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Best, cost considered, 9x19mm Seater Die?


Dannix

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My quest - straight rounds.

I was having a particularly hard time seating straight with my Lee 'Deluxe' dies. I decided to ignore the Lee seater's setup instructions and changed to the following, in the context of seating only, crimping on another die:

  1. Back the seater plug all the way out.
  2. Drop a round into the seater die, out of the press, so that it is sitting on the crimp part of the crimp/seater die.
  3. Crank the seater plug down just until the round is pushed upwards slightly. (This ensures no crimping will take place as I use the Factor Crimp Die.)
  4. Put a round to-be-seated into the shellholder and carefully screw down the die body into the press until desired OAL is achieved.

This helped a lot. I'm still getting some bulging, but far less 'baby-sitting' is required. I figure there's two aspects that could be improved:

  • The interior die body is a little too 'loose'. I mean, sure, in the context of larger diameter boolits which could be swaged down by the die body, this could be a good thing. But even in that context it seems too loose.
  • The amount of case inside the die before seating could be improved. This seems to be where the trade off of being a combination crimp/seating die comes into play. Maybe it's not really an issue with a proper interior die body size?

So yeah, I'm now in the market for a replacement seater die. I'm planning on picking up a Lyman M too with custom plugs if need be, as I'll be switch to cast boolits shortly, but I wasn't sure what seater die to spring for. Any thoughts? Is the Hornady CGND combination seater/crimper going to have the same issue as the Lee? The Redding Pro is about the same price and lacks the undesired crimp feature -- is it better than the Hornady CGND or does one have to go Redding Competition to match or beat the Hornady CGND?

Thanks guys,

Edited by Dannix
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no personal experience with hornady CGND. I use the redding competition for .223 and .308 and have nothing but high praise for it, but never saw the need for it on pistol cartridges where I'm admittedly much more of a slacker on runout (i.e. i've never even measured for it on handgun cartridges). are you seeing bullets seated at an angle by your lee seating die or having other problems with die tolerance? If so, might consider just calling lee and sending it back to them before committing to something like a redding competition die (which is significantly more expensive). My $.02.

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Yeah, I get angled seating unless I'm really careful and slow about it. Otherwise it's case buldge and bullit angled. That's a good call--I'll get in touch with Lee.

Edited by Dannix
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Redding competition seating die...buy once, cry once!

no argument, but at $100 a pop:surprise:, it was a big cry for me (and I'm not usually an emotional guy :). actually, now that I'm looking it up, redding competition seating dies for 9mm are "only" $75 or so at midway. it's more precision then I needed to spend for my handgun reloading, but (to the OP) I certainly don't think you'll have any complaints about product quality or function if you can get over the purchase price...

edited for screwed up emoticons

Edited by jaredr
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Well, I was getting a 20% failure rate with my new Hornady Seating dies. I got rid of them. I worked on it and got it better but thats another story. In my experiance I really like the Lee Seating die. I wonder if perhaps it's something you are doing. Try this for die setup.

1) Put a sized and flared case in the seating station. Raise the ram, screw the die down till it just contacts the die. Back it off just a little and lock it down.

2) Adjust the seating die per your OAL requirments.

3) Also, take the seater plug out of your die, put it in a drill so its centered. Then get some 800 grit (or similiar) wet sandpaper. Spin the drill and polish the inside of the seater plug.

In my experiance the Lee has a nice deep V shape to the seating plug. RCBS and others can be almost round and flat in comparision. Anyway, the Lee has been my best seating die. Dillon works the same but has much nicer feature (but is harder to adjust). Hornady was a HUGE pita till I opened up the in line seater. Even then the bullets still went in off center a little.

Edited by 98sr20ve
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I sent an email to Lee. We'll see if they will swap out my seater for another one.

I was tempted to just go for the Redding competition seating die...but I already have way too many other important things on my to-buy list to just go for it! I was hoping to find something in the middle ground, but if not, I'll just keep saving my sheckles and put my money to what I know will do me proud.

