Redding Competition Bullet Seater

Does anyone use this seater?  If so then I have a question for you.
If the bore that the sleeve rides in is such a snug, slip fit to the sliding sleeve and that sleeve OD / bore ID is (according to Redding) very close to bullet diameter, then will my case mouth taper be swaged out as son as the case enters the die, and also will this die even accept the larger, .452 lead bullets that we load.   I'm trying to determine if the advertised concentricity improvement is real and even if it is, do you inherit new problems with their use. 
Thanks,
Ed

If you're using traditional wax lubed lead bullets it can cause issues with the sleeve getting buildup. I ended up just selling mine and buying multiple Dillon seating dies in my Hornady LNL AP, that way I can quickly swap them out for different bullet profiles without adjustment. I wouldn't worry about concentricity with pistol loading, just buy quality dies with a decent press.

Lost my post ... short version ...

Mine takes a .477 pin all the way to the crimp section. The seating stem is .453+. You're not going to crimp in this die (Right?), so whatever little bit is proud of the case mouth will never touch that bore anyway.

They're not the same as the rifle dies. The bullet doesn't get held in alignment by a floating sleeve. The nose gets centered up by spring pressure, in theory, and then gets seated with the case fitting fairly close in the die.

I had the same issue with lubed bullets, making the stem stick, and more important changing the seating depth. Easy to clean though, and no fiddling around with getting the seating depth back where it was afterwards.

And custom stems are easier to make, no threading required.

OK, that maybe got a bit longer than the first try. But I thought of more stuff.

I have two Competition seaters and one die with 09475 Micrometer on my 45ACP toolheads, - very well made dies.  However I would argue that even the best die cannot address concentricity issues.  If case isn't expanded coaxially with bullet then pre-inserted, but rather case just belled in hope that seater will press bullet in correctly, concentricity will be hit or miss.  Concentricity doesn't get build from the seating steam above coming down to bullet and then to the case, but rather from the bottom of the case up!  If press is misaligned against die, that will take precedent over everything else.

That is IMHO, but there is some base for it.

AP

You'll get no argument from me. In fact, I think my lubed bullet problem went away, at least in part (probably a major part), from adding your HTC expander into the mix.

"Good stuff Maynard"

I run the redding. Good seater. When I went to it from the dillon, groups seemed to shrink. Never did a systematic test, but I've shot some very nice groups with ammo loaded on it.

Dump lube, powder coat or hi tek them instead... a LOT of issues go away...

I use the Redding seater for 9mm.  I did extensive testing between that and the RCBS seater.  No difference was seen in group size at 25 and 50 yds.  I chose to use the Redding because when inserting the JHP bullets (single stage) I don't need to get perfect alignment before seating; the Redding aligns the bullet before enough pressure is applied to begin pushing the bullet, saving time and allowing a minimum of mouth expansion.  FWIW.

I use one for my 45. Have them for many cartridges.

In theory if you run the die down it can perform crimping. I've never tried.

One value point for me is with the sprung internals I haven't observed thread lash when adjusting between different bullets (going from 0.115 to 0.94 and back to 0.115 still gives same seating).

I have a tool head dedicated to 45 so the competition bullet seater never moves, all I adjust is the dial.

Keep in mind the seat stem it comes with is meant to seat on ogive and likely not ideal for your SWCs. Redding doesn't sell an off-the-shelf solution - Redding tech support recommended to me buying a replacement seat stem and fill it in with JB weld or silicone.

I used to have great results loading rifle with Vickerman seaters.  I wonder if they do/could make a 45 ACP seater.  Case length and press top thickness is a problem unless they can extend the shell holder.   hmmmm.....

It is a nice die , if you have your loads perfected it is not necessary if you are playing around with OAL then they are good.

zanemoseley wrote:If you're using traditional wax lubed lead bullets it can cause issues with the sleeve getting buildup. I ended up just selling mine and buying multiple Dillon seating dies in my Hornady LNL AP, that way I can quickly swap them out for different bullet profiles without adjustment. I wouldn't worry about concentricity with pistol loading, just buy quality dies with a decent press.

Purchased the Dillion die for my 550B, and it is a much better seating die. I just have to pull a hair pin clip 
and the sleeve comes out, and it is super easy to clean the seating sleeve and the inside of the die from lube.

The heck with screw in seater dies. They fill up with lube, require removing the die from the tool head, then the screw in seater is jammed inside up due  to lube. To remove the seater, it goes down out the bottom of the die, right into the impacted lube. Takes a screwdriver and sometimes a channel lock to hold the die . Once the seater is removed, and after the inside of the die cleaned, I have to go back and re adjust the seating depth of the screw in seater by trial and error again. The Dillion seating die is back to correct seating depth once the hair clip pin is installed.

The same, sort of, goes for the comp seater. Unscrew the top, push the seating stem out, and clean.

Swap stems between bullet profiles, set the dial and go. Same stem, different setting for Nosler 185 and XTP.

The LNL makes that all a lot easier.

The screw in from the bottom (RCBS) seating stem type dies are awful. At least a standard Redding screws in from the top. And a drip of Loctite can secure the lock ring in place as a depth stop.

Jack H wrote:I used to have great results loading rifle with Vickerman seaters.  I wonder if they do/could make a 45 ACP seater.  Case length and press top thickness is a problem unless they can extend the shell holder.   hmmmm.....

Hi Jack,
After seeing my uncles Vickerman dies back in the 90's, I made the one on the left out of a Lee decapping die for use on a RL-550. The one on the right is made from bar stock and just needs a spring.
Just insert a lead projectile (the lube holds it in place) and seat. Got to the point I could do it without looking.
Didn't have any issues with lube build up.