Reliable .223 seating dies for progressive

[thermobollocks]

I load my .223 on a 550. More so with 69/75 grain bullets, if the bullet wiggles at all during the seating upstroke, and I don't catch the slightly different resistance, it seats crooked and gets jammed all the way into the case neck. Surely I am not the only person to have this experience.

 

Will different dies reduce the probability of this happening?

[Dan Sierpina]

Redding  micrometer dies have a floating sleeve to aid in alignment, although in the past they didn't recommend them for progressive presses. Another one you can try is the Hornady that use a sleeve and you can add their micrometer to the seater too.

[12glocks]

I use a 650.  I jammed my Forster Micrometer seating die seating a crooked bullet so many times it eventually broke.  I like it other than that.  I have the Dillon die back in it, the problem there is the little rings it puts on the match bullets.  Those bothered me enough to get another die.  I have a Lee and a RCBS seating die I should try them again.  The micrometer is nice.  If I was more judicious with the bullet alignment I would not have the issue.  But the case does rock back and forth a little as you say..

[bigedp51]

Both Redding and Forster make the sliding sleeve seating dies and the Forster is much cheaper.

 

Another thing to try is a Lyman type "M" expander that allows the bullet to seat straighter and reduce neck runout.

Below you bump the case neck onto the second .226 step of the expander. This allows the bullet to start straight and not tilt during seating. And many people use the Lyman type "M" expander on progressive presses and then apply a slight taper crimp.

 

Edited August 31, 2017 by bigedp51

[RiggerJJ]

I use the Dillon swage hold down die (does the same as a M die), and a Redding seat die...

jj

[bigedp51]

6 hours ago, RiggerJJ said:

I use the Dillon swage hold down die (does the same as a M die), and a Redding seat die...

jj

The hold down die is used to take the slop out of the press and give uniform seating of your primers. And has nothing to do with case expanding, no offense, I'm 67 and have plenty of brain farts. Were you thinking of something else?

 

http://www.evergladesammo.com/reloading/ega-hold-down-die.html

 

 

If you are reloading on a 1050, you can use the swage expander rod to open up the brass a little. (if your too cheap to buy a Lyman type "M" die)

http://www.mrbulletfeeder.com/rifle-calibers/

Edited August 31, 2017 by bigedp51

[RiggerJJ]

No, the Dillon swage hold down die expands the case mouth, and is used in the swage station to hold down the case while the primer pocket is being swaged. Guess i should have called it the swag backup die...and you don't have to have a 1050 to use it as a expansion die. It works fine as a mouth expander alone. But if using it as its designed on the swage station, do not trim the tip off because it holds down the case for pocket swaging AND expands the case mouth.

 

Has nothing to do with the EGA hold down die, which is used above the primer seat station, not the swage station. It cannot be used on rifle brass either, to me a pretty much useless die.

Edited September 1, 2017 by RiggerJJ

[mgrs]

I used a forster micrometer seat die without any problems. I use flat base 55gr soft point for volume ammunition and 77gr SMK for long range. I find that using a Lyman M Die on the case prep toolhead makes loading the flat base SPs much easier. I never had problems with bullets 'wiggling' when seated, but did have some brass shaved off the flat base jackets before using the M die. 

[CPD7119]

I run a redding seating die and a Lyman M die. Just use the M die enough for a little step to set the bullet into to make the seating go smoothly. 

[jkrispies]

+1 for the Redding.  

[Beef15]

I use a Hornady, sleeve works pretty well as long as the bullet is nearer vertical than horizontal.

That said, I may add an M die, flat bases can still give fits.

[Tom Freeman]

I use both the Redding and Forster competition seat dies.  Well worth the $$$.

[v1911]

I really like the benefits of using the m-die. But because of my setup on the 550, I use 3 tool heads to prep and load .223. A 650 would allow for just 2 toolheads and save a HELL of a lot of time. 

[RiggerJJ]

Not sure why you would need more than two heads. On 1st head I would do a decap or full length sizer, then a trim, then a M die. On 2nd head universal decap, primer, powder, bullet.

Swaging primer pockets and tumbling lube off in between heads of course...

jj

Edited October 23, 2017 by RiggerJJ

[v1911]

Can’t seem to fit the sizer, trimmer and M-die on the same toolhead on the 550. I have the size on station 1 and the trimmer on 3. Can’t seem to get the m-die on station 4. But if you’re saying it can be done, I’ll take another look at it. 