Well, I was getting a 20% failure rate with my new Hornady Seating dies. I got rid of them. I worked on it and got it better but thats another story. What was the problem? OAL issues? In my experiance I really like the Lee Seating die. I wonder if perhaps it's something you are doing. Try this for die setup.

1) Put a sized and flared case in the seating station. Raise the ram, screw the die down till it just contacts the die. Back it off just a little and lock it down. Can't as this would give me a crimp, and I'm crimping on another die.

2) Adjust the seating die per your OAL requirments.

3) Also, take the seater plug out of your die, put it in a drill so its centered. Then get some 800 grit (or similiar) wet sandpaper. Spin the drill and polish the inside of the seater plug. Will try. I'm having zero OAL issues though. It's just the straightness of the seating that's the issue and that seems to be an issue with the interior die body diameter and perhaps compromised by such a short distance before crimping takes place.

See my original post on how I setup the die for maximum case travel inside the die without crimping.

In my experiance the Lee has a nice deep V shape to the seating plug. RCBS and others can be almost round and flat in comparision. Anyway, the Lee has been my best seating die. Dillon works the same but has much nicer feature You mean finish? If otherwise, what feature? (but is harder to adjust)In what way?. Hornady was a HUGE pita till I opened up the in line seater. Even then the bullets still went in off center a little.

Well the V is great for JFNs I'm using right now, but I'll have to fill it in with hot glue or something when I switch to flat nose boolits with a proper metplat. Hum, I wonder if your Hornady had the same issue I'm having with my Lee with a too loose die body interior diameter. My rounds rattle in my Lee seater.

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Get the redding competition seating die regradless in my honest opinion.....it is well worth the expense. Not only will it seat any bullet profile to the correct depth, but it will do it without risk of damaging the bullet or marking it in some way if it doesnt fit the seating stem and is an absolute breeze to adjust should you wish to try something new every now and then and then just flick it back to the preset setting for your fav load.... I own dies in pretty much every conceivable brand....I now only buy redding comp dies

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Yeah. We'll see what Lee says. I think I'll save my shekels for one just the same.

Got a recommended taper crimp die to go with it, or are they pretty much all equal in crimping Redding Competition steaded rounds? I'll have to replace my Lee FCD as it's known to swag down intentionally 'oversized' cast lead boolits. I may just have it opened up a little, but that would probably cost as much as a new crimping die.

Edited by Dannix
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Yeah. We'll see what Lee says. I think I'll save my shekels for one just the same.

Got a recommended taper crimp die to go with it, or are they pretty much all equal in crimping Redding Competition steaded rounds? I'll have to replace my Lee FCD as it's known to swag down intentionally 'oversized' cast lead boolits. I may just have it opened up a little, but that would probably cost as much as a new crimping die.

I would recommend the redding pro crimp die but in all honesty my dillon and lee dies crimp perfectly well too. However, despite the cost I am highly impressed with the quality of the redding dies for all steps including sizing, seating, and crimping. My ammo has been flawlessly consistent since I made themove to redding dies something which the other dies never quite achieved to the same degree of consistency.

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Well, I was getting a 20% failure rate with my new Hornady Seating dies. I got rid of them. I worked on it and got it better but thats another story. What was the problem? OAL issues? In my experiance I really like the Lee Seating die. I wonder if perhaps it's something you are doing. Try this for die setup.

1) Put a sized and flared case in the seating station. Raise the ram, screw the die down till it just contacts the die. Back it off just a little and lock it down. Can't as this would give me a crimp, and I'm crimping on another die.

2) Adjust the seating die per your OAL requirments.

3) Also, take the seater plug out of your die, put it in a drill so its centered. Then get some 800 grit (or similiar) wet sandpaper. Spin the drill and polish the inside of the seater plug. Will try. I'm having zero OAL issues though. It's just the straightness of the seating that's the issue and that seems to be an issue with the interior die body diameter and perhaps compromised by such a short distance before crimping takes place.

