CC3D Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 (edited) I recently started seating and crimping in separate steps after having issues with shavings when combining the steps. I am now having continuous issues with getting the crimp step just right- I was using a lee FCD die but my coated bullets didn't like it. I am now using a lee taper crimp die with more success- but am now getting scuff marks on most of my finished rounds. I'm using case lube but I'm feeling a bit of resistance going into the taper crimp die- I'm using a very small amount of bell on the case, any less and I'll start shaving the coating off my bullets. Cant figure out what is causing the issues- any insight would be helpful. Edited September 17, 2022 by CC3D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muncie21 Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 If the die is hitting the bullet enough to scuff it, I'm thinking the die is set too deep. The crimp die should be set to remove the bell and no more. I.e. it shouldn't be swaging the bullet or touching it for that matter, as the bullet is a smaller diameter than the de-belled case by close to 0.5mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted September 17, 2022 Author Share Posted September 17, 2022 (edited) The bullet isn't getting scuffed, the brass is. Sorry if that wasn't clear- there is a scuff mark but only on one side of the case. I can try to adjust again, however if the die is backed off any further the rounds won't plunk. From looking at my finished rounds it doesn't look like there is too much crimp on there. Edited September 17, 2022 by CC3D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 I’ve had that happen too. Try indexing the die body a half a turn and also pull the crimping sleeve out to make sure there’s no crud on it that could push the loaded rounds to the side. Make sure the body’s clean also. If your getting a little bulge that can do it too, in that case I just shoot them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted September 17, 2022 Author Share Posted September 17, 2022 8 minutes ago, Farmer said: I’ve had that happen too. Try indexing the die body a half a turn and also pull the crimping sleeve out to make sure there’s no crud on it that could push the loaded rounds to the side. Make sure the body’s clean also. If your getting a little bulge that can do it too, in that case I just shoot them. I’d try that, but i’m using a taper crimp die (only a die body, no adjustment knob). Die is brand new and freshly cleaned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 (edited) 9 minutes ago, CC3D said: I’d try that, but i’m using a taper crimp die (only a die body, no adjustment knob). Die is brand new and freshly cleaned. Gotcha, you just removed the seating stem. I use a RCBS die and get the same thing. I was thinking of the FCD with the adjustment for the crimp. Does that happen to be CBC brass that’s doing that? Edited September 17, 2022 by Farmer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted September 17, 2022 Author Share Posted September 17, 2022 6 minutes ago, Farmer said: Gotcha, you just removed the seating stem. I use a RCBS die and get the same thing. I was thinking of the FCD with the adjustment for the crimp. Does that happen to be CBC brass that’s doing that? Nope. Most of my brass is speer, but it’s happening with all my cases regardless of headstamp. I might call Lee and see what’s up. loading on a dillon 750 if that helps at all, i dont think theres an issue with my shellplate as i’ve loaded many thousands of rounds on this press without an issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer Posted September 17, 2022 Share Posted September 17, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, CC3D said: Nope. Most of my brass is speer, but it’s happening with all my cases regardless of headstamp. I might call Lee and see what’s up. loading on a dillon 750 if that helps at all, i dont think theres an issue with my shellplate as i’ve loaded many thousands of rounds on this press without an issue It does it on my single stage too. It’s as if the bullet is starting crooked and bulging more on one side. Might try a little more bell/flair on the mouths for a straighter start. I use an M die and adjust it so the bullet will sit in the case about .040 or so or just enough that it won’t scrape the coating. What diameter are your bullets? They may be a bit large and contributing to part of that. Or worse yet, not round. Edited September 17, 2022 by Farmer Added Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postal Bob Posted September 18, 2022 Share Posted September 18, 2022 35 minutes ago, Farmer said: It does it on my single stage too. It’s as if the bullet is starting crooked and bulging more on one side. Might try a little more bell/flair on the mouths for a straighter start. I use an M die and adjust it so the bullet will sit in the case about .040 or so or just enough that it won’t scrape the coating. What diameter are your bullets? They may be a bit large and contributing to part of that. Or worse yet, not round. It could be that you need more flair of the case mouth. But since you're saying it does it on your single stage too, I think you basically answered your own question with this statement: 23 hours ago, CC3D said: I was using a lee FCD die but my coated bullets didn't like it. I am now using a lee taper crimp die with more success- but am now getting scuff marks on most of my finished rounds. I would guess that your crimp die is defective. Could be the threads on the body were cut crooked, so it sits in your presses crooked. Run a resized case through the die without a bullet. If you see the mark on the case, you know it has nothing to do with the flair or bullet, and it's the crimp die that's defective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted September 18, 2022 Author Share Posted September 18, 2022 44 minutes ago, Postal Bob said: I would guess that your crimp die is defective. I’ll call in to Lee and see what’s up. I’ve had issues with concentricity of my flair as well, i’m starting to think they might be related. I have an alpha dropper flair die on the way, hoping that might solve some issues as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarmageddon Posted September 23, 2022 Share