Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hmmmm.... What'd i do?

Was seating some Hornady 200fr FN interlocks in 358 wins this afternoon, winchester once and twice fired brass, die just kissing the top of the shell plate, and noticed I was getting these bulges when using the last bit of throw on the lever. Almost felt like it was camming over to crimp and instead I got this??

Any idea what I'm doing incorrect here?

How did you decide to set the seating die this way?

You've probably got the crimp ring of the die prematurely coming into contact with the case mouth.


Suggested procedure:

Back the seating stem out of the die body a good way. Then back the die body away from the shellholder several turns.

Place a case with no bullet in the shellholder and raise the ram all the way. Screw the die body into the press until you feel contact. More than likely the bottom of the die will still be off the shellholder. So what is touching? It's the crimp ring inside the die hitting the case mouth.

Now that you've established the contact point, screw the die out a full turn and set the lock ring against the top of the press. That's the die setting for seating bullets.

Put a bullet on top of the case and run it into the die. If earlier you backed the seating stem out a sufficient amount, the bullet won't be very far into the case. Now use screw the seating stem into the die in small increments until you seat the bullet to the desired overall length.

If you wish to crimp I suggest doing it in a separate operation which I'll outline if you so desire.

Inserted sized case all the way up on the ram and screwed down on the die until it just made contact. With the case mouth. Turned out to be just a smidge before touching the shell holder.

I like the 75 degree ultra-improved shoulder. Should allow for good headspace control and less trimming......

It looks as if your seating/crimping die is set incorrectly. Are you trying to crimp into the cannelure? If so, adjust the die so it does not try to start the crimp below the cannelure and back off on the amount of crimp.

edit: Screw down the seating ram a lot and seat a bullet a little at a time until the case neck is in the proper location in relation to the cannelure. Screw the seating ram way out and then screw down the body a little bit at a time until you get the amount of crimp you want. A little crimp goes a long way. It should not require much force at all to produce the crimp. With the cartridge still in the die, screw the seating ram down until it contacts the bullet. Test the adjustment with another cartridge to make sure it is correct.

You will collapse a case in a heartbeat if you try to put a heavy crimp where there is no crimping groove or cannelure.

File a patent! You have a superimproved case.

Went and reset the die, must've turned almost a full extra turn when tightening the lock ring.....whoops.

Damn...I thought it was a Weatherby Ultra Improved Venturi shoulder...

most excellent tutorial! hard for newbees to get that right.

Never done that with a seater, but a neck sizing die...you bet. I called my creation "The Compressed Krag" a slightly unimproved version of the original case.

Follow MathMan's advice. You did not set up your seating die correctly. Back it out of the press at least 1 full turn after it makes contact with a sized case(not the shell holder) a sized case.