See my original post on how I setup the die for maximum case travel inside the die without crimping.

In my experiance the Lee has a nice deep V shape to the seating plug. RCBS and others can be almost round and flat in comparision. Anyway, the Lee has been my best seating die. Dillon works the same but has much nicer feature You mean finish? If otherwise, what feature? (but is harder to adjust)In what way?. Hornady was a HUGE pita till I opened up the in line seater. Even then the bullets still went in off center a little.

Well the V is great for JFNs I'm using right now, but I'll have to fill it in with hot glue or something when I switch to flat nose boolits with a proper metplat. Hum, I wonder if your Hornady had the same issue I'm having with my Lee with a too loose die body interior diameter. My rounds rattle in my Lee seater.

Re read my recommendation. It will NOT give you crimp. Putting a sized and flared case in station 3 and screwing the die till it touch's and then backing it off just a smidge is never going to allow the die to crimp.

The problem with the Hornday was tilted bullets. Too tight of a mouth gives more potential for that.

I have made a custom seater plug. The Lee V was better. Seriously. Do the polish and the setup the way I suggested and try again. I think your version of setup may be exactly the same as mine just said diferently or be really messed up and thats your problem, I really don't understand it the way it was written. Your the one having issues. Try it the way I describe it's not hard at all. I never had issues with OAL. I seriously, my Lee seats the straightest and also is very consistent with OAL. FMJ bullets are easy to load. Try loading oversized Lead bullets and you will see how perfect you have to get some of this stuff. Dillon has a nice reverseable seating stem. A V and a Flat seating stem. It also is easier to clean because you can take a pin out and the guts come out for cleaning. It's not as easy to adjust as the dial on the Lee for OAL. You have to use a wrench to adjust for OAL in the Dillon.

Edited by 98sr20ve
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  • 2 weeks later...

I had the Lee dies many years ago, along with a Lee progressive press. I got tired of constantly having to readjust things, both on the press as well as the dies. Took the plunge and got a Dillon 550b and Dillon dies back in '95. Haven't looked back. Rock solid - set and forget it. Produces accurate ammo all day long. I know there are dies that are more easy to adjust and all that, but for me - I'm just happy not having to spend so much time adjusting and readjusting, etc.

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1) Send Lee two or three bullets and something like $12 and they'll make a custom seating die stem for you.

2) I have no idea how you can be bulging the case but if you can't get even half decent alignment, you need to work on your expander/belling die. If you loading a bottleneck case, I am even more lost and can only recommend a boat-tail bullet and additional chamfering of the case.

3) I really don't understand your procedure. Put a sized and empty case in the shell holder/shell plate and raise the ram. Screw in the seating die until you hit the crimp section and then back the die out one or two turns. Unsrew the seating plug as high as you can. Lower the case, place a bullet on the case, run it up into the die, screw the seating down until it touches the bullet. Lower the case a little and turn the seater stem down a half turn more. Run the case and bullet into the die and lock the die down (it is now aligned with the case). Continue to lower the case a little and screw the seating stem down until you achieve your target COL. Lock the seating stem down (or, on your Lee, is already is with the friction from the o-ring).

4) if, again, your problem is the bullet rocking back on forth on the case, you need to improve the case belling. Lee powder-through expander dies have always worked for me. If not, get a Lyman M-series expander die.

5) If you simply can't get the bullet to not rock on the case and you are still getting bulged cases (which the Lee FCD will iron out but may swage the bullet), you may want a Hornady New Dimension Seating Die. I have looked at Lee, RCBS, Redding, and Hornady seating dies (no Pro series or anything) in .38 Special Wadcutter and .45 ACP and I rate them in terms of accuracy of the reloaded ammunition as Lee, Hornady, Redding, and RCBS. This was taking the average of twenty or more 5-shot groups and the data was still not that statistically significant.

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