Seating depth

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Seating depth

Post by madang55 » 07 Jul 2021, 9:59 pm

Apart from competition shooting, PRC, Bench-rest etc, does anyone bother using a micrometer seating die of any sort.? I am sick of having to adjust my dies all the time. Undo this, loosen that, extend this etc. I'm thinking the Hornady system, Microjust Stem, may be a good way to go, having a few different calibers and a couple of spare Hornady dies lying around.
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Re: Seating depth

Post by ZaineB » 07 Jul 2021, 10:15 pm

not really dude, I rock a lock n load, so my dies stay in their little click/screw into place dooverlackies, as for seating depth I have bought factory ammo with similar or identical projectiles, that shoot well in my gun, and seat to the same depth by screwing the die down gently onto the factory round, then from then on little to no issues, there are variables that you need to be careful of, if you have a kinetic hammer you can use one to see what the factory round is loaded with before copying it etc (that or google, but yeah) then other option is read up on the amount of depth/oal needed and use some verniers. cheers.
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Re: Seating depth

Post by madang55 » 07 Jul 2021, 11:34 pm

Yeah, I can live with that
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 08 Jul 2021, 11:03 am

Yes I use Redding micrometre seating dies for 223 and ad on Sinclair cheap mics on Hornady custom dies for 243 and 308 which you can't buy anymore .
Makes things much easier when experimenting but you have to make sure you write down settings so you can go back easily .
Like one time at the range I turn around from the bench to see a guy fiddling with the mic on my seater die . He was too dumb to realize what he had done but luckily I had the setting written down . It's also good when you load more than one style of projectile , you can just record the settings for each projectile in the load data . I recommend you buy them if you do a fair bit of load development but if you don't experiment much the extra expense is possibly not worth it . Lock and load has no bearing on micrometre adjustments , you can still use lock and load with a micrometre die .
I would recommend you buy the Redding or Forster micrometre dies . Buy a Redding competition seater , Lee collet neck die , Redding body die . If available for your cartridge .
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Re: Seating depth

Post by madang55 » 08 Jul 2021, 4:55 pm

I'm leaning towards the Forster. Would have liked to try the Hornady microjust system, with the changeable stems, but can't get the head. I'm going to need two, 204R and 223Rem. But, do I really need it or do I really want it?....
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 08 Jul 2021, 6:37 pm

The Redding or the Forster is better made than the Hornady . The seating stem in the Redding die is changeable and I think you can buy ones for longer ogives and very low drag styles .
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Re: Seating depth

Post by madang55 » 09 Jul 2021, 7:27 am

Cool, all I have to do is find one now
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 09 Jul 2021, 3:06 pm

Now you don't use a Fortser coax press do you ? Because they can have trouble fitting dies with high micrometres .
Try RDT products Ph: (02) 4885 1881 http://www.rdtproducts.com/services.html sometimes they have Redding competition dies .
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Re: Seating depth

Post by madang55 » 09 Jul 2021, 3:26 pm

Just put one, a Redding Premium 2 die set on order. When I get it, if I like it, (no reason I shouldn't) I will probably sell off the dies I already have for the 204, then move onto the 223. I use a big Rockchucker and a Partner on the side, so no height problems
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 09 Jul 2021, 6:32 pm

You don't want premium dies the sizers have old fashioned expander balls . Buy a " Competition set " and you get a Comp seater and a body die and a comp bushing neck sizer . You can then add in the Lee Collet sizer for unturned brass .
I never mentioned Premium die set .
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Re: Seating depth

Post by madang55 » 09 Jul 2021, 7:24 pm

The new premiums have the carbide expander, and I don't really need the neck sizer. I'll see how it turns out. I will still have 2 other sets of 204 dies to work with. And the comp sets are just a tad more expensive
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 09 Jul 2021, 7:53 pm

Ok as long as you get what you wanted . Carbide or not it's still over working the brass and can pull necks out of line and will harden the necks quicker .
It's still a sizing system that was developed in the 18th century for black powder cartridges .
If expense was a problem then you should have stayed with a standard bullet seater and just bought a body die for 60$ and you already have the Lee collet neck die . That would have been better than using expander ball dies .
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Re: Seating depth

Post by Blr243 » 09 Jul 2021, 8:41 pm

All my life I have struggled with dragging expander balls thru necks, worrying about trying to lube the insides so I don’t have that horrible dragging resistance, wooruing about excess lube Inside preventing easy powder charging, wondering about is it pulling my shoulders forward , overworking my brass by sizeing it down uneceassary and then dragging a ball Back thru The neck to makE it th right size. It really is a primitive system. As soon as I started bump sizeing , or useing a body die, and then a lee collet die For my necks , everything became so much easier
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 09 Jul 2021, 9:40 pm

Blr243 wrote:All my life I have struggled with dragging expander balls thru necks, worrying about trying to lube the insides so I don’t have that horrible dragging resistance, wooruing about excess lube Inside preventing easy powder charging, wondering about is it pulling my shoulders forward , overworking my brass by sizeing it down uneceassary and then dragging a ball Back thru The neck to makE it th right size. It really is a primitive system. As soon as I started bump sizeing , or useing a body die, and then a lee collet die For my necks , everything became so much easier

Amen mate . I was trying to move him in that direction but I failed .
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Re: Seating depth

Post by Apollo » 09 Jul 2021, 9:57 pm

Well, for the past 50 years of reloading I have never thought of a problem dragging the expander button back through a case neck. Way back then I used to have a Matchbox with a few mill of graphite powder in the tray, dip every neck and no drag. Didn't look pretty but who cares, black coated neck.
Years later I discovered "In-Line" Dies and an "Arbor" Press. No longer need for neck lube, press cheap, dies cheap and one die for each calibre pre-set for even seating depth. To check seating depth us Calipres to measure and it's dead easy to workout how much of a turn changes the depth..
That's going into competition seating accuracy. My normal standard dies have not been used for years unless I need the FLS Die. Neck dies are "Bushing" so dead simple to increase neck tension if needed.

BTW... Graphite does not affect your powder, in fact Smokeless Powder is coated with graphite to help protect against static electricity and part of the burn rate control.
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Re: Seating depth

Post by JohnV » 10 Jul 2021, 5:19 pm

I got you covered Apollo I have been reloading 52 years lol.
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