[RiggerJJ]

I don't have a 550, so don't take my word for it. You may want to try the 1050 swage hold down die in the place of the M die, it may allow for more room around itself. Also, try not mounting the trimmer until after all other dies are in place...or you can try the trimmer in station 2 if you can find a universal decap that is small enough to put right next to the trimmer, which is also a size die.

Good luck

jj

[v1911]

Thanks for the tips.

 

OP, sorry for the thread drift. 

[rustybayonet]

On Wednesday, August 30, 2017 at 7:45 PM, Dan Sierpina said:

Redding  micrometer dies have a floating sleeve to aid in alignment, although in the past they didn't recommend them for progressive presses. Another one you can try is the Hornady that use a sleeve and you can add their micrometer to the seater too.

I think, on a 550 it should do fine.

[Banacek]

On 8/30/2017 at 6:45 PM, Dan Sierpina said:

Redding  micrometer dies have a floating sleeve to aid in alignment, although in the past they didn't recommend them for progressive presses. Another one you can try is the Hornady that use a sleeve and you can add their micrometer to the seater too.

I have the same Redding setup and it works well for me.  I only load my 3Gun 223 in the 550, any long range stuff or prairie dog shooting,  I still use my Rock chucker single stage.  I am interested in that Lyman M-Die now and will do some more research into that.  

[mgrs]

On 10/23/2017 at 8:16 PM, v1911 said:

Can’t seem to fit the sizer, trimmer and M-die on the same toolhead on the 550. I have the size on station 1 and the trimmer on 3. Can’t seem to get the m-die on station 4. But if you’re saying it can be done, I’ll take another look at it. 

 

Sounds like a great excuse to upgrade to a 650

[cvincent]

 
Sounds like a great excuse to upgrade to a 650[emoji3]

I don’t think it can be done on a 650 either.
Only station 1 and 2 is available with a trimmer in station 4.
Processing tool head, I use decap on 1, trim on 4.
Loading toolhead, M die on 1, powder, bulletfeeder, seat die, crimp die.



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[jkrispies]

20 minutes ago, cvincent said:

 

I don’t think it can be done on a 650 either.
Only station 1 and 2 is available with a trimmer in station 4.
Processing tool head, I use decap on 1, trim on 4.
Loading toolhead, M die on 1, powder, bulletfeeder, seat die, crimp die.



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Sounds like you’re convincing yourself to buy a 1050.  Personally, I started on a 550 and now also have a 650. My advice would be to skip straight to the 1050 if you can afford it.  If I had the resources and room on the bench, I’d have a tricked out 1050 for my most loaded cartridge and use the 550 and single stages for everything else.  Having said that, if I ever come across a dirt cheap 450 or stripped down 550 that somebody is tossing, I might make that into a dedicated rifle brass processing station...

[cvincent]

Sounds like you’re convincing yourself to buy a 1050.  Personally, I started on a 550 and now also have a 650. My advice would be to skip straight to the 1050 if you can afford it.  If I had the resources and room on the bench, I’d have a tricked out 1050 for my most loaded cartridge and use the 550 and single stages for everything else.  Having said that, if I ever come across a dirt cheap 450 or stripped down 550 that somebody is tossing, I might make that into a dedicated rifle brass processing station...

I’m too invested in my 650 to go to a 1050.
It’s 650 with Mark 7.
Have Loading tool heads for 9, 40, .223, 300blk.
Processing toolheads for 300blk and .223

I can’t imagine the cost to have 1050 conversions for all that. I mainly shoot .40 in uspsa anyway.

The lack of swaging on the 650 is the worst part. I’ve got the Swage It dialed in to run LC brass decently. But any other brass and it either doesn’t swage or rips the brass out of the shell plate, rendering it useless.


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[jkrispies]

Yeah that’s the difference between shooters I think.  I shoot a lot of 9mm and a little of a lot of other stuff.  Sounds like the 650 is a better choice for you.  

[mgrs]

18 hours ago, cvincent said:

 

I don’t think it can be done on a 650 either.
Only station 1 and 2 is available with a trimmer in station 4.
Processing tool head, I use decap on 1, trim on 4.
Loading toolhead, M die on 1, powder, bulletfeeder, seat die, crimp die.



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Sure it can. 

 

Toolhead 1: 

Station 1: Decap

Station 2: Empty 

Station 3: RT1200 size/trim die 

Station 4: Empty

Station 5: M Die

 

Toolhead 2: 

Station 1: clear media from flash hole

Station 2: Powder drop

Station 3: Powder check, or bullet feed, or empty

Station 4: Seat Die

Station 5: Crimp Die

Edited December 20, 2017 by mgrs