Posted September 23, 2022 What press are you running? If the brass is able to be scuffed, it's not concentrically seating. This is usually a pointer that the diameter of your bullet and the depth to which you are seating, are not agreeing. THAT, or..... You are starting bullets crooked and the seating stem is not correcting. I had this issue a while back, and a nice forum member here actually machined my round nose profile lee seating stem totally flat. It helped clean things up. I did have a Dillon seating die before but the plug would mark up my bullet due to the lube hole on the stem. On the 550 powder measure, the alpha dropper was a pretty violent thing. I took it immediately off and got told by the nice folks at SSI / shooters connection to pound sand. They never posted my review to their site, nor did shooters connection. Despite other 550 owners pointing out the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted September 24, 2022 Author Share Posted September 24, 2022 8 hours ago, Guitarmageddon said: What press are you running? If the brass is able to be scuffed, it's not concentrically seating. This is usually a pointer that the diameter of your bullet and the depth to which you are seating, are not agreeing. THAT, or..... You are starting bullets crooked and the seating stem is not correcting. I had this issue a while back, and a nice forum member here actually machined my round nose profile lee seating stem totally flat. It helped clean things up. I did have a Dillon seating die before but the plug would mark up my bullet due to the lube hole on the stem. On the 550 powder measure, the alpha dropper was a pretty violent thing. I took it immediately off and got told by the nice folks at SSI / shooters connection to pound sand. They never posted my review to their site, nor did shooters connection. Despite other 550 owners pointing out the issue. Dillon 750, lee seating die lee taper crimp die. Loading to 1.130" I love the alpha dropper so far, completely corrected my bullet tipping issue while running a feeder. I had suspected this may be an issue with the seating stem, and am aware that lee will make a custom one off you send a bullet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowguy Posted September 29, 2022 Share Posted September 29, 2022 Have you tried backing off the jam nut on the die,then pressing a round up into it then tightening the jam nut, so the die is centered in the station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted September 29, 2022 Author Share Posted September 29, 2022 15 hours ago, Cowguy said: Have you tried backing off the jam nut on the die,then pressing a round up into it then tightening the jam nut, so the die is centered in the station. Yes, first thing I tried :/ I have concluded that this is likely an issue with my bullets being slightly crooked while seating. I have the thing where the case is ever so slightly bulged on one side (or slightly more than the other side, if that makes sense. All of my rounds plunk so it has not been an issue until now with this weird scuffing. Currently trying to figure out a solution, I believe it to either be due to the seating plug in my seating die or a slight concentricity issue I have been having with my flair die (posted in another thread) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kellymc Posted November 11, 2022 Share Posted November 11, 2022 (edited) I had rounds like that and chambering issues with a 3die set. Add a Lee factory crimp die and it went away. The lee die created another issue but removing the case lube seems to have fixed it. Edited November 13, 2022 by kellymc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 Returning with an update, this issue is caused by crooked bullet seating and the case being scuffed by the crimp die where the bullet is slightly bulged to one side. This happens a lot with the specific bullet manufacture I recently switched to, cannot get these bullets to seat straight. Having to switch to another manufacturer to avoid this, been having feeding issues like never before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Check the bolt(s) holding the flat part to the top of the ram. It sounds like maybe the shellplate is tipping when you go to seat/crp the bullet. Also, make sure you the correct stem in the seating die for the profile of bullet you are using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 What bullet are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 3 minutes ago, GrumpyOne said: It sounds like maybe the shellplate is tipping when you go to seat/crp the bullet Shell plate is as tight as possible while still able to index if that is what you are referring to. 1 minute ago, GrumpyOne said: What bullet are you using? Summers enterprises 180 gn .40. This bullet has a lube groove which may be contributory. Not having this issue on different manufacturers with the same diameter and no lube groove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOne Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 13 minutes ago, CC3D said: Shell plate is as tight as possible while still able to index if that is what you are referring to. Summers enterprises 180 gn .40. This bullet has a lube groove which may be contributory. Not having this issue on different manufacturers with the same diameter and no lube groove Not necessarily the shellplate, but the bolts holding the plate to the top of the ram. Your shellplate can be tight enough to where it won't move, but if those bolts are loose, under the shellplate, the entire assembly can tilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC3D Posted November 22, 2022 Author Share Posted November 22, 2022 16 hours ago, GrumpyOne said: Not necessarily the shellplate, but the bolts holding the plate to the top of the ram. Your shellplate can be tight enough to where it won't move, but if those bolts are loose, under the shellplate, the entire assembly can tilt. I will take a look thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougCarden Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 I would also think about belling the case a bit more so your bullet can center up easier. I would try adjusting that and see if it helps. DougC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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