Redding Competition Seating Die

[p3ordie]

Hello,

I just bought a new Redding Comp. seating die. After installing the die I tested a few rounds out with no powder/primer. I first set the OAL for 1.138" for the first round, out of the 10 rounds I loaded the OAL averaged from 1.135" to 1.139". Is this typical for this die? or am I expecting too much? I am loading 40S&W on a Dillion 550, new Starline brass and Zero 180 TCFM bullets.

Thanks,

Mark

[GeneralChang]

Measure the length of the bullets and the length of your brass.

Also, check that the shellplate is tight enough that there is little or no play in it.

You can also check to make sure that none of your dies are contacting the shellplate which could cause the variance. Hope this helps.

[George]

I would also check that the bullet profile is mating well with the seating punch in the die. If the bullets are getting marked by the punch, that may be the source of this tiny slop.

BTW, .04" variance is not that much, really! You may just be expecting too much. Just using varied headstamp brass may cause that much, or more OAL variance due to wall thicness and malleability differences from case to case. Pistol bullet tips are also not the most accurate of precision items in bulk.

[p3ordie]

Well I checked the bullets, 10 samples all measured .593"~.594", the new Starline brass was dead on .8465". The shell plate and die's were just all checked out getting ready for a new load. The .002"~.004" variance was pretty typical from the Dillion seating die I just removed, I was thinking that the competition die would of held it tighter.

Thanks,

Mark

[al503]

.004 is well within reason IMO. I've never loaded on a 550 but I am able to get within .001 with the Redding on a 1050. One thing to make sure of is to check your primers. I don't know what the priming system is like on a 550 but a 'high' primer could be affecting your measurements. Make sure that the primers are countersunk .002 to .004.

[HSMITH]

I'll bet you are seeing an ogive profile variation causing the OAL to wander a bit. The shape of each bullet is just enough different that the seating stem contacts it a hair higher or a hair lower.

.004 isn't going to matter.

[shred]

.004 is well within reason IMO. I've never loaded on a 550 but I am able to get within .001 with the Redding on a 1050. One thing to make sure of is to check your primers. I don't know what the priming system is like on a 550 but a 'high' primer could be affecting your measurements. Make sure that the primers are countersunk .002 to .004.

Same here.. a few thou either way doesn't bother me.. that's thickness of a piece of paper kinds of differences. With good bullets all from the same batch, they'll typically all be within +/-.001", but some days not. Some of that is I load JHPs and the OAL on those varies some depending on exactly where it's measured.

[jkrispies]

Hello,

I just bought a new Redding Comp. seating die. After installing the die I tested a few rounds out with no powder/primer. I first set the OAL for 1.138" for the first round, out of the 10 rounds I loaded the OAL averaged from 1.135" to 1.139". Is this typical for this die? or am I expecting too much? I am loading 40S&W on a Dillion 550, new Starline brass and Zero 180 TCFM bullets.

Thanks,

Mark

I've noticed (and I've learned a few others have to from a recent thread at Glocktalk) that a 550 generally runs the "first round" about .004" deeper than the others... basically until all four stations are full. This is true even with a Redding, as I have one as well and have noticed the same thing. My theory is that it takes all four stations being full to overcome the weight of the removable toolhead and lift it to seat fully in its lands; since the toolhead is sitting on the bottom of the rail (or more likely canting slightly) instead of maxing out on the top, you've got your .004" difference. Try running a dozen or so rounds through with all four stations in use, being careful to seperate out the first round or two for seperate measurements, and then measure "the long run" to see if it's more consistent... and then post for us again to tell me if I'm crazy or not, 'kay?

[Flexmoney]

Doing a single round...when you set your dies or run one round all the way through...will give variation. The reason is that not having components in all the stations means that there is no countering forces to balance out the shell plate. So, the shell plate can teeter-totter a bit (as can the tool head).

So, you will often get that first, single, round being different from the rounds made with the shell plate full and all the components added.

After that, you will still get some variation, I believe. For all the reasons mentioned so far in the thread. Anything under 0.005 doesn't seem to worry many shooters.

The .002"~.004" variance was pretty typical from the Dillion seating die I just removed, I was thinking that the competition die would of held it tighter.

I don't know that the Redding die would outperform the Dillon in this particular area. They are both well made dies, likely held to similar tolerances (though, I have know experience/knowledge to justify that statement). I think most go with the Redding Comp. die for the other features that set it apart.

[p3ordie]

I appreciate the advice! I'll let the .004" go and keep and eye on it.

Thanks again!

Mark

[cautery]

Without a tool head clamp to keep the tool head staionary on the top rail faces, you HAVE to set your dies with all stations populated... I've spent hours analyzing how to get seating depth and OAL repeatability to under 0.002". It takes work. I also use a custom seating stem machined specifically for the MG 180gr FMJ/CMJ I use. That helps a little too.

[Action Pistolero]

The Redding die really shines when you are using it to seat different styles of bullets in the same caliber. I normally load the Sierra 115 gr JHP and the Hornady 125 gr HAP. I have the settings for each written down and I can just turn the dial to the one I want and it's there. When I was using the 650 I had overall length discrepencies. Since using the 1050 those problems have been long gone. I can now have the confidence that once the loaded round hits the bin it's ready to shoot.

[ihatepickles]

I hate to recommend throwing money at a problem but I just started using the UniqueTek toolhead clamp modification and my OAL variations are almost nil now. I believe you can send toolheads to UniqueTek if you'd rather them perform the install.

The UniqueTek toolhead clamp is basically a helicoil kit that adds a threaded hole to the toolhead. Once you have some reliable threads in the toolhead, you use a screw instead of the steel toolhead pins. This allows the toolhead to be clamped to the press (with the screws) with almost no play at all. This also gets rid of almost all the slop that occurs on first 1-2 rounds in a batch, since the only wobble comes from the shellplate, and that's minimal compared to the rocking that occurs in the toolhead.

[Bronson7]

Hello,

I just bought a new Redding Comp. seating die. After installing the die I tested a few rounds out with no powder/primer. I first set the OAL for 1.138" for the first round, out of the 10 rounds I loaded the OAL averaged from 1.135" to 1.139". Is this typical for this die? or am I expecting too much? I am loading 40S&W on a Dillion 550, new Starline brass and Zero 180 TCFM bullets.

Thanks,

Mark

I did a lengthy experiment to nail down oal variances last year involving measuring bullets with the seating stem resting on the bullet (the stem was removed from the die) and found that ogilve was the culprit. There was a major difference in manufacturers.

Bronson7

[jwrig]

I did a lengthy experiment to nail down oal variances last year involving measuring bullets with the seating stem resting on the bullet (the stem was removed from the die) and found that ogilve was the culprit. There was a major difference in manufacturers.

Bronson7

That's the most common cause I've heard. The other causes listed above make sense as well.

[LPatterson]

The easiest way to remove variation is to stop the tool head from moving up & down. Take the tool head out and wrap some masking tape around the tool head and put it back in the slot. How much tape you use depends on how tight you want it to be & whether you change tool heads often.