lee seating die woes - Page 2

RussB · December 1, 2007, 01:26 AM

Just how much variation are you seeing?

what bullets?

How much crimp are you applying? Too much crimp can squish the bullets because the die seats & crimps simultaniously

croc4 · December 1, 2007, 10:52 AM

Thats one of the reasons I went with the redding seating die, all it does is seat no crimp, I rely on the LFCD for crimping. I was seeing 8-10 thou variance at the worst case, I am now seeing 2 thou variance on a few rounds, most are dead on

totalloser, well from what I saw with my old lee seater die the plug adjuster was moving a noticeable amount, so this would imply that the o-ring is being rubbed against the threads during this movement, so it could wear out because of this.
But again, as I mentioned earlier (I believe) The bulk of my dies are lee (I have 7 different calibers that I have lee dies for) so I'm not bashing lee as a whole, I think for the price and for the most part the ammo they produce is very hard to beat.

But if you have lee pistol dies I would recommend polishing the flaring flange, it made a huge difference in how smooth my press runs now. I have see just within the dies I have a wide variance in machining quality of this part, some were smooth, others had very noticeable ridges that would grab onto the shell and then resist being withdrawn.

totalloser · December 3, 2007, 08:58 PM

I am sorry, I misunderstood. I thought the reference was to the locking ring nut washer. Good point. Last time I placed an order those Redding lock rings were out of stock. Now THOSE THINGS are cool. No setscrew or o ring BS!

Oops! I meant crossbolt... I'll check next time. Hackles were still up from the "Kaliforina" comment. Not every German was a Nazi, and not every Californian is a Facist. CRPA speaks for me. Thank you for the correction, Andy. I'll just sit down now.

BigJakeJ1s · December 4, 2007, 10:48 PM

Redding die lock rings do have set screws. Hornady and Forster don't. They have cross-bolts for tightening. Hornady is steel, with allen head clamp screw, and wrench flats. Forster is aluminum, with Phillips head clamp screw, and no wrench flats.

Andy

December 3, 2007, 08:58 PM	#28
totalloser Senior Member Join Date: October 19, 2007 Location: Fort Bragg, CA Posts: 679	I am sorry, I misunderstood. I thought the reference was to the locking ring nut washer. Good point. Last time I placed an order those Redding lock rings were out of stock. Now THOSE THINGS are cool. No setscrew or o ring BS! Oops! I meant crossbolt... I'll check next time. Hackles were still up from the "Kaliforina" comment. Not every German was a Nazi, and not every Californian is a Facist. CRPA speaks for me. Thank you for the correction, Andy. I'll just sit down now. Last edited by totalloser; December 4, 2007 at 11:20 PM.

December 1, 2007, 01:26 AM	#26
RussB Senior Member Join Date: November 21, 2007 Location: CT Posts: 159	Just how much variation are you seeing? what bullets? How much crimp are you applying? Too much crimp can squish the bullets because the die seats & crimps simultaniously

December 1, 2007, 10:52 AM	#27
croc4 Senior Member Join Date: March 9, 2006 Location: Idaho Posts: 191	Thats one of the reasons I went with the redding seating die, all it does is seat no crimp, I rely on the LFCD for crimping. I was seeing 8-10 thou variance at the worst case, I am now seeing 2 thou variance on a few rounds, most are dead on totalloser, well from what I saw with my old lee seater die the plug adjuster was moving a noticeable amount, so this would imply that the o-ring is being rubbed against the threads during this movement, so it could wear out because of this. But again, as I mentioned earlier (I believe) The bulk of my dies are lee (I have 7 different calibers that I have lee dies for) so I'm not bashing lee as a whole, I think for the price and for the most part the ammo they produce is very hard to beat. But if you have lee pistol dies I would recommend polishing the flaring flange, it made a huge difference in how smooth my press runs now. I have see just within the dies I have a wide variance in machining quality of this part, some were smooth, others had very noticeable ridges that would grab onto the shell and then resist being withdrawn.

December 4, 2007, 10:48 PM	#29
BigJakeJ1s Senior Member Join Date: August 8, 2005 Location: Arlington TX Posts: 663	Redding die lock rings do have set screws. Hornady and Forster don't. They have cross-bolts for tightening. Hornady is steel, with allen head clamp screw, and wrench flats. Forster is aluminum, with Phillips head clamp screw, and no wrench flats. Andy