Seater die that pushes on the shoulder of a lead bullet

First topic message reminder :

Apparently I flunked first grade in reloading, without knowing it.

I've just learned that seater dies are available for lead bullets such as the Magnus #801, that push on the shoulder of the bullet, not the nose.
Is this true?
How do I find one?
For 40 years I assumed you pressed bullets into the case, pushing on the nose of the bullet.....

mikemyers wrote:Dave, does the Redding Competition Seater Die accomplish the same thing as what I made?
I know it makes it easy to set and control the OAL, but does it also press the bullet into the case, without pressing on the bullet head?

Yes it does and it works with every 45 SWC bullet I shoot 160-200.  This is something I check with every new bullet I try.  I check a bullet from a new Mfg even if it's suppose to be the same profile I am already using.  The die is made to shoulder seat all SWC and it's design also works great with Jacketed bullets because it contacts them very low on curve of the bullet.

I believe I referred to shoulder seating in a couple of my posts on your threads.
- Dave

+1 on Redding Competition Seater. I also use Redding Competition Crimper, and Lee Carbide FCD just to check rounds.
AP

PhotoEscape wrote:+1 on Redding Competition Seater.  I also use Redding Competition Crimper, and Lee Carbide FCD just to check rounds.
AP

That's the way I was set up before I added the bullet feeder.  Now I just use the Lee Carbide FCD for crimping, it's very consistent, easy to adjust and I've never had a round fail the case gauge check due to a bad crimp since I started using it.
- Dave

ps I use the 100 round Shockbottle (it's a work of art) case gauge and check all my rounds as I box them up.

Interesting. I just got a shockbottle (I agree, beautifully made). I have been using Lee FCD, but many rounds are sticking in the shockbottle. Which also confirms why I've been having feeding issues. I've ordered a set of Dillon dies. Will try again.

radjag wrote:Interesting. I just got a shockbottle (I agree, beautifully made). I have been using Lee FCD, but many rounds are sticking in the shockbottle. Which also confirms why I've been having feeding issues. I've ordered a set of Dillon dies. Will try again.

What seating die are you using?
Do you have the Lee FCD die set up so it just touches the shell holder then barely back it off no more than 1/16th of a turn.  This should insure the case is sized properly.  
If you set it up that way and you are having problems my guess is:

• You might need to clean the FCD
  
• You're shaving some lead when seating - Case flare, check out PhotoEscape's powder drop with 2 step flare
  
• Check OAL of bad bullets - goes back to seating die
  
• Check for excess wax.  A few years back before I checked every bullet, excess wax cost me 20 points. To use up those bullets I removed all the wax and relubed them with 45/45/10, worked great but never ordered them again.
  

Try to pinpoint the issue:
If you have a single case gauge (you could use the Shockbottle gauge just be careful - aluminium) take one of the bad bullets and color it with a Sharpie and drop it back into the gauge, maybe push it in a little further.  Then pop it out and see what is causing the hang up.
- Dave
https://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/CFCD.pdf

dronning wrote:.....I believe I referred to shoulder seating in a couple of my posts on your threads......

Back then, I didn't know enough to appreciate all the information you and others were giving me.  Somehow it all became clear, after discussing things with Dave Salyer.  Now that I read over the earlier posts, I can understand what you were trying to tell me.

Quick question - is there any reason I should still buy the Redding Competition Seater, now that I've got my home made seating part working properly?  It's not a matter of the $$ involved, is one likely to be "better" than the other?

Never heard of a "Shockbottle" before either.  Maybe something else for me to buy, eventually.  For now, I can use my Lyman gage - it just takes more time.

Your modified die will work just fine with SWC no need to spend the $$, I wouldn't & couldn't guess how it would work on Jacketed bullets.  For me when I had one press the Redding CS made switching between SWC & jacketed easy.  Now I load all my SWC on my 1050 and Jacketed on my 550 so I have dedicated tool heads set up.  My 1050 is 100% 45 Lead SWC bullets and since I shoulder seat the Redding Competition Die is really overkill because once it's set you don't need micro adjustments.  BUT if I decided I wanted to run more than a couple of hundred rounds of jacketed ammo I could make a couple of quick changes on the powder setting & the seating and crimp dies and do it on the 1050.

I also have a Redding Competition Seater on the 550, mostly because this is where I do load development and load smaller batches, like jacketed, plated or non-SWC lead rounds, plus all my other non 45 calibers, including rifle.  I have Redding Competition dies on all my tool heads for ALL my other calibers too.
- Dave