seating die

[GeraldChainsaw]

ok,   let me put it another way,    any one  out there have a extra seating die?  they want to sell?

[rbwillnj]

Back to your original question.   For best results, the seating stem should exactly match the shape of your bullet.  This is particularly important for a swagged bullet like the Star hollow point that is very very soft because its basically pure lead.   Finding an original Star seating stem to match a Star (no relation) hollow point is probably next to impossible.   I would check with CH Tool and Die http://www.ch4d.com/ and see if they can make one for you.  You might be able to send one of your bullets to them so they can craft a seating stem to fit.

I use hard cast bullets for Bullseye.  I have several semi-wadcutter seating stems, but I generally use a round nose seating stem to seat my semi-wadcutters because it seems to do a nice job of centering the bullet, and doesn't deform the bullet.

[GeraldChainsaw]

thanks for the info,    i've wrote to the co, c what they can come up with.   i shoot bullseye also,   and these star 185gr hollow point is what we use,  since star has gone out of business we had bought out the supplies and this is the last of it.  the team has another bullet but i havn't use them yet.    the week before i had loaded up 2000 rounds and didn't notice the problem until yesterday when i started to load again,   anyhway. lets c what they come up with,    thanks again

[Star73]

Rather than chasing seating dies & stems for an exact match of the particular bullet profile I would drill/ bore the nose of a swc punch out so the entire nose of the bullet(s) are cleared. This will allow seating contact w/ the entire shoulder of the bullet & have the added advg of allowing loading various bullets to be loaded w/o a change of the nose punch.

Ron

[rbwillnj]

Ron,   I agree that your suggestion is better than putting all the pressure on the nose of the bullet, and given the chances of actually finding a seating stem that matches the Star bullet, it might be the most practical option. However, the Star swagged bullets are VERY soft and easily deformed, so I still think the optimum solution is to have a seating stem that exactly matches the bullet.   

As mentioned before, I shoot hard cast bullets (that I cast myself) and I don't think it really matters if the seating stem exactly matches the bullet as long as it centers the bullet and pushes it straight in.  I like round nose seating stems for this purpose.  My bullets are hard enough that they don't get deformed.

[GeraldChainsaw]

ok,  i talked to Bill Cunningham,  when we get things straightned out i'll order a concave seating die,  thats what i've been using for years.   as for getting a seating die to seat using only the shoulder of the bullet, that would work but,  seating dies are hardened and would require lots of work, machine work with carbide cutters or grinding,  i gave up casting,  i ended up with 39 on the lead poison scale, way to high.  so now i buy my bullets already cast, any way,  breaking my seating die sure slowed things up

[Star73]

Thew stems may be hard but I drilled mine on my drill press w/o incident. I ran the bit slow. The cut surface need not be mirror perfect as the intent is CLEARANCE. That being said the interior of my die looks smooth enough. As far as deforming soft bullets, as long as just the shoulder of the bullet touches there is no deforming. I have loaded the star 185 hp's w/o a problem.

making a replacement seating stem s/b a minor project on a lathe if they aren't readily available or are found to be too hard. Doesn't seem that if lead bullets are used it need be very hard.

[Barrel tester]

Hello
I still make custom bullet seating dies for the bullseye customers that have star reloaders.
I have to have the particular bullet that the person wants to load.
Rich Daniels
860-966-0639