you employed but maybe it is not hitting the mark.

My $0.022 (based on 2010 US dollar / adjusted for inflation).

 

[mjbskwim]

On a side note I do love my new Nikon D3100 dslr

The culprit.Best pic I could get


The results


And the sizing ball off the rod is the one I was using This is after maybe 600 rounds?


Two more bullet pics.The seating deally gig does not fit the bullet worth a tinker's damn either.Very sloppy.Guess I didn't do a very good job with it.




And no parts in the mail yet.I didn't call them yet today.I have 150 primed cases waiting for powder and bullets

 

[RockKrawler]

Courious,but looking at the pictures it appears your brass is still dirty. How are you cleaning your brass ?

 

[civilian75]

Oh, brother! That bullet doesn't look good. Maybe you are better off starting anew with a new plug. I order my RCBS dies parts from Midsouth Shooters Supply provides reloading, supplies, optics, ammunition, muzzleloaders, hunting and shooting supplies - serving serious reloaders, shooters, and hunters for over 30 years.. Good luck my friend.

 

[mjbskwim]

Curious,but looking at the pictures it appears your brass is still dirty. How are you cleaning your brass ?

I tumbled it in some corn medium.Some came out better than others.

Yeah I didn't think it looked very good myself.
Pretty frustrating for a new handloader.I want to get a turret system but it sure won't be a RCBS

 

[RockKrawler]

I tumbled it in some corn medium.Some came out better than others.

Yeah I didn't think it looked very good myself.
Pretty frustrating for a new handloader.I want to get a turret system but it sure won't be a RCBS

Too bad you aren't closer,i would loan you a set of dies to do a side by side comparison.
Have you measured the seater plug ? Maybe the wrong one was inserted into the die from the factory.
While all companies will have QC issues,don't give up on RCBS just yet,give them a chance to make it right with you.

 

[Jamie6.5]

I forgot,Jamie,the bullets are seating fine.Doesn't seem like any more tension.
But I may try a new expander also

Did you mic the expander ball? Did you check the neck I.D. before and after resizing?

Don't forget work hardening too. Brass gets harder, and gets more "springy" the more times it's resized.
If the necks are getting hard, they'll be more resistant to expansion after they are compressed down in the resize process.

It may be time to anneal, if you haven't done so.