Redding Comp Bullet Seating Stems

[onehole]

Just thought I would write to advise of a problem that has happened to me twice now.,,,,once in a 223 comp seater and again today in my 6BR seating die.Some of you will probably know that possible fractures can occur in the component within the die that makes contact with the bullet head and some will not so just bringing it to the fore.

Seating bullets in an over tight neck , rough seating or just plain metal fatigue over the years can cause the thin mouth section of the seating component to split and usually manifests itself in giving poor consistency in measurements when assembling loaded rounds when checked for correct seating depth.

This happened to me today when varations of up to 3 or 4 thou from one round to another was annoying me as I was constantly fighting with the micrometer to try and get some consistency.Even started to question my Rock Chucker press as its getting on now{hurry up with my Sinclair press Spud}

Then it clicked!!! been here before!!! with the 223 seater,,,,,,so oiked out the seating stem and with a 5x lens saw a nasty little split in the mouth.

Not a big problem cured the 223 stem with some careful lathe work to remove the split and refashioned the mouth,,,,,just done the same thing with the BR so job done .

Not everyone of course can do these little remedies and you will have to buy new stems,,,again not a problem Norman Clarke can help and I have ordered some new stems just for the future as any more splitting and repair will not be possible as machining away material can reduce adjustment within your die and render deeper seating or seating of short heads difficult or impossible.

I put my splits down to fatigue!!! only use 2 thou or so neck tension but will probably fashion the new stems with thicker mouth dimensions in the lathe just to avoid problems in this area in the future. I believe there are special stems available for seating VLD type heads to avoid some of these issues so if you are using VLD,s have a chat with NC.

Wonder how many of you got split seating stems out there and don,t know it!!!!!!!!You will need a 5X lens to see one,,,,regards Onehole

[Foxshooter]

Redding would have replaced them free under warranty

 

Mark

[onehole]

Redding would have replaced them free under warranty

 

Mark

Yeah? mmmmm? maybe,,,will be modifying my new stems from get go ,,,not sure why redding have not addressed this weakness and have not considered thicker stems and consequently thicker machined and shaped mouths.I,ve heard of quite a few cases of split stems and the cure is quite simple.Not knocking Redding generally I think their die sets are superb value for money and produce near nil runout ammo for my tight necked rifles.

[Foxshooter]

I have a set of decapping dies, last year I managed to damage one of the pins. I contacted Aftab to order a new one plus a spare and a couple of days later he contacted me to say that redding wanted to send me a replacement free of charge!

 

I never even asked for it. I have always had service second to none from Redding, especially at Shot Show..

 

Mark

[onehole]

mmmm praps I will have a go see what response I get,,,,,,cheers Mark..

[John MH]

Allegedly doesn't happen with Forster Dies and they don't mark the bullet when a load is slightly compressed either.

[onehole]

Allegedly doesn't happen with Forster Dies and they don't mark the bullet when a load is slightly compressed either.

Hi J....mmmm,, my refashioned stem mouths dont mark either,,,,, Forster must have this sorted?.Having looked carefully at Redding stems in various cals it really does look like a weak point in otherwise superb dies,,,,,